Before I can respond, she turns and walks away. And, idiot that I am, I stand there and watch her go.
Chapter Forty-One
MORGAN
Imanage to use my food poisoning as an excuse to avoid going into the office and attending the next two home games. I also begged out of the four-day road trip that followed. It hasn’t been ideal, but we’ve figured out a process for our photographer to send me pictures and me to craft our social media posts from home while watching the games live.
With any luck, I’ll have convinced myself I’m over Aidan before seeing him in person again, which I know will happen at tonight’s home game.
It’s been almost two weeks since we broke things off, and the only thing that’s gotten me through it is burying myself in work. After telling my friends what happened, Eva and Lauren keep checking on me, and even Paige has been sending me messages from Indianapolis, where she’s working with a new client for the next month. Audrey and Jules still don’t know what happened, but even they can tell something is wrong.
I’m sleepwalking through life. Nothing makes me happy. There’s nothing to look forward to. I’m just... numb.
I’d do anything to rewind time to the first weekend in September so I could talk myself out of sleeping with that cute guy at the bar in Bermuda. I’d tell myself exactly how much itwould hurt months later, after he’d shown me what it felt like to be loved and accepted, only to deny his own feelings and rip it all away. I’d tell myself that it wouldn’t be worth the fallout.
But, I don’t know... maybe eventhatwould be lying to myself. I might save myself some pain, but at the expense of finally knowing what it felt like to experience unconditional love.
Though I guess it wasn’t so unconditional, since he ended it for reasons that I still don’t understand—because, in the end, he didn’t even deem me worthy of an explanation.
As I pull the door to the practice rink open and head across the lobby to the elevator, I’m so lost in my own thoughts and focused on holding back the tears that spring up at inopportune times, that I don’t even notice AJ until I’ve practically walked into her.
“Hi, stranger,” she says, and I almost jump out of my skin.
“Hey,” I give her a forced smile, and I’m sure she sees right through it.
“Are you finally feeling better?” She reaches out and pushes the button to call the elevator.
“I’m still not a hundred percent.” It’s an honest response, because even though I’m entirely over the food poisoning, I’m in no way myself.
AJ looks confused, probably wondering how I am still suffering from food poisoning I had two weeks ago. “What are you doing here, then?”
“Meeting with Patrick and Sarah about Natalie.”
“Ohhhhh.” She drags the word out as her eyebrows knit together, and it’s obvious she doesn’t know about this meeting.
“Patrick didn’t tell you?”
“No. But I need you to know, going into this, that his mind is pretty solidly made up.”
“I’ll do my best to change it, then,” I say, lifting my chin and letting my face convey my determination. “It feels hypocriticalthat she’s been put on leave from her internship, while Jake has had no consequences whatsoever.”
“I wouldn’t say that’s entirely true,” AJ says cautiously before the elevator doors open and two of our players walk out, nodding at us as they continue toward the doors to the street.
Their presence here startles me. I checked to make sure the team wouldn’t be here before scheduling this meeting. Some of the guys could have hung around after morning skate, but I figured they’d all leave right away to rest up for tonight’s game.
As the elevator doors shut behind us, AJ drops her voice and says, “Between you and me, Jake’s on very thin ice here.”
“Why are you whispering in an elevator when we’re the only two here?” I ask.
She huffs a laugh. “I don’t know, being discreet never really stops, I guess. But just know that even though Natalie’s absence has made for a much more public consequence, that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been other, quieter repercussions for him. You know the type of organization I’m trying to build here, and that type of nonsense has no business in this club.”
“What if it was a more serious relationship?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow as she studies me, and I wonder again if she suspects something between Aidan and me. Not that there’s anything to suspect, anymore. “It wasn’t. He made that very clear when I talked to him. In the long run, that’s probably for the best because he has a lot of growing up to do before he deserves someone like her.”
“Which, again, is why it’s a shame that he’s still here and she’s not.”
“For now,” AJ says, and the words hang ominously in the air as the doors open to the floor that houses both her and Patrick’s offices. When we step off the elevator, AJ says, “Have a good meeting. Fight for what you think is right in this situation.”
