Annoyed, confused, and upset with everything that’s happened in the last 5 minutes, I leave the men and rush out of the restaurant in a hurry. The people whispering make it hard for me to raise my head as I angrily wipe the errant tear that slides down my cheek.
The chilly air provides little respite to my burning face. Today couldn’t have gone any worse. I hate that I needed anyone, especially Noah, to defend me.
I’m a self-made and independent woman. I shouldn’t needanybodyto defend me, or witness the humiliation enough to last a lifetime.
God! How will I ever look him in the eyes ever again?
Noah’s voice rings behind me as he tries catching up to me on the sidewalk, making me take longer steps.
“Andie, wait! Andie….”
Two
Noah
“Ughh,” I grunt as I push through the final rep, racking the bar before rolling my shoulders and sitting up.
With a heaving chest, I bend and grab my sipper, squeezing it straight into my mouth.
“Fuck, daddy, that was awesome!” Sebastian, the rookie right winger, sings from behind the equipment where he was spotting me.
I choke on water, and it sputters out of my mouth at the obnoxious words that leave his. The arena gym fills with the raucous laughter of theguys, no matter how hard they try not to.
Wiping off the spilled water with the back of my hand, I mutter, “What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
He flashes me a huge, playful grin, not a lick of fear on his face. “You,Papi. You’re what’s wrong with me,” he says, making the guys holler again.
I lower my head between my shoulders and pinch the bridge of my nose, though I feel my own lips twitch. “For fuck’s sake.”
Ezra, the Boston Bandit’s captain and my best friend, walks over to Seb, clapping his back as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. “Don’t bother him, Seb.”
“I’m not—”
“Thank you,” I sigh, feeling grateful for his interference. But that’s soon erased.
“Don’t you know Daddy getshangryafter his workout?” Ezra winks at Seb, whose grin only widens.
The bastard.
Oliver, our center, sidles close to us and shares his two cents, his hands crossed at his naked chest. “But Daddy is too responsible to mess up his diet. I’m sure he has plant-y food already stocked in his fridge,” he chirps, indicating myvegetarian lifestyle choices.
Becoming a vegetarian is a choice I didn’t make lightly. My high cholesterol levels have caused doctors to advise me to avoid animal products as much as possible. Choosing the vegetarian diet was the only logical next step for me when my blood test reports were alarming.
“How about we skip the food talk and have some real food instead? There’s this cool diner,Molly’s, I discovered last week,” Seb says, rubbing his belly.
Usually, I’m up for a good time with my teammates, but tonight, I’m just feeling weirdly low and can’t bring myself to entertain more of people’s presence and put myself in a social setting when I know I won’t be a good sport.
So, without a word, I get up and grab my towel from the gym bag lying on the floor. As I head to hit the showers, Ezra’s voice stops me. “You not coming, Noah?”
“Nah, man. Gonna take a quick shower and head home,” I reply with a slight shake of my head.
Ezra’s brows furrow in concern, his playful expression bleeding out. “All good? Need me?”
I appreciate the guy. I don’t know what I did tofind a best friend like him, but you won’t see me complaining. In the years I’ve known him, we’ve only grown closer. Not to say that all the other guys are not close—they’re family for all purposes.
But with Ezra, it feels like I have known him all my life, even when I haven’t. We met only when he was drafted by the Boston Bandits almost five years ago. He was cocky as a rookie, too, but not like Seb. Seb’s a whole other level of crazy. I treasure the kid regardless.
I treasure them all. But tonight, I need to prioritize my well-being.