Page 30 of Let You Love Me

“How long have you two been together again?” I ask because they fight like a married couple.

“Officially?” Tommy glances over at Melissa with a soft look in his eyes. “It’s been a year, but unofficially, it’s been more like two.”

“Unofficially?” I ask when Melissa laughs. “I’m sensing there’s a story here.”

Melissa lowers her phone, and any irritation she showed toward him a moment ago vanishes into thin air. “He’s saying that because when he first asked me out two years ago, I said no.”

“But I was persistent.” Tommy grins like a dope. “I basically told her I’d wait until she was ready and settled into the friend zone.”

I huff out a laugh. “Sounds like my buddy, Graham.”

“It wasn’t so bad. We were friends for a year, and then when she finally stopped dating the total douchebag she’d been seeing, I went for it. Struck while the iron was hot and mended her broken heart.”

“So sweet,” Melissa says drily.

“Nice play.” I laugh and shake my head. “Settling for the rebound is risky.” I finish my second slice of pizza and get up to retrieve a glass of water when it hits me.

That’s it.

Coach said none of us could pursue Lane romantically. But he never said we had to stay away from her entirely. He never said we couldn’t be friends.

Clearly Lane doesn’t date football players, but that’s not the only reason she has walls up. There’s more to why she’s so guarded. She said her life is complicated, which tells me it will take a hell of a lot more than a little charm and flirtation to scale those walls.

Someone as guarded as she is needs to build trust.

Just look at my sister, Brynn.

For years, she never let anyone in because of her assault in high school. She’d been so scared of getting hurt and being vulnerable and whatever the fuck else. It took someone she’s known for years to break through those walls.

And while I don’t have the advantage of time and history with Lane on my side, I can be a friend. I can earn her trust first and play the long game. Be the best fucking friend on the face of the planet, and with time, get her to open up to me.

Coach will see this, and not only will it work in my favor and put me back in his good graces, but I’ll grow on him, too. He’ll get to know me better as a man and not just one of his players. And slowly, so fucking slowly it’ll probably kill me, I’ll worm my way into her heart, and earn Coach’s blessing while I’m at it.

It’s the perfect plan.

I grin. What could go wrong?

Chapter 8

LANE

Wednesday comes far soonerthan I’d like, and after getting acquainted with the employee day care on campus I now have privileges to, I meet my friend Gabby at the student coffee shop, The Buzzy Bean. It’s crowded, teeming with students heading to and from class, so while we wait to place our orders I fill her in on my weekend and everything she missed.

Once we finally have our coffees and croissants in hand, I take a large sip of mine as we step outside into the mid-morning sun, hoping the caffeine will help perk me up, or at least clear the fog hovering in my brain. Sophie woke this morning at five a.m. after I stayed up far too late reading, which was entirely my fault. Either way, both have me exhausted and regretting my life choices as I try to fight the brain fog dulling my thoughts.

“So, let me get this straight,” Gabby says, waving her paper takeout bag around. “You met a hot guy at the park who was charming and didn’t mind that you had your daughter with you,but you’re going to completely ghost him now just because you discovered he plays football?”

Gabby eyes me like I’m crazy, one dark brow arched like a black cat on Halloween, but that’s one of the things I love about her. I never have to guess what she’s thinking; she wears all her emotions plainly on her face. It reminds me of when I was pregnant and she went around giving half the school the stink-eye for being judgmental about it.

When got knocked up, most of my friends acted as though they’d stick by me while simultaneously turning around and stabbing me in the back. Rumors about the alleged father spread around the school, mostly fueled by these “so-called friends.” Some of the things people said were so outlandish, I would have laughed if I hadn’t spent the entire nine months punishing myself for making the mistake in the first place and scared out of my mind to become a mother at such a young age. They called me terrible names, flinging insults like frisbees, all while being nice to my face.

At least the boys openly stared and snickered. I preferred that to the two-faced girls who hid their condemnation behind empty platitudes and plastic smiles. Gabby was the only one who truly had my back. Our friendship grew closer as the weeks and months passed, and by the time I gave birth to Sophie, we both had someone in our corner I knew I could never replace no matter how crazy life got.

Now, she lives on campus with her new roommate, who would’ve been me if circumstances had been different.

The thought sends a stab of jealousy through my chest, but I push it down. It’s not fair to begrudge her a normal college life, and I can no longer regret my choices either because they brought me Sophie.

And Sophie iseverything.