Tripping (Iced #2) - Kristine Allen Page 0,56

been strained these past several months, but I’d still always be there for him.

“Nothing. I just needed to talk.” The words seemed strained and spoken with reluctance.

“I’m here. Anytime,” I said sincerely.

“I need advice. Uh, I mean, how do you choose a Valentine’s gift for a chick?”

Momentarily stunned, I was silent.

“Cameron? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry. But I’m not so sure I’m the right one to ask, considering my girl just shit-canned me before Valentine’s Day.” I took a moment to bottom-up my glass and drain it.

“You were just with her tonight. Everything seemed to be going well,” he said, and his confusion was evident. I immediately regretted opening my mouth.

Not really wanting to discuss it, I deflected. “It doesn’t really matter. I didn’t know you were in a relationship.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, I’m confused. Then why are you asking me about gifts for a chick?”

“It’s just an acquaintance.”

My brow rose, though I knew he couldn’t see me. “Since when do you buy a Valentine gift for an acquaintance?” Tone dry, I waited for his explanation.

“Okay, sort of a friend. But it’s not like a relationship.”

“What does she like?” I wasn’t super good at choosing gifts, but I was pretty proud of the necklace I’d chosen for Bleu. Then I was pissed at myself for thinking about her when I was mad at her.

He sighed. “I don’t know.”

Blinking rapidly, I frowned, trying to make sense of his situation. “But she’s a friend?”

He sighed heavily. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Now I want to know what the hell is going on with you and Bleu. How did you go from being blissfully and disgustingly couple-y to being broken up in the span of an hour?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. She thinks I was being an egotistical asshole because I offered to pay for her to fly up to Canada for the weekend so we could spend Valentine’s Day together.” Okay, maybe there had been more to it than that, but I was stewing and not ready to admit I might’ve overreacted as much as she did.

“Oh. Wow. I’m not sure what to say,” he replied awkwardly.

It was time for me to sigh. “There’s nothing to say.”

“All right, well, I’ll see you in the morning,” he said. We ended the call, and I fell back in my bed to stare at the ceiling.

Leaving things the way they were didn’t sit right with me, but pride wouldn’t let me reach out.

It took forever to fall asleep, and before I knew it, my alarm was going off. I rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. It didn’t feel like I’d slept at all.

Through my workout, I was dragging ass. “You boys should know not to party so hard after a game. Especially if you can’t hang with the big dogs the next day.” Coach seemed to take great pleasure in torturing us that morning. Little did he know, it wasn’t because I was hungover. A few of the rookies couldn’t say the same.

My arms had reached muscle failure by the time I racked the weights. Every muscle in my body trembled as I started running on the treadmill. Alex had jumped on the one to my left, but I didn’t talk to him outside of a chin lift. I shoved my AirPods in my ears and ignored the way my body screamed. It also made it easy to ignore Kris when he got on the one on the other side and looked like he was going to start up conversation.

Last night I’d let the whiskey loosen my tongue and regret followed. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my fucking feelings. Especially with the guys.

I’d started to call Bleu that morning, but knew she was in school. The last thing I wanted was to piss her off more. She needed to cool down and have time to think like I had. I didn’t want to have her phone going off during her classes.

Once sweat was pouring down my chest and back, I straddled the belt and stopped the machine. Without a word, I wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt and left the gym. Before Alex or Kris could join me, I stripped in the locker room and showered.

Head bowed, I let the hot water beat on my aching body. I’d intentionally pushed it past its limit to punish myself for the night before.

Ignoring everyone, I dressed and shot them a wave as I walked out. Quickly.