“No.” I shake my head to make a point. “I’m wiser and smarter and know we were doomed anyway. We are opposites, and I don’t think I could trust him if he won’t show up and do the right thing.”
“What was the right thing?” Cassie asks.
“Stay,” Bella finishes. “He should’ve stayed and tried to work it out.”
“I dodged a bullet.” I shrug. “I’m learning to forgive myself for believing in him… us. I’m slowly learning to stop carrying the burden of hatred in my heart for everything he did. One day, it’s possible I’ll forgive, but I will never forget.”
Bella raises an eyebrow. “Are you saying there is a chance for you two?”
“No. We were exhausting together. After the humiliation and the pain of being easily forgotten….” I inhale a deep breath before going on, “… it’s hard to come back from that. I recently learned he might be returning to Australia, and that would never work for me. I’m not interested in a long-distance relationship, never mind on the other-side-of-the-world type of love.”
“Yet you have a private jet,” Cassie says as though it wouldn’t be impossible.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say bluntly. “Because I’m sort of seeing someone.”
“Oh,” Violet says.
“Who?” Bella asks. She has a look that she suspects I am telling a white lie.
“River. The new guard. He seems nice enough.”
“Nice enough.” Bella rolls her eyes. “Girl, you can do better than nice enough. It’s like your rebound relationship with that other player. He was also nice to you.”
“We both were rebounding back then,” I add.
“Yeah, him with his wife. Did they ever get back together?”
I shake my head. “He’s now playing for Miami, and she returned home to St. Louis.”
“So tell us about River,” Cassie asks. “Where is he from?”
“If you kept up to date with the NBA, it would save me from trivial questions.”
“Your happiness is not trivial,” Bella says, frowning.
“You know I don’t have time to date.” I give her my best stern look. “River has been flirting, and I enjoy it. It might develop into something more…”
“More than sex?” Bella’s eyes round. Although beyond the surprise, I sense hope.
“Maybe.” A word I use widely. Since we haven’t even kissed, it’s a maybe not. But I needed a name, and his was the first to come to mind.
5
CHARLOTTE
The treadmill slowsto a stop before I exhale long and slow to catch my breath. Reaching for a towel, I wipe sweat from my brow. It was a good run for a Wednesday morning, but that’s because it’s not what my usual Wednesday looks like.
I turn to Dwayne, my security guy, pumping weights behind me. “I’m heading up to my room. I need to shower before the meeting.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grabs his towel and follows me to the elevator. “I’ll shower and be back at your room.”
“You do not need to stand guard at my door.”
“Just doing my job, Ms. Hendricks.” I glance at him, taking in his dark skin, the tattoos that curl around his biceps and shoulders, his shaved head, and the dark beard sprinkled with gray. He looks tough—intimidating, even—but around me, he’s nothing more than a softhearted kitten. He’s a gentle hand on my shoulder when I need it, soft like akitten’s paw whenI’macting like a stray cat, wanting to scratch a certain someone’s eyeballs out of their dumbass head. He has watched me cry countless times over Brandon Johns. Something I’m not proud of, but it only made him more protective of me.
“Did you finish your workout?” I ask when we arrive at my hotel room, and he hesitates. “Go and finish your session. I’ll call you when I’m ready. My hairdresser will be here in another thirty minutes, so you have time.”
The entire time my hairdresser is styling my hair, I’m consumed with the upcoming meeting and to understand Coach’s strategies to ensure we get a win today as we head closer to the playoffs. While I trust Coach Mathew’s playbook, I’m distracted by Walter being set on another trade. A trade is necessary for a better team result, yet I struggle with the emotion and memory of Brandon leaving for Chicago. I close my eyes briefly as pain shoots straight to my heart with the reminder. It’s why I’m never in favor of treating the players like pawns in a game of chess, moving them from one side of the country to the other, and their family’s lives uprooted at short notice. It’s the part of the business I leave in the hands of the General Manager and Director of Business Operations—my brothers—and I trust them. But Walter is the General Manager, and we rarely agree on anything.
