The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel - Vi Keeland Page 0,93
long?” She was carrying a pair of navy heels in her hand.
“No. Can we sit?”
“In here?”
“I just want to talk a minute.”
She hesitated but then walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. I kneeled, balancing myself on one knee, and took the shoes from her hand, slipping on one at a time. She looked down at me, confused. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” There was so much I wanted to say, yet I wasn’t quite sure of the words.
“Everything okay?” she asked
“Other than I’m a dumb fuck? Yeah, everything is fine.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“And you’ll answer?”
“I’ll try.”
“Why aren’t we together anymore?”
She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were sad. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Try. I’ll listen.”
“Well. That night when I came to your suite and Willow was there, I was upset. Jealous even. I hated the thought of another woman near you. But when you told me nothing happened, I believed you. I never doubted you would keep to your word and be faithful.”
“But you still think I have feelings for her. The same kind of feelings I have for you.”
She looked away. “I don’t know what I think.”
“Look at me, Delilah.”
Tears welled in her eyes.
“You wanna know what I think? I think you loved Drew the same way I loved Willow. And when you lost him, it hurt for a really long time. So much so that you were afraid to do it again.” I wiped a lone tear from her cheek. “This whole time I thought you were afraid to fall in love with me, that I was the problem.
“It’s not you.”
“I know that now. You’re just afraid to fall.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. This makes my job much easier.”
“Easier? How?”
“Changing me was going to be a lot of work, but proving to you that if you’ll take a chance on me, I’ll be there to catch you won’t be as hard. Let’s face it, I’m an asshole. It ain't easy to change an asshole.”
She laughed through her tears. “I think I just need time.”
“I’ll be right here waiting.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me for a long time. It wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for, but at least I knew I was on the right track.
Chapter 43
Delilah
Two weeks after the Steel won the Super Bowl, life had finally begun to calm down. Brody had lived up to his promise—being there for me and letting me take my time. The only time he’d even attempted to touch me was right after he’d won the game. Everyone was celebrating on the field, and he’d managed to find me. He picked me up, swung me around in the air, and then planted a fat kiss on my lips. We both spent the next seven days in a craze. Between media coverage, the team parade, and dozens of interviews, I was surprised he even found time to see me. But he did. Every single day he made time for me. There were no grand gestures or attempts to move things along, either—he just showed me every day that he’d be there for me. How could a girl not fall the rest of the way when she knows she can count on the man she adores to catch her when she does?
The buzzer sounded right on time at three o’clock. I’d asked Brody if he would mind doing a short interview this afternoon down at the station. He’d said yes without hesitation, even though I knew he was pretty much at his limit of cameras in his face. I also knew that he wouldn’t listen to me when I told him to text me when he got to my apartment. He always came up. I wasn’t sure if it was him being a gentleman or him hoping I would have a moment of weakness, and he wouldn’t have to be a gentleman anymore. Knowing Brody, it was fifty-fifty.
I opened the door, and there stood the most delicious man I’d ever laid eyes on. He had on a navy wool peacoat, with a navy-and-light-green plaid scarf that brought out the golden specks in his green eyes. The morning after the Super Bowl, he’d called me saying he had to drag his ass out of bed to shave before the day full of interviews. I’d mentioned I liked him better with a few days of scrub. Since then, I noticed scrub had become a permanent fixture.