All the blood drained from my face, from my neck, practically from my entire body as a whole. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there and stared at Zach, but it was long enough for him to shake his head and check to make sure the girls were still at the front of the boat before he continued.
“Bro. What the hell?”
“I’m going to tell her,” I said hurriedly, setting my drink aside and leaning toward him. “I swear. I am.”
“Okay. Well, can I ask why you haven’t already told her?”
I blew out a breath. “Let’s just say that before the NFL, I was perpetually friend-zoned by any girl I was interested in. And once I signed, I started getting girlfriends left and right. But there was one problem.”
Zach put the pieces together. “They wanted you for your money.”
“Or my connection, or what they thought I’d be one day.” I nodded. “You get the gist of it.”
“So, you lied to Belle.”
I swallowed, looking to where she was sprawled out on the front deck with Gemma. “I didn’t mean to. I just… she didn’t know who I was when I walked into her office, and I knew the second I met her that I wanted her.” I snapped my fingers. “I’ve never felt anything like it, man.”
Zach nodded, his own eyes casting toward the bow. “I know the feeling.”
“I didn’t think it through. I just saw this opportunity to be myself with her. I could be Makoa, the average dude who wants to take her on a date. Not Makoa, the NFL player.”
“Have you seen yourself?” Zach asked, arching a brow. “I don’t think you can call six foot five and two-hundred-twenty pounds of muscle average.”
I chuckled. “You know what I mean.”
Zach sighed, nodding again. “I do. I mean, I can’t imagine what you feel, but it was something my parents talked to me about a lot when I was considering pro ball. They were worried about me getting caught up with the wrong girl, given what a softie I am.”
“We have a lot in common.”
He smirked, but it fell quickly. “Listen, no judgment, I get why you did what you did. But…” His eyes glanced at the girls again. “You need to tell her, and soon. My fiancée is obsessed with the Bears, and the only reason she hasn’t figured out who you are yet is because she’s been so focused on our wedding that she hasn’t had time to think about the team. She’s a little… addicted to details, I guess is the best way to put it. She loves her lists and her planning, so right now, between the wedding and work, she’s completely occupied.” He shook his head. “But that wedding is only two months away, man, and to be honest? The closer the season gets, and the more that gets checked off her list for the wedding, the closer she is to figuring it out. And if she does before you fess up? You’re screwed.”
I blew out a breath, scrubbing a hand over my head. “I appreciate the heads up.”
Zach nodded. “Look, I’ll do my best to keep it under wraps for you. I like you, and I can see you’re a good guy. If there’s anything Belle needs in this world, it’s a guy who will treat her right. But… I’m not cool with the lying, man. And I promise — Belle isn’t after your money.”
“I know she’s not,” I said earnestly. “I mean, I know that now. But… the new issue is that I’ve been lying to her, and, even more pressing, she’s already fucked up from a guy who strung her along on lies in the past.”
“And he was a football player,” Zach finished for me.
I pointed at him. “Do you see the issue?”
Zach sipped his beer, nodding more to himself than to me as he digested it all. “I do, especially since she’s apparently put football players on her Never Ever Again list.” He gave me a look then. “Don’t ask me how I know that, and trust me when I say I wish I didn’t.”
I chuckled.
“I also wish I could tell you I was certain she’d be okay with you being a ball player, as long as you came out and told her. But… I don’t know. If Belle is anything, it’s unpredictable.”
I laughed. “Well, now I feel encouraged.”
Zach opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the girls were making their way back to us, and he cleared his throat. “Don’t even get me started on Roman Holiday.”
Belle laughed, reaching down for my hand. “Alright. Gemma and I decided that’s enough of the rom-com talk. Time for a dip.”
And with one last look of understanding from Zach, the conversation was muted, and the secret sealed — at least for now.
Belle
I’d never been more scared in my entire life.
I still remembered the first time I rode a rollercoaster. It was at Six Flags Over Georgia, I was eleven years old, and I’d literally pissed myself before demanding that my parents take me home. I also remembered when I almost wrecked my car in high school because a damn jumping spider had me swerving and braking and gassing until I finally was able to pull over and get the motherfucker out. I even vividly remembered when I’d had a near-death experience in college, thanks to not chewing my steak enough and getting it lodged in my throat before a patron of the restaurant gave me the Heimlich and shot that piece of meat out of my mouth like a rocket across the table.
All of these things were terrifying.
And yet, none of them matched up to what I felt in Makoa’s arms as we watched the fireworks over Chicago’s Navy Pier.
I was just standing there, minding my own business, a content smile on my
