“What is going on?” Tilly yelled over the two of them as she stormed into the locker room. Brayden glanced around to make sure there wasn’t some guy in a towel in the corner. Not that Tilly would care that much. She’d never looked at another man like she wanted him. Not even Rowdy, now that he thought about it.
She pushed her way between him and Gunner and shoved them both back a step. Brayden placed his hand over hers on his chest, captured it, really. The connection between them was as strong as ever.
Gunner looked back and forth between the two of them. He suddenly glared at Brayden. “Me or him!” he demanded of Tilly.
“What?” Tilly flipped her head to look at him, her hair flying out and then dancing into place. Brayden tickled the ends with his free hand, and she shivered. He smiled but whipped it away before she flipped back to him. “You’re fighting for me?”
Behind her, Gunner nodded his head in an overexaggerated motion, silently telling Brayden to say yes.
Brayden opened his mouth and closed it again. He couldn’t bring himself to lie to Tilly, even if it meant getting her back. Which he wanted to do. He loved her. There had to be a way to make this work between them. “Tilly, I feel like I woke up in Atlanta. Really, I was in some kind of brain fog. I don’t think they screwed my head back on right.”
She pulled her hand away with a scowl. “That’s a horrible joke.”
“But look, I’m joking about it. That’s a huge step for me. I’m starting to put my life back together, but I … Is there even a chance for us?”
Tilly cupped her elbows. “I—” She glanced over her shoulder at Gunner. He gave her a cheesy thumbs-up and a smile to go with it. She rolled her eyes and faced Brayden again. “How can I trust us again? Trust you not to fall apart on me?”
Brayden channeled his inner Juan and started talking. “I’m not asking you to take me back. I can’t ask that right now. I just want to know if there’s a chance. No matter how slim.”
She dropped her arms. “You hurt me. And you were only thinking about yourself. You aren’t the guy I thought you were. The Brayden I love was the most selfless man I know.”
He ran his hand through his hair, feeling all sorts of honesty vibes in the air. They weren’t uncomfortable. What was uncomfortable was that the words hit home. “Every time I looked at you, I saw guilt in your eyes. I just kept thinking that you were only there because you thought it was your fault.”
Gunner wrapped his hands around his throat and silently acted like he was choking.
Tilly’s face went red. “I did feel guilty. Still do, on some level. Does that mean we can’t be together?”
“I don’t want to be with someone who feels like they have to be with me.” Brayden cringed at his words. They were true, but they came out barbed.
Tilly’s nostrils flared. She slowly turned her back on him.
Her deliberate turn gave Gunner a chance to smooth over theyou’re an idiotmotions he was making behind her back at Brayden. He smiled like a toy doll.
“Meet me after the game tomorrow,” she told him.
“Um?” Gunner’s eyes went wide and he held up both of his hands as if a speeding train were about to bowl him over.
“Don’t think about it—just show up.” She stormed away. “Some men think too much.” She threw her arms in the air as she left.
Gunner sidestepped out of Brayden’s reach. “Dude. That did not go how I thought it was going to go.”
Brayden pinched the bridge of his nose. “You didn’t throw the game tonight to try and get me and Tilly back together, did you?”
Gunner’s face clouded over. “She’s right. You think too much.”
Brayden eyed his unwilling protégé. He thought back to that moment after the home run when Gunner’s chin hit his chest. There was no way Gunner did that on purpose.
Gunner took one step closer. “Since I’ve already butted in, I’m just going to say it.”
Brayden narrowed his eyes.
“She’s got guilt—so what? We all have baggage. My dad was a drill sergeant. A real drill sergeant. I don’t remember him saying anything to me that he didn’t bark like an order.” He tugged at his collar. “Which might be why I have a slight problem with authority figures.”
Brayden laughed. “Just a little one.”
Gunner nodded. “Baggage. But you took me on anyway. She’s way better-looking than I am, and I don’t care what you teach me to throw—I’m not kissing you.”
Brayden swung at him, barely missing the back of his head. “I still don’t like you.”
