Page 36 of Playing for Love

“That’s not all there is to it. Besides, it’s not that simple to ditch Denise.”

Hunter turned back to me. Ready to listen, thought he didn’t look happy.

“I have feelings for Mia, Denise’s best friend.” I paused, waiting for the implication to sink in, waiting for Hunter to realize it was his turn to talk.

“What’s the big deal?”

“The deal is, aside from the fact that it would be a massive betrayal to Denise, a person who, say what you want about her, is someone I care about. Mia isn’t the kind of woman I can date casually.”

“Neither is Denise, but that didn’t stop you.”

“This is different. I could keep Denise at arm’s length, but Mia . . .”

“You don’t want Denise and Mia is off-limits?”

I nodded.

“You are in fucking trouble. This is messed up. But take it from me, don’t try and hide how you feel. You need to come clean with Denise.”

I nodded my head, knowing this was true. All this time I’d felt like she was stringing me along, moving away and expecting me to be okay with it, I’d been the one who was stringing her along. Because neither of us wanted a long-distance romance. And I sure as hell didn’t want to marry her. We both knew there was nothing in between.

“Yeah. It’s about time I cut her loose.” I stared into my beer again. Hunter stayed quiet, letting me mull while his solid presence kept me on track, kept me honest. No more deluding myself.

I said, “We’ve been together a long time, man. It’ll be hard.”

He nodded as if he knew. And even though I knew he’d never had a long-term relationship with a woman until Cat, somehow he had the wisdom.

“If you know of any magic words, speak up,” I said, lifting the beer and draining it.

“No magic, but I’d suggest the Band-aid approach. One quick rip. She may scream, but it’ll be over quicker.”

I shouldn’t have wanted to laugh at that, but I did in spite of the sick feeling in my gut. In the end, I realized it would be better for both of us. I’d warned her from the beginning that football came first. She’d thought she could change my mind.

“Denise deserves better,” I said into my empty beer mug.

Hunter nodded. We agreed, but it would be a tough sell to Denise, explaining why being engaged or married to me would be a bad thing. That I really wasn’t going to change. At least not for her. I tossed the notion of changing, along with the image of Mia in my head, aside.

Denise was smart and sensible and I was counting on that. I would be kind and gentle, but firm. She was tough. I was counting on that too. I truly hoped in the end we could be friends.

“You going to call her tonight?” Hunter asked. I snapped my head around to gape at him.

“Tonight? I’ve barely wrapped my own head around ending our relationship. I doubt I’d be able to sell it to her right now.”

“Don’t wait too long.”

“No, but I’ll need to do it in person. She deserves that much at least. I’ll fly down even if it’s just for a day.”

“You going to ask Coach for a day off?”

“No. We’ll have a day coming soon.”

He grunted and shook his head.

“I’m not procrastinating. I need to . . . get used to the idea of not having her.”

Hunter looked at me funny.

“What?”