Page 14 of Last Slice of Pie

I let out a sigh, because he’s right. We did win.

“All right then. I want to run through the ten core route passes five times each before we call it a day.”

Both guys look at me as I stand and grab my helmet. This will keep us out here for at least another hour and a half, but I need it. I need to wash away the missed passes from last weekend, and I need to burn this energy buzzing in my arm and chest.

“You saw her, didn’t you? When you went home last week,” Reid asks out of the blue. His narrowed gaze is suspicious and all-knowing at the same time. He remains seated on the bench instead of standing to join me on the field.

“Saw who?” Jack chimes in, moving to stand next to me.

“His girl.” Reid smirks.

“Hold up”—Jack spins to face me, brows raised in shock—“you have a girl? Since when?”

“You’ve been dying to ask me about last week, haven’t you?” I pin Reid with a stay out of my business glare. “She’s not my girl,” I state, shaking my head. It’s not that I’m opposed to it—in fact, I think I’d really like it—but she’s different than what I remember, at least different with me, and I don’t really know what to do.

All week I’ve thought of her. In fact, I’ve lost sleep over her, which I’m certain isn’t helping my game. I told her I wanted to know her, and I do; I’m just not sure how to fix this. I’m aware that ten years ago I was an epic dick to her. I left, never replied when she tried to communicate with me, and even went as far as making sure James didn’t talk about her to me and vice versa. She represented a part of my life I needed away from. I had a lot to prove to Cole, to her, and hell, even to myself.

“I was gonna say, you’ve never had a girl as long as I’ve known you, and quite frankly, it would be weird, like seeing one of your parents date someone new.” Jack shivers.

“It’s not that I’ve never had a girl, it’s just . . .” I hesitate, trying to put into words what Lexi is to me.

“She’s the girl,” Reid chimes in, outing me, and silence falls over the three of us until Jack lets out a long, slow whistle.

I move to walk away, but he grabs my arm.

“No, no, no—not so fast. Let’s back up,” Jack says. “I think I need to be brought up to speed. I’m assuming he’s talking about when you went home for that award, and I’m gathering you saw her, which means she doesn’t live here. So now what? Because, bro, he’s right—you have been acting different, this just might be the reason, and soon enough the guys on the team are going to start picking up on it.”

“I’m not acting different. I had one off game—which, by the way, like you just said, we still won—and I’m not suddenly thinking about a girl. I’ve been thinking about this girl for most of my life, so no one is going to notice or care. Besides, she’s there and I’m here, so I don’t know how it would work or really what to do.”

Billy walks over, eavesdropping. “So this is about a girl, huh?”

I groan and roll my eyes, my hand tightening on the face guard of my helmet.

“Nothing is about a girl. Can we please go pass the ball now?” I wave my arm to them like, Get up and let’s go.

“Are you sure? Because there’s a bet pool going on between a bunch of the guys in the locker room,” Billy says.

“What? Tell me you’re joking.” I turn to face him, and my jaw ticks, everything about me conveying my lack of amusement.

He throws his hands up in a don’t shoot the messenger gesture and takes a step back.

“When is the last time you saw her?” Jack asks, moving to the bench to grab a bottle of water.

I let out a deep sigh, knowing they aren’t going to stop until they know it all.

“Other than last week, ten years ago.”

That uneasiness I feel about so much time passing slides down into my stomach. I know they won’t understand. James never did, and I’m sure Lexi doesn’t either, but it had to be this way. I wasn’t ready; it wasn’t time—until it was. Yes, at first it was intentional, but after a while, the divide just felt too large to cross. I didn’t know how to reopen that part of my life when I had made it clear that it was closed from the day I left.

A harsh laugh bursts out of Jack, and then he eyes me skeptically as if I’m a puzzle he’s trying to figure out.

“Ten years, really?”

“Yes. I told you, this isn’t a new thing. I’ve known her most of my life.” I glance at all three of them. They look confused, and their confusion is laced with pity.

I hate this.

“What you need to do is get her to come here,” Reid suggests.