Page 100 of First Down Promise

“Caught you,” I murmur.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Pete

NO REPLY: You have a new message in your account.

I pick up my phone and open the insurance portal for the verdict on my car. Part of me hopes it’s not totaled, but the other part of me knows that car was the equivalent of costume jewelry. The gold rims made it look cheap, and while I was looking for a new set, none of that matters now.

Totaled. With an estimated payout.

Keeping the Yukon was a godsend, and once I’m up to it, I’ll go car shopping. I had my eye on something…

Just then, a knock lands on the front door, echoing off the walls, and my phone chimes with a camera alert. I open the notification and see Sadie standing out front with a stack of books in her arms. My attention lingers on her for a beat longer than it should. I remotely unlock the door and open the camera app again.

“Come in,” I say through the smart doorbell.

The front door opens and softly closes behind her. I crane my neck and watch as she walks into the living room. The final game of the season is about to kick off, and Abby’s there in Boston, wearing my team’s merch, and probably his number. Sadie is home because the cheer squad doesn’t travel to away games, and Abby’s free to travel if she wants to. At least they weren’t under my roof—not that Josh and I have spoken since that fucking day.

“Did Abby tell you to check on me?” I ask dryly.

“No, she did not,” Sadie snaps, but the edge leaves her expression almost immediately. Something about Sadie doesn’t add up. She can be so friendly and warm with Abby, but prickly to any male who comes near her. Still, we both know she let her guard down with me in Dallas. Until that night went to shit. “How are you doing?”

I sit up, flinching as I lift my side off the half-melted ice packs. “It’s been two weeks, and it still hurts to move…and talk. Good thing I’ve been so goddamn mad at my best friend. No need to laugh, right?” The sarcasm covers the sting Josh caused. And I don’t mean my ribs.

Sadie frowns and rolls her deep brown eyes. Her dark hair is the same deep brown as her eyes, and she has this way of always making it look soft, as if she just left a salon.

“I was surprised, too, when Abby finally told me…”

My gaze leaves her plump lips and shoots up to her eyes.

“When’d you find out?” I ask, repositioning the pillows on the couch. She sets the stack of books on the coffee table with a sigh and brushes her hair behind her ear, revealing the piercings running up the side.

“Do you need help with anything?” she asks instead.

“Yeah, actually. If you can get me a fresh ice pack from the freezer in the kitchen.” She nods and takes the used one from me, quickly returning with my other ice pack. “So? You knew? When?” I repeat, more impatiently this time, as she hands the fresh pack to me.

“You won’t like the answer, Pete.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Tell me,” I whisper through clenched teeth.

She clears her throat and smooths out her sleeve. “Dallas…” She knew about Josh and Abby when she came up to my room, and that little detail sticks. I open my mouth, but she starts again. “But I knew for a while she was seeing someone new and not talking about him. Josh, though? Never crossed my mind he’d be a possibility.” She gently shakes her head, making her waves dance around her shoulders.

“What? What do you mean?” I stammer.

“It’s just that she seemed a little…happier. She had love written all over her, but I didn’t want to press her until she was ready. A few girls on the squad were gossiping that she was hooking up with a player, but I knew it was deeper than that.” I frown and glance away. “She’s happy, Pete.”

“I know. That’s the hard thing. I don’t know if he’ll be good to her. But how could he lie to me like that? How could she?”

“Look at you now, Pete.” She glances around the open floor plan. “You have all this, yet you’re all alone…” Her gentle tone makes it hard to even be angry with her, especially when she’s so fucking right. “Face of the Stallions, but watching your guys inevitably get their asses beat in New England.” My neck heats at the truths she doesn’t need to spell out.

“Alright, if you’re going to be this way—” I start, but she interrupts me.

“You can be bitter all you want. You can stay an asshole...”

Now it’s my turn to interrupt her. “Was I an asshole to you in Dallas?”

She sucks in a breath, her cheeks reddening as she focuses on something other than me. “No…it was all just so fast.”