“I’m gonna take him out before he embarrasses himself and makes a mess for me to clean. Wanna go with us?”
“Yeah,” she replied quickly. “Can I just change real quick?”
No, please leave that dress on every damn day for the rest of your life.
“Sure,” I replied as she turned and headed down the hall. “Need help?” I called out after her.
She glanced back at me and rolled her eyes, continuing down the hall.
A few minutes later, I left my room and walked to the family room. Kacie was squatted down playing with Diesel, her hair falling down around her face. She looked adorable, even just in jeans and a hoodie.
“Ready?” I asked as I grabbed his leash from the closet.
She stood, giving me that crinkle-nose grin that brings me to my knees.
“Yep, let’s go.”
The sharpness of the evening air slapped us in the face as we stepped out onto the street. Kacie hugged herself. Mid-June was pleasant in Minnesota during the day, but the nights were hit or miss. Tonight’s chilly weather gave me an excuse to put my arm around Kacie, so I wasn’t going to complain.
“Okay … ready when you are,” I said, wanting her to know that I hadn’t forgotten what I promised her in the car, because I meant it. Anything she wanted to know, I would tell her, good or bad. Some things would probably be tough to talk about, but if she wanted to know, I’d tell her.
She sighed and I thought maybe she’d changed her mind about wanting to have the conversation, but then she jumped right in. “Who’s Kendall?”
“Kendall is a friend,” I answered truthfully, without hesitation.
She eyed me for a second and then looked away. “Just a friend?”
“I’m telling the truth, I promise. We’ve been out a handful of times, but it was never more than a friend thing. We never put any label on it. I wasn’t interested.”
“Did she text you while I was here?”
Shit.
“Yes. I didn’t answer her; I didn’t even read them. I just deleted them.”
She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, gauging my honesty. “When was the last time you hung out with her?”
“Um…” I had to think about this one, my time with Kendall never really stuck out to me. “About a month ago, I think.”
Kacie bit her lip, looking at the different storefronts as we walked. I could tell she was nervous and her brain was spinning.
“Did you sleep with her?”
I didn’t want to answer this, but I promised honesty.
“Yes.”
“Here…” I motioned toward the wrought iron bench behind her. “Let’s sit for a minute and I’ll explain.” I hooked Diesel’s leash around the armrest and faced Kacie. She sat as far away as possible, her arms folded in front of her, completely closed off from me.
“Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you that all through high school and college I never really dated?”
She nodded, her beautiful green eyes staring straight ahead, digesting everything I was saying. I wanted nothing more than to pull her in my arms, relax back on this bench and just let life happen around us, but that wasn’t an option … yet.
“That was the truth. High school, college, up until now, I haven’t had a girlfriend. Someone I would take home to meet my parents, someone I would drive an hour and a half just to see her cute smile and freckles.”
She pressed her lips together tight, trying to hide her grin when she realized I was talking about her.
“I’ve never had anyone like that … but that doesn’t mean I’ve been alone all this time.”
Her eyes lost their sparkle as the color drained from her face, but I needed to continue. “Part of the territory that comes along with my job is fans, that’s also my favorite part of the job … sometimes. There’s nothing I love more than coming out of the locker room to a dozen kids waiting for me with posters and jerseys to sign. The other kind of fans are the obnoxious, overbearing women who are shoving their tits in my face asking me to sign them and begging for my phone number as I do.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Women ask you to sign their breasts?”
“More often than you’d think.” I sighed. “Anyway, once I signed my contract and started experiencing all this, I swore I’d never be with a fan and I’ve held true to that. But … I have … friends. Girl friends, women, who I’ve trusted over the years to hang out with, to … be with.” Kacie closed her eyes and cringed when I stumbled through that last sentence.
“They are just that, though … friends. I trust them not to run to the media with details, not to sell our story to one of those fucking gossip magazines. That’s who Kendall is … was.” I reached out and put my hand on hers. She still stared straight ahead, no emotion. Or so much emotion that she didn’t know how to process it all. Silence filled the empty space around us. I said nothing, giving her time to feel whatever it was she was feeling.
After what felt like an hour of her eyes darting around, thinking, I couldn’t take it anymore.