around a glass. “Don’t worry about Gia. She knows about the unrequited.” Reese moved her eyebrows up, her shocked expression giving Cat a laugh. “She’s a strong woman. She’s smart, probably the smartest person I know, but she’s not dead inside.”
“I never thought she was, but Gia and…what? Someone serious?” Cat nodded, her face serious. “I don’t believe it.”
She sat up straight, gaze on the wine in her glass as she spoke. “You ever hear of Luka Hale?”
Reese frowned, knowing that name had crossed in her awareness once or twice, but she couldn’t place it. “Sounds familiar.”
“Kona Hale?”
“Oh!” Reese said, her eyes wide, attention caught. “Of course. He gave up a spot on the Steamers for his woman…”
“And his kid,” Cat said. “And the way Gia tells it, Ricks was ready to offer him a massive contract. He walked away.” She waved her glass at Reese, swallowing. “But you know that story.”
“I do. Keira and Kona. Their kid. College sweethearts…”
“And Luka Hale. Kona’s twin.”
“Where’s he?” Reese remembered reading an article a few years back about the Hale brothers, but nothing sparked about Luka. It was only Kona who’d become an NFL superstar.
“Gone. Since ’97, I think. Shot by a gangster. Left his woman’s bed to go rescue his twin.”
“That’s messed up,” Reese said, watching Cat’s expressions close. She knew the woman was about to deliver a bombshell.
“The girl? His woman? She never got over Luka. Spent years focusing on her career.” Cat took a sip of wine, this one longer than the others. “She was good at marketing and PR. Turns out, she was even better at management. She’d volunteered to be a water girl for the Blue Devils in college. Same team Kona and Luka played for. She had an in with the coaching staff, cousin or uncle or something, and she fell in love with the game…and with Luka.”
“Wait…”
“Then, Luka died, and part of that girl died with him.” Cat’s voice was low, a little awed, and something twisted in Reese’s chest, something she knew wouldn’t go away for a long while. “But she wasn’t one to sit around helpless and frozen. She was a fighter. A soldier. Earned a master’s in sports management, then started at the bottom with San Diego, eventually making it in lower positions in the NFL. Then, just a few years ago, she became the first woman hired as a general manager of an NFL team.”
“Gia.”
“Gia,” Cat confirmed, a soft frown forming on her face. The women were quiet for a long moment. Reese felt that ache in her chest intensifying, wondering what Gia had to do to bury the pain she felt. Reese understood the work ethic. It was her own desire to work and train that gave her even the smallest reprieve from the pain of losing Rhiannon and Ryder.
“That breaks my heart,” she finally admitted, trying to clear away the clog in her sinuses.
“That’s because it’s heartbreaking.” Cat stood, walking to the sink to rinse out her glass. “Don’t get me wrong, her bed isn’t cold. She gets plenty of attention, but from what I’ve seen, no one is ever allowed to stick around for long and she definitely has a type.”
“Let me guess. Big Hawaiians?”
Cat nodded. “Probably all of which could pass for Luka Hale’s twin. I honestly don’t think she would have signed with the Steamers if Hale had joined the team. It’s still…” Again Cat waved, leaving the rest of her sentence unspoken. “Anyway, so like I said, Gia knows unrequited. She knows loss, but I have no intention of telling anyone how you still feel.”
“Thanks, Cat,” Reese said, joining her friend at the island.
Reese moved around the kitchen, still wincing as she tidied up her glass and the now empty bottle of wine as Cat picked up her bag.
“You know,” she started, walking toward the island, “maybe if Ryder had any idea how you felt…”
“Uh-huh and maybe you should let Wilson prove he can be loyal, pro player or not.”
Cat’s mouth tensed, became a hard line before she shrugged, grinning at Reese before she waved goodbye and left down the hallway.
“Maybe,” Reese said to her empty apartment, stuffing her glass into the dishwasher and moving into her room. She opened her closet, going to the dresser inside it. The small black box was no bigger than a piece of paper, and Reese dug inside it, taking out worn letters that had been read and reread hundreds of times. She put them aside, finding a stack of