Except her.
“Okay, I’ve had it, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
It takes me a second to realize that Linc is talking to me, and that’s only because his words were accompanied by a smack upside the head by our fellow teammate and offensive lineman, Wyatt. “Ow! What the fuck was that for?”
“He’s at least back to this planet,” Wyatt says. “Seriously, are you okay? All day you’ve been acting like a damn zombie.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I play off, knowing damn well I’m not fine. “Just a little drunk.”
“Try again,” Linc says. “I saw how you pretended to take every shot given to you today. I’d guess you’ve had no more than four drinks since we reported eight hours ago, which makes you fine to not only drive a car, but to have the ability to not look like someone ran over the dog you don’t have. So what gives?”
“Hey! Don’t bring Sir Barkley into this,” I say, naming the hypothetical shelter dog I plan on rescuing this offseason.
“And don’t use humor to deflect,” Wyatt scolds. “Talk.”
I look around to see who’s in listening range. All of our teammates seemingly cleared out to either head back home, or keep the party rolling at one of the nearby bars. There are bands playing on this stage for the rest of the day—when Nashville shuts down Broadway, the city makes the most of it—but for now, we’re as alone as we can be.
“Fine,” I say as I find a seat on a what I’m guessing will eventually house one of the speakers. “I’m in a funk. Nothing to worry about. I’m sure it’ll pass.”
Not exactly the truth, but not a lie either. Though judging by my teammates’ glances, neither of them are buying it.
“You’ve been in this funk since we got back from Vegas,” Linc says as he takes a seat next to me while Wyatt posts up in front of us, arms crossed like he’s a bouncer at a club. Which he could be with this three-hundred-pound frame.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I lie.
“Quit fucking lying,” Wyatt says. “When you got on the plane Monday morning I thought you were hungover. Then I saw you looking out of the plane window, headphones on, and I’m pretty sure you were mouthing the words to that song about being all by yourself.”
“No I wasn’t,” I say, though I’m not about to tell him the song was actually about being her mistake. Because that’s what I selfishly felt like—a mistake.
Which I know I wasn’t. Or, I don’t want to believe that to be true. But it’s what I was feeling at the time because this is apparently what Maddox Gallagher feels like when he’s the one who wakes up to an empty bed. Usually I’m the one leaving without saying goodbye.
“Wait!” Linc says. “Is this about the baker?”
I snap a look to him. “Her name is Gabi.”
“Who’s baker, Gabi?” Wyatt asks.
“This is what happens when you go off and have sex with your girlfriend instead of partying with us,” Linc says. “We met her when we went to the karaoke bar. And Gallagher over here fell in love.”
“No regrets,” Wyatt says with a smile. “I’d much rather celebrate my way rather than hearing you assholes sing.”
“Oh, but you missed quite the performance,” Linc says. “Especially from our boy here and his new lady love.”
“She’s not my lady love,” I say, though it comes out more like a tantrum. “She’s…”
I don’t have the words. I haven’t had the words to describe her since the moment she stepped on that stage. Linc fills in Wyatt on what he missed, at least I think. I only hear about half of it. Because like I’ve done many times over the last five days, I let my mind travel back to that night and replay every moment.
Except the moment when I woke up to find her gone. I have a feeling that’s about to come up once Linc gets Wyatt up to speed. So for now I’m going to remember the great parts of the night.
Seeing her come up on stage for the first time. Her sequin dress catching every one of the stage lights as her smile caught the rest.
The way we vibed on stage, like we’d been performing together our entire lives. How she felt against me when we danced. How she tasted of champagne when I kissed her. How even after one night and being in a sweaty Vegas bar, I could smell her sweet scent on the pillow when she wasn’t there the next morning.
But more than anything, and what has been haunting my dreams every night this week, are her eyes. Those damn green eyes that I’m pretty sure I watched go through every emotion in one night. I saw them light up in excitement. I saw them darken in passion. I saw them vulnerable when she broke down. I saw them roll back into her head when I made her come apart.
That one was my favorite.
“So yeah, then Gallagher up and left us to go celebrate with some woman he met that night. Totally abandoned us.”
