“Sorry I’m late.” He offers me the flowers, but I make no move to accept them.
“Late?” My tone is scathing, but I refuse to feel bad about it. I’m not the one who broke my promise; he is. If anyone here should feel like shit, it’s definitely him. “You missed the entire presentation.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “I wanted to be here.”
I snort. “Yes, well, you weren’t, were you?” I glance at Enzo, who looks like he’s about to cut and run. “What’s the old saying? Actions speak louder than words?”
Enzo doesn’t answer my question, but offers to give us some space. He doesn’t go far, and I know he’ll wait for me. However long this takes.
Austin steps forward and reaches for my arm. I shrug off his touch. “I’m sorry, Kennedy. I completely forgot about the meeting with the Pittsburgh scout. My dad set the whole thing up and lunch took long than expected.” He pauses, gaze locked on mine. “I really did want to be here.”
“You know what?” Hurt lances through my chest all over again at his meaningless platitude. If he wanted to be here, he would’ve been. Must’ve been a riveting meal if he couldn’t excuse himself early. “Don’t apologize. This is on me. I should’ve known. I should’ve known better and I was stupid to think you’d be different.”
“I am different,” he says through gritted teeth. Hurt flashes in his eyes, but I steel my resolve. I’m hurting too and my heart’s pretty full up on pain at the moment. “I’m not like him.”
“Aren’t you?” I ask, wrapping my arms around my waist. “You knew this was important to me, to my future. You promised to be here for me and then you bailed. And for what? Lunch with a team you don’t even want to play for.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” His voice is pleading as he reaches for my arm again.
“There’s always a choice, Austin.” I take a step back. “It’s just as well I found out what kind of man you are now, before…” I can’t even finish the sentence. Before I fall head over heels for him? Before I give him my heart?
Too late for that.
The realization makes the pressure in my chest a thousand times worse because I know what I have to do. I can’t be with someone who will always put the game before me. I saw what it did to my mom growing up. Hell, what it did to me. I can’t put myself through that again. I won’t. I deserve to come first.
And I won’t settle for anything less.
I blink back the tears that threaten to escape. I will not cry. Not in front of Austin. “Look, we gave it a shot, but this thing between you and me, it was never going to work. We’re too different. We live in completely different worlds.”
Austin’s jaw hardens and he flexes his fingers. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen his carefully crafted mask of control slip outside the bedroom. “So, what? You’re going to break up with me over one little mistake?”
“Little?” I scoff, tossing my hair over my shoulder. “I’d hardly call breaking your promise little. But it doesn’t matter, because this is exactly what I’m talking about. We’re too different.”
He growls. Actually freaking growls. Which would probably be hot except for the fact that he’s breaking my heart and I kind of want to throat punch him.
“Okay, poor choice of words. But that doesn’t change the fact that I screw up one time and you’re using it to break things off because you’re too scared to see where this thing between us might lead. Too afraid I might be like your old man to actually give me a real chance to prove I’m not.” He throws up his hands. “If this is how things were always going to end, why’d you even bother? Why let me think I had a chance to build something real with you?”
“I’m too scared?” My nostrils flare and it’s possible my unshed tears will evaporate into steam because I’m fired up now. I should walk away and go cool off, but I don’t have it in me to walk away from a fight. Not when I have so much to say. “You should talk. You’re going to spend your life living in your father’s shadow because you’re afraid to tell him you don’t want to play ball in Pittsburgh! At least I’m doing what I want and pursuing my dreams.”
Austin narrows his eyes. His shoulders are wrought with tension and the muscles of his forearms ripple as he clenches and unclenches his fists. “Are you though? You can’t even admit you care about me because what if it doesn’t work out, right? It’s easier to just write me off as another playboy asshole than put your heart on the line.”
“We’re done here. I have to get to practice.” I turn on my heel and stalk toward Enzo. What the hell does Austin know about my heart? He’s never even been in a relationship before. And he’s wrong. I’m not afraid; I’m hurt. I repeat it like a mantra as I walk away from the man who holds the shards of my broken heart in his hands.
“We’re not done, Kennedy,” the stubborn bastard calls after me. Like it’s his choice to make. “Not by a long shot.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Austin
I stand on the sideline with my helmet in my hand, watching as our defense tries to hold off Michigan with less than two minutes on the clock. The whole game’s been a cluster, and I got picked off on the last drive. Michigan’s not only got the ball, they’ve got momentum. They’re driving down the field, every yard they gain a nail in my coffin. If our defense can’t keep them out of field goal range, we’re fucked.
All because I turned the ball over.
I was up half the night replaying my fight with Kennedy when I should’ve been
