“Nicola.”
I run a hand down my face. Of course, Marco told his wife the story after our call a few weeks ago, and Nicola then told her mother-in-law. I should have known that would happen.
“So, what terrible thing did you do?” Mom persists with a poke of my arm. “Did Chelsea want a serious commitment, and you got scared of your big feelings and did what you always do with every girl you’ve ever dated? You pushed her away and—”
“No, that’s not it. I really don’t want to talk about this with you.”
Mom gasps and whisper-shouts, “Did you cheat on her?”
I look around nervously, but nobody around us could possibly hear a single word above the din of the noisy crowd. “Of course not. If you know me better than anyone, as you claim, then you should know I’d never, ever do that. Least of all to Chelsea.”
Mom straightens up, looking equal parts relieved and determined. “Okay then, whatever you did to ruin things with Chelsea, it’s fixable. Go to her and apologize profusely for your stupidity. Tell her you made a huge mistake and you’ll never do it again. Do whatever it takes to get her back, Luca.”
I exhale. It’s all I want to do. All I’ve been imagining myself doing since I bolted out of the Mastodons’ complex following my blowup with Chelsea last week. But of course, I know that’s not possible. Not if I truly love Chelsea, which I do.
“I can’t do that, Mom.”
“Yes, you can! Luca, a girl like Chelsea Parker won’t come around again. She’s one of a kind.She’s one of us.And I’ve never seen you smiling that big in your life as when you introduced her around at Roman’s party.”
“Mom, stop. After I made the lowly practice squad, Chelsea kept insisting on sticking with me and trying to help me, instead of ditching my ass and following her own dreams. So, I rightly decided to say whatever it took to set her free for her own good.”
Mom stares at me blankly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I set her free. You know, ‘If you love something, set it free.’ That’s what you always say, so that’s exactly what I did.”
Mom’s mouth forms a perfect O as full understanding dawns on her. “You’re saying youloveher?”
I look around again, feeling vulnerable and exposed, but once again, our surroundings are too loud for anyone to overhear us. “Yes. Way too much to hold her back. She’s football royalty, Mom. And I’m a scrub. She shouldn’t be with me, and we both know it. So, I said what I needed to say to set her free to take a job opportunity Roman lined up for her.” I explain the potential job opportunity briefly, and Mom looks unimpressed.
“So, it’s a networking opportunity, not a job offer?”
“Well, yeah. But you know Chelsea. To know her is to love her. One interview, and she’d get hired on the spot.”
Mom tilts her head. “What exactly did you say to Chelsea to ‘set her free,’ as you so brilliantly called it? How bad was it, Luca?”
“It wasn’t that bad.”Yes, it was, a voice inside my head retorts. “Not in the big picture, anyway. I mean, yes, admittedly, it felt pretty damned awful as I was setting her free. But it had to be done.” I inhale deeply as memories of the devastated look in Chelsea’s blue eyes momentarily silence me.
“Luca, what the bleep did you say to her?”
“The specifics don’t matter. Chelsea was being really stubborn about the Thunderbolts opportunity, so I said something specifically designed to make her hate my guts—and it worked.” My heart pangs. “Unfortunately, I think I overshot a bit and made her want to murder me in a brutal fashion, but at least it made her finally ditch my ass, like she should have done a long time ago.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Mom palms her forehead. “Luca Edward Maguire, you’ve been an idiot.”
Normally, Ava Maguire scares the hell out of me when she middle-names me. But this time, I don’t care. My whole life is in shambles, so what more could she possibly do to me? “Middle-name me all you want, Ava,” I throw out. “My mommy being mad at me on top of everything else that’s gone wrong for me is a grain of sand on a never-ending beach of pain, baby.”
Mom shakes her head. “Don’t you see? Chelsea would never, not in a million years, take a job with Roman’s team. Contributing her talents to help Satan of all people on his quest to finally win it all would be Chelsea’s personal idea of hell.”
“Huh.” The woman’s making sense. I certainly didn’t want to play for the Thunderbolts when I had the chance. No, I wanted to make a name for myself on my own merits. To step out of Roman’s shadow, once and for all. And I know Chelsea feels the same way about her own success—she wants to earn it, fair and square.
“Also,” Mom says, “why would Chelsea ever want to owe a huge favor to Roman Maguire, of all people? Or for that matter to you—the man who said the horrible thing you won’t tell me and broke the poor girl’s heart?”
It’s a crushing thought, assuming she’s right about me breaking Chelsea’s heart. Surely, Chelsea had to understand where I was coming from, somewhere down deep, right? If not, then it’s no wonder my selfless plan backfired on me.
“Get her a job somewhere else,” Mom continues. “Like with the Knights, for example, and I’m sure Chelsea will leap at the chance. And once she’s working somewhere else, then you two can finally be together, out in the open, because you’ll both be working for different teams. True, the relationship will most likely need to be long-distance for a while, depending on where she ends up. But wouldn’t that be better than the way things are now?”
My mother’s a genius.
With my heart racing, I look toward where Marco’s been sitting down at the end of our row, but he’s not there. Feeling dizzy with excitement to put this plan in action as soon as possible, I glance frantically around the box and locate Marco chatting near the buffet offerings in the back with Cameron.
