I hear the guys muttering for a minute before Cam sticks his head in the kitchen. “Roxy, I’m gonna take off. You two obviously have a lot to discuss.” He gives me a hug and whispers, “Hear him out. He’s crazy about you.”
My nose stings, and I shake my head. “Doesn’t seem like it at the moment.”
Cam looks me in the eyes and says, “He stayed with us Saturday night. There were no shenanigans, I swear.” With one hand, he crosses his heart. “Don’t know why he won’t just say that.” He squeezes my shoulder and leaves.
I’ve always trusted Cam, and the fact that he’s vouching for Billy’s whereabouts on Saturday night calms me down a little.
But all of Ezra’s buddies covered for him too,a little voice whispers in my head.
Frustrated, I pour two glasses of ice water and return to the living room where Billy has his head in his hands. I put one down in front of him and sit in the rocker.
He clears his throat and sits back. “How’s Marley? Sorry, I should’ve started there instead of making accusations.”
“She misses you.”
“Yeah?” He cracks a smile that dims quickly. “Roxy, I just need you to not jump to conclusions. I’m not explaining any of this well, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been up to anything nefarious.”
I nod, hoping he can untangle everything. “I’m sorry I yelled at you just now. I… I’ve been really upset by this whole thing.” My throat gets tight, and my eyes well, and I take a moment to calm down. “I hate that we’re on the outs, that we can’t seem to talk. That everything we’ve worked so hard to build seems to becrumbling when you and Marley are the most important people in my life. Not seeing you every day breaks my heart.”
He reaches over and yanks me into his lap, where I burrow my face in his neck and cry. “I’m sorry, baby. Please believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you. I just couldn’t… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you about the argument I had with my father. That asshole basically unleashed a similar diatribe with me that night once the party was over. I knew you’d take one look at me, see that I was pissed off, and want to know why. The thought of uttering those words to you shredded me. He’s right—I didn’t go back to my parents’ house, but that didn’t mean I went to Samantha’s. I drove to the football house, where I had a beer and crashed on the couch.”
“So what about all of those photos?”
He shrugs. “My family took pics because it was Mom’s birthday. Sam sat next to me because that was the one seat available. The dancing happened because she and I were dancing with my mom, who was conveniently cropped out. I held Sam’s hand because we had to jump over some shrubs to get her golf ball, and I hugged her hello and goodbye, but it was no different than you hugging Cam just now.”
Sitting back so I can see his face, I give him a look. “Except I haven’t slept with Cam.”
He has the decency to look embarrassed. “True. And I’m sorry about that, but I swear to God our vibe was purely platonic that weekend. I spent the whole night talking about you and Marley. The reason I froze when you asked to see my phone is because Samantha and I had been talking about setting her up with one of the guys on my team, and I gave her my number so I could follow up on that. But I thought if you just read her message—which was something like, ‘I need me a football player’—I didn’t think you’d be cool with that without any context.”
Pulling out his phone, he hands it to me and gives me the password. “I haven’t erased anything. Look at whatever you want, whenever you want to. I have nothing to hide.”
I scroll through his messages with Sam since that night. He’s right—that first message would’ve tripped me out. But later, she messages him again, and they discuss the different single guys on the team he thinks she’d like.
“We can call her if you want. I’d hoped we could go on a double date, so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable meeting one of my friends on her own. She wants to meet you, but if that’s too weird because of my past with her—which, I just want to emphasize, was a one-time thing back in high school, like junior year—I completely understand.”
I consider everything. “When you lay it all out like that, I feel foolish for freaking out.”
He hugs me and kisses my forehead. “If the roles were reversed, and I was in your shoes, I’d probably have the same reaction. But don’t feel foolish. I never want you to shove down your feelings. We have to be honest with each other, and I’m sorry I didn’t know how to break this all down.”
“I hate that we argued.”
“This is just a bump in the road, babe.” After I wipe my eyes, he cups my face. “Tell me what you’re comfortable with, Roxy. Are you cool with me being friends with Sam? Because I would never want to do something you’re not down with.”
Sniffling, I shrug. “I’d like to meet her, but if she’s dating one of your teammates, then yeah, I think it’s okay.”
“You can check my phone whenever you want if you get weird vibes. Given how much temptation there is for the guys on the road, I want you to feel confident in us.”
“I don’t want to be that paranoid person who’s constantly monitoring my boyfriend. That’s not the kind of relationship Iwant to have. If I have questions, I’ll ask you. But I appreciate you offering.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “Is this where we kiss and make up?”
58
BILLY
I’m aboutto lean in and plant one on her when she holds up her hand. “What about the other stuff I mentioned? Why you stopped reaching for me and how you don’t sleep naked. You never kissed me anymore. I felt like we did a one-eighty after I had Marley.”
Shit. “I was hoping to bypass that part.” I scrub my face with one palm. “Uh… I’m just gonna put this all out there, and I hope none of it hurts your feelings.”
