“What’s with the interrogation?”
“I don’t know.” She ducked her head. “Just curious. You never talk about anyone, and I wondered if you were still hung up on Sheree.”
I barked out a laugh. Sheree and I had dated for a year while I’d lived in New York. But when I’d gotten traded to LA, I hadn’t asked her to move, and she hadn’t offered. Our relationship had run its course. Fizzled out.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“You know it’s a no,” I said, still wondering what was behind this fishing expedition.
“So then, why don’t you date?” Bryn asked.
“I told you. Don’t have time.”
“Mm.” She eyed me skeptically.
“What?” I nudged her foot with mine.
“You don’t havetimeto date—” Bryn nudged me back with her foot “—because you’re always with me.”
“I’m notalwayswith you.”
Bryn narrowed her eyes at me, arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with you. And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, truly. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to put your life on hold for me.”
“Bryn,” I chided.
“I’m serious.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
She really had no idea how I felt about her, did she? Not that I should’ve been surprised. We’d grown close in the last year and a half, and at some point, I’d realized that she was so much more to me than just a friend. But I’d never crossed that line, despite being tempted to. God, I was so fucking tempted.
Bryn tilted her head. “What?”
I love you.
I was tempted to blurt out the truth in that moment. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d been tempted, but I also knew a conversation like that would require some finesse. Even if you ignored the fact that her late husband had been my best friend and teammate,Brynwas my friend. She was importantto me, and I was scared to ruin what we had for something she might not even want.
So, instead of confessing my feelings, I tried to get a sense for where she was coming from. Why was she asking me these questions? And why now?
“What?”she asked again, pressing when I still hadn’t responded.
“You’re annoyed with your family for bossing you around, trying to get you to date. And yet you’re doing the exact same thing to me.”
She looked away quickly. “That’s different.”
“How?” I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.
She lifted her shoulder. “I already had my love story. You haven’t.”
I blinked a few times. It felt like watching a teammate get injured on the ice—gut-wrenching and brutal. Everything stopped, the world quieting around me.
She doesn’t truly believe that, does she?
But the longer we sat there, the more it sank in. The more I realized how convinced she was that she’d never love again.
I… I rubbed the back of my neck.Christ.
Her admission shattered something inside me, especially the way in which she’d delivered it with complete and utter sincerity. With just a few simple words, she’d upended my entire world.
CHAPTER TWO
