Page 89 of Trick Play
Immediately, I unlock my phone, press on her name, and hold the phone to my ear. It rings and rings and eventually goes to voicemail, her cheerful recorded voice filling my ear for the first time in weeks, telling me to leave a message if I want but that text is a better choice. Clearing my throat, I leave a message anyway. “Hey. Piper. It’s Cal. Uh, you said to call, so I am.” I clear my throat again. “You’re probably still stuck trying to get back to your hotel or wherever. So, um, call me back. Or I’ll try you again later. I … I’m really glad you texted. Talk soon. Bye.”
Closing my eyes at my stupid voicemail, I hit end and shove my phone back in my bag. Then immediately pull it back out so I don’t risk missing her calling me back.
Simon gets pulled in to talk to Coach Reese—probably to have a version of the conversation I just had with him—so I end up waiting longer than normal, my leg bouncing out of control, the desire to run out of here and find Piper immediately almost too much to bear.
She wants to talk to me.
I have no idea what prompted the sudden change, because it’s been abundantly clear that she hasn’t wanted to talk to me for weeks, and I’m dying to find out what she wants. Dying to tell her how sorry I am for trying to use her, how all of that changed as I got to know her, how I’ve only wanted her for longer than I can remember. I don’t even remember what it feels like to want anyone else. That while I might eventually recover and get over her, it won’t be any time soon, and that she’s indelibly changed me regardless. That I’ll have to shift and grow around the hole she’s left, that it isn’t something that can just be filled by anyone else.
But I can’t do that until I get the fuck out of here and figure out where she’s staying.
When Simon finally comes back from talking to Coach, he gives me a concerned look, and I can only imagine what a picture I make. “What’s up?” he asks.
I hold up my phone. “Piper texted me, but didn’t answer when I called.”
Simon grins. “Awesome. Let’s get back to the hotel. Ellie and Piper can come over, and Ellie and I’ll go somewhere else so you two can talk.”
He picks up his bag and starts walking, and apparently I’m supposed to follow him because it’s as simple as that. He’ll get Piper to me, and then it’s up to me to talk.
So why do I feel like puking?
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Piper
“You’re sure this is okay?” I ask Ellie for the third or fourth time as we exit the elevator and walk down the nice but nondescript hotel hallway, looking for room 1134.
Ellie tosses a look at me over her shoulder, and it’s a testament to her patience that she’s not rolling her eyes. “It’s fine. I promise. It was Simon’s idea.” She grins at me, and I grunt in acknowledgment, not really sure how I feel about her boyfriend getting involved in my relationship with Cal, even if they are friends and roommates and teammates.Idon’t know Simon very well, and having yet another person involved in my love life in any capacity feels weird.
I’ve always been private about that sort of thing, and after what happened with Brent, that need for privacy dialed up to an eleven. Which is why Ellie’s determination to act more as a distraction than someone to talk to and give advice about my relationship has been so welcome. She knows she’s not a disinterested third party. She has definite opinions. And I suppose that her deciding to spend time with me at all could be taken as her choosing my side over her brother’s anyway, which is kind of hilarious, but less so in light of the new information she gave me at the game about their relationship.
Then we’re in front of the door, and she’s knocking, and it opens to reveal the giant slab of man that is Simon. He gives Ellie a tender smile and pulls her in close, bending to plant a kiss on her lips. Straightening, he looks at me and jerks his head behind him. “He’s waiting for you,” he says in that low, rumbly voice of his.
He steps back, pulling Ellie with him, and holds the door open for me to enter. “We’ll see you guys later,” Ellie calls out, and I turn in time to see the door close behind them.
When I turn back around, Cal is standing next to one of the beds, his hands in his pockets, his eyes intent on me.
I take a few steps closer, drawing even with the bed I assume is Simon’s, and stop. “Hey,” I say, feeling like I need to start this conversation.
“Hey,” he says back, his voice soft and hoarse. He looks me up and down like he’s devouring the sight of me, like he needs to imprint this on his memory so he’ll have something to look back on later.
His chest rises on a deep breath, and he pulls a hand from his pocket to run it through his hair. “I know that nothing I can say will make anything right. I know you feel used and betrayed, and I don’t blame you. I just … I’m sorry. My motives when I started pursuing you were selfish, and I didn’t think about you or your feelings at all.” He turns the hand that was in his hair palm up in front of him. “But at some point, and I can’t even pinpoint when, it became about you, about spending time with you, and not about anyone or anything else.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and I bite my tongue to keep from saying anything, because he’s clearly not done yet.
“I miss you,” he continues, a gruff edge to his voice. He clears his throat, but it doesn’t do anything but call attention to the emotion ringing in his voice. “I miss you so fucking bad, Piper. I haven’t wanted anyone but you in ages. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I’m so fucking sorry I hurt you, because hurting you is the last thing I ever want to do. I hope …” he clears his throat again. “I hope you can forgive me, and I’d love it if you’d be willing to give me a second chance. But if not”—a deep breath, and his eyes fall closed like what he’s saying pains him deeply—“if not, I understand,” he finishes on a whisper.
If I weren’t already poised to forgive him based on the fight and him taking the fall for my brother—a clear demonstration that he’s not the selfish asshole who came up with the idea of using me to mess with Gray anymore if ever there was one—that speech would push me over the edge.
Still, I came here because I want some answers, and I don’t want to be distracted by accepting his apology and the makeup sex that would surely follow and forget to ask my questions. I really want to know why he took the fall for Gray before we end this conversation. Don’t he and Gray hate each other?
I clear my throat, mostly to fill the silence, because now that he’s here in front of me looking devastatingly sexy with his hair mussed from running his hands through it, those gorgeous blue eyes staring at me full of longing and hope, his broad shoulders still draped in the red Marycliff jersey that’s tucked in at his narrow waist, it’s hard not to just throw myself at him.
“Ellie said you got in a fight.” My voice comes out just as hoarse as his. I clear my throat again.
He nods slowly. “That’s a bit of an overstatement. I punched a guy in the face. But he started it.”
“Brent. You punched Brent in the face.”
He shrugs. That’s it. He fucking shrugs.
