I took a long pull from my soda, looking around the dimly lit bar. Sports paraphernalia covered the walls, an eclectic mix of any activity that could be considered competitive. There were the requisite football jerseys, signed baseballs, and hockey sticks, but there was also a curling kettle and a ball signed by some long-ago European handball team. It was cozy here.
I wondered if we would still be able to drink here peacefully after the football season started. Cody’s recruitment meant he was going to be a big name. Things would change. Hell, they were changing already, weren’t they?
“Kane.”
Right. What had he asked me?
As the answer came to me, instinct told me it was safer to check back out, but I wasn’t a pussy. I could handle spending time with the woman who almost destroyed my shot at the big time.
I sighed, drawing patterns in the condensation on my glass.
“Coach wants me to settle down with a girl during the trials. Said it would make me more family-friendly or something. He’s picked the girl and… I don’t know if I can do it.”
Cody snorted. “Jesus, Kane. I thought it was something bad. Just pretend you’re a good guy. Hey, you could pretend you’re me! She’ll have no idea you’re a heartless womanizer, and you get your free pass into the national team. Everybody wins.”
My cheek twitched at the idiotic response, but he didn’t get it. Couldn’t. I hadn’t even expected it.
“He chose the reporter who has been assigned to write my story. It… Shit.”
I couldn’t look at him. He’d put up with my moody ass for months after she left.
“Just tell me, man. It can’t be that bad.”
Metaphorically grabbing myself by the balls, I looked up into his green-eyed stare. Motherfucker was too pretty for football, but he was too smart to be a model, so he did whatever the hell he wanted.
“It’s Darcy.”
Beer. Everywhere. Maybe I should have waited for him to finish his mouthful. I waited patiently as my best friend hacked up a lung, pounding on his chest as he tried to draw a breath. After a couple of moments, he managed to calm down enough to grab a napkin and blow the beer out of his nose, watching me with an accusatory glare.
“You did that on purpose. But seriously, Darcy? As in Darcy, Darcy. The only girl you’ve ever cared about Darcy.”
“Why do people keep saying that? I care about plenty of girls, but yes, that Darcy.”
Cody watched me quietly for long enough to make me regret sharing the news. He knew me better than anyone, and in our quiet corner of the bar, I felt exposed. Vulnerable. Shit. There was no way this was going to work. I had to convince Coach to come up with another option.
“Forget it. I’m calling it off. I can’t afford for her to jinx me again, and it’s obvious she hates me. It’d be a disaster.”
“Kane.” Cody held a hand in front of my face, and I was unclear if he wanted to stop me or smack the shit out of me. “Shut up, and chill the fuck out.”
When had I stood up? I slid back into my seat, unsure what else to do. My skin felt too tight and itchy as though I were wearing wool. I hated that anyone had this kind of power over me, let alone a girlfriend from five years ago.
My soda scraped over the wooden surface of the table as Cody pushed it toward me. Relieved to have something to fill the moment, I lifted it and drank deeply.
“Ok. Here’s what you’re going to do. Go to her place and invite her to dinner — don’t look at me like that — and you’re going to make it somewhere nice. You’re adults now, and you can have a conversation about what your expectations are for the arrangement,” Cody said.
I snorted. Adult might have been an exaggeration. The second she walked through the door, I’d felt like the kid I had been. The one who acted like king douche to get her to notice me. I wanted to tug on her pigtails — not that she wore them — and convince her to play hookie.
Jesus, I was still attracted to my bad luck charm.
And wasn’t that a kicker.
“...do the one thing you were both terrible at when we were in school.”
“We weren’t terrible at anything,” I protested.
“Communicating. You were both godawful at communicating in school. Evie told me that there was a reason Darcy left school. Like, something bigger than you two calling it quits.”
Christ, Cody could be an old maid. He always knew the gossip.
