Feeling like an idiot, Zach shook his head. “I told you to call me Zach and no, it’s nothing. Just thinking out loud.”
Paul nodded as he flicked his gaze back to Zach from the rear view mirror. “Thinking about your win? I saw that touchdown. The team must be stoked. I’m surprised you’re not partying tonight.”
Zach shrugged. He wasn’t really in the mood for booze and women. Plus, Paul was right. He should be happy. He’d won the game. There was nothing like that last touchdown to tip a tied game in his team’s favor. But after seeing Danielle there and hearing her questions—which basically solidified in his mind how she still felt about him—he didn’t feel like celebrating at all.
So much had changed since high school and yet, it didn’t feel that way one bit. He’d been crazy in love with her, but she wasn’t his. She’d dated his brother for years, oblivious of his feelings for her. It killed Zach to see her with Isaac. They’d been so happy together. Planning a life once he was out of medical school and she’d made it big as a journalist. But it all changed in a blink of an eye.
Zach sighed. There was no way he could have this conversation about his past now. Not with Paul. Not when he wasn’t even sure how he felt about seeing Danielle again.
His phone chimed which made him jump. Grateful for the distraction, he pulled the phone from his pocket and glanced down. The nameTanklit up his screen.
His lips tipped up into a smile. Jonathan was always good for a distraction. As the known party boy of the two of them, he could help a guy forget all his worries.
Zach swiped the screen and lifted the phone to his cheek. “Hey, man.”
The thumping of bass filled Zach’s ear and he had to pull the phone away as Jonathan started yelling, “Where are you? Ithought we could hang out but I couldn’t find you. Some chick said you ditched to go home?”
Some chickrepeated in Zach’s mind like a skipping CD. Had it been Danielle? Did he dare ask?
“Yeah, sorry. Had to get out of there. I didn’t think those reporters would ever let up.”Or Danielle would ever let up.
“Not an excuse, man. I’m only in Georgia for the night. You get down to The Club with No Name cause we are catching up. And I just might slaughter you at a game of pool. I’ve got to win my dignity back somehow.”
Zach snorted. It did sound better than going home and wallowing in his self-pity. Yes, Jonathan was the perfect person to hang out with when someone wanted to forget something.
So Zach scrubbed his face and tipped his head back, closing his eyes for a moment. “Just for the night?”
“Yep.”
“All right.”
Jonathan whooped and hung up just as Zach leaned forward to change his destination. Paul nodded and pulled into the right lane to get onto the freeway.
Sitting back, Zach forced all the feelings that had surfaced from seeing Danielle out of his mind and heart. He was on his way to forget the past and right now, that club couldn’t come fast enough.
Chapter Two
What the heck was she going to do? Why had she agreed to this assignment? Danielle stood in the hallway after most of the reporters and players had cleared out. She was chewing on her finger nail as her mind raced through the events earlier.
“Are you okay?” Thomas asked as he glanced over at her while he slipped his camera into his case and shut the lid.
Danielle snapped her gaze over to him. She straightened and dropped her thumb from her lips. She could almost hear her grandmother’s voice in her mind, telling her that chewing on her nails was a nasty habit.
“Yeah, sorry,” she said, turning to focus on her cameraman.
If she were honest with herself, no, she wasn’t okay. Not in the slightest. Even though she’d thought she’d prepped herself to see Zach, nothing could have prepared her for the stomach-full-of-rocks-on-the-verge-of-tears experience she had had while standing in front of him, with a microphone tipped toward his lips.
So much history. So much pain. All of it was wrapped up in that six-foot-three and solid frame of muscles guy she once knew. Once kissed…
She closed her eyes for a moment as she forced back all the feelings of regret and pain that came rushing back to her whenever she thought of the Stedman boys. Which was getting harder and harder now that her own Stedman boy was turning eight.
Only, the Stedmans had no idea that Jesse existed. And she was going to keep it that way.
“I’m worried about you.” Thomas’s voice wiggled its way back into her mind.
Realizing that she was standing there, looking like a complete idiot, Danielle cleared her throat and gave Thomas her camera-ready smile. “Just a long day. And now I’ve got to go home and be mom to my bouncing-off-the-walls kiddo.”
She sighed as she glanced down at her phone and at all the text messages that had piled up. Sunny was a great babysitter, but she had a tendency to panic.
