Ellie hadn’t gotten pregnant, do you think she even would have given you a second look? I mean, do you have any idea who she is? What she’s worth?”
I shut my eyes and feel a stabbing pain in my gut.
“You know the answer, don’t you? Ellie is caught up in the emotions and attachments of having a child with someone, and that’s created this illusion of love between the two of you.”
I draw in a breath that feels like it might choke me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m sure you’re a great kid. And if you listen to me, you’ll have a very, very successful future on this team and in the league. Christopher will make certain of that. And I think you know, deep down, that it’s in her best interest for you to let her go. It would never work between you two. You’re not—”
“Worthy of her,” I finish, feeling like the walls of this office are shrinking and closing in on me.
“I was going to say ‘right for each other,’” Paul says. “You know I’m right. I would never do anything that isn’t in the absolute best interest of the Vices. Including Ellie. You two would end up breaking up, and it would just create a huge mess for the child and everyone involved. This is how Christopher sees it, and, as his lawyer and close confidant, this is how I see it.”
I chew on my bottom lip and keep my gaze fixed on my lap. A sinking, heavy, painful feeling in my chest is telling me…he might actually be right.
It’s no secret she’s way too good for me. And shit, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, she never would have even given me her number. What if it is all just an illusion? Just attachment and emotion and…in reality, we’re not compatible at all? We do come from different universes. Maybe I am being selfish. Maybe the whole thing would be better for everyone if I just stepped away and kept my focus on football.
I nod and swallow hard.
“You agree, then?” he asks.
I look up slowly, clenching my fists. “Okay.”
“Good. You’re doing the correct thing here, Matthew. Go be a football star and let us handle Ellie and the baby. I’ll report back to Christopher that you’ve abided by his terms.”
Not that this asshole is really giving me a choice with the insane career threats. But still, he’s probably got a point about Ellie and me not working out in the long run. If there was no baby, it would have ended with the one-night stand, and she would have flown off to Thailand and forgotten my name.
He pats his palms on the top of the desk and forces an ice-cold smile. “Now…” He stands and walks over to the door of the office, holding it open for me. “I believe you have a Super Bowl to prepare for. Oh, and, Matt?”
I grunt a response.
“If you mention anything about this conversation to Ellie, you can expect to be sitting on the bench during the big game.”
My mind is racing and spinning and twisting, and there’s a thousand things I want to say or yell or scream or do, but nothing makes any sense right now. I keep my mouth shut and give Paul the slightest nod as I walk past him into the hallway.
The world feels tilted and dark and heavy, and the ground is like quicksand as I trudge back into the gym.
“Aaron,” I say to my trainer as soon as I step back into the gym, “let’s do those passing drills.”
Ellie Vice was never mine in the first place. She was never really going to be mine. A Vice would never stoop that low, to date the poor small-town kid who was raised by his grandma in a double-wide. I have to let her be free. I have to not weigh her down and hold her back and screw up her amazing life.
I squeeze my eyes shut and tighten my jaw, forcing my brain to focus on the one thing, the only thing, I have left, and the only thing that matters now.
Twenty-five
Ellie
I check my phone for, like, the nineteenth time in the past hour. I know that Matt is busy getting ready for the Super Bowl, and there’s a ton of pressure and all of that, but it just doesn’t seem like him to be so distant for the past few days.
He’s barely responded to me at all and has been totally