I study the bottles of alcohol lining the shelves above the bar. Is that why she broke up with me? Fuck. All the blood drains from my face. “I was pissed at myself for forgetting to set my alarm clock. I wasn’t upset with her at all. Hell, I’d choose…”
Holy hell. I would choose her over football and walk away from everything. Shit. I thought it was the sex talking. Now, I know it without a doubt. I love Dani, and if she wants me to walk away from everything, I will. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Start by tossing that beer out.” Tony grabs the bottle from my fingertips. “We need you at the top of your game. Then, tell Dillon to leave your lady alone. Once we get back home, lock that shit down once and for all.”
“Fine.” I don’t see it going as smoothly as Tony implies, but I can begin with the easy shit. Dillon is standing at the bar talking to Clayton. I slide to the edge of the booth and stand.
“Don’t punch him,” Devin cackles with his attention still glued to his cellphone.
Cocksucker. “Shut up.” Like I can punch Dillon and survive to tell the story. He’s probably sixty pounds heavier than I am. More like seventy. I steady my shoulders and glare at Devin. Is he talking to my sister? That would explain a lot of things.
So, not the point. I turn away from the booth and weave past a couple of tables. What the fuck am I going to do if Dillon says he and Dani are dating? Every muscle in my body aches as I walk over the wooden floor. The boards squeak under my weight.
“Hey, Gunner.” Dillon nods. His expression remains serious as he studies me.
“Bull, we need to talk.” I motion to Clayton to leave. He grabs his beer and moves away without a word. I don’t foresee too many people stepping between us if fists start flying. I won’t win the battle, but if he sucker punches me, I’ll fight fucking dirty if I need to.
“Spill it.” He cracks his neck, and I question the soundness of my decision. The man is massive.
“Dani’s mine.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“She is.” My teeth grind together. As dumb as it is, I’ll fight him for her.
“If you care about her, why were you talking shit about hooking up with someone else. Dani’s a nice girl. She deserves better than that.”
His words are like a sucker punch in the gut. “You’re right. She deserves better. We got in a fight. Or something.” I shrug. “I don’t know what happened, but she blew me off, and I got in my feelings.”
“She blew you off?” The bar is lined with nostalgic alcohol signs and antique bottles.
Fuck. It sucks to have to admit it. “Yes. She broke up with me, and I was too much of a pussy to ask what was wrong. Listen. Just give me the chance to talk to her before you make your move. If she doesn’t have feelings for me, then you’re free to ask her out.”
The words kill a part of me, but he deserves that much respect. If she doesn’t want to see me anymore, I have no claim over her. How in the hell will I stomach seeing them together? One touch of her hand to his arm and I wanted to rip his fucking arm off and club him upside the head with it.
“Dude.” He shakes his head. “I don’t like Dani. Not like that. She’s all yours.”
“What?” I blink as the words sink into my thick skull. How do I end up reading everything wrong?
“I’m only looking out for her like a friend. I was worried about her when I heard you and Devin talking about fucking a couple of women on the trip. I wanted to know if you were planning to cheat on her.”
I swallow, and my heart slams into my throat. Fuck me, running. “Did you say something to her?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs, and his face squishes together like he’s feeling sheepish for intruding and potentially causing more trouble between the two of us. Or, at least, that’s the story I want to tell myself. He’s my right tackle. I need to think the best of him, or I’m going to be laid flat out on my ass.
“When?”
“At the gym, when we were working out.”
“About the other women?” God, this sucks. She’s never going to forgive me for that comment. Even if I had no intention of following through, it was a hateful thing to say.
“Sure.” He rolls his neck and stares at the ceiling. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Now, she’s probably back home imagining you getting it on with a bunch of women.”
“Great.” I clear my throat. “Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have said it in the first place. If her reason for breaking up with me was because she didn’t think I was serious about her, I proved
that by acting like an asshole. Damn, I’ve got some major groveling to do.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine