Page 119 of Nailing Heat

I think that means that she felt the pull last night too. So, I go for it. “No, I can do it, Amelia. I wanted to check you out and make sure things were going well. I know that Dr. Haldman wants to do a repeat scan when the swelling has gone down to make sure we aren’t missing anything. And to make sure he’s right to not move forward with surgery at this time.”

She nods slowly. “Surgery would really impact my career with the Blaze, so if he wants to do that, I need to know as soon as possible. So that I can tell the coaches and August.” She begins to wring her hands in her lap; her eyes are wide and darting around the area of her knee.

I take her hands in mine, “Relax, I need you to relax. No one is looking to change anything with you and your standing with the team. I know that’s what you’re worried about.” It’s what every injure athlete fears. “Ifyou need surgery we will cross the bridge when we come to it. But as long as you do your part and listen to my instructions, you’ll be fine. I promise you that.”

She watches me for a moment, her eyes warm. “Are you going to keep this one?”

I sigh and concede, “I deserved that one.”

She nods and says, “You do.”

“I’m sorry for all of it, you know. I’ve wanted to apologize to you for so long, but I didn’t have the courage to face you.” I say scrubbing a hand down my face. “I wish I had done a lot of things differently. “But nothing that has to do with you or saying I love you. I should have told you why I got a divorce, that wasn’t fair to you. I should have told you about my past, but I was afraid to. I was ashamed of my behavior and how I treated Elise. I figured you would assume I would treat you the same way.”

Amelia stares at me for a while, no longer than I’m comfortable with. She gets ready to speak, Coach Andie comes into the room.

“Hey, is she ready to come on out to the field? We’re getting ready to roll out there,” she tells us.

“Yeah, I’m all done, right?” Amelia turns me smiles.

“She’s all done,” I confirm.

“Good, I’ve got the cart out here, let’s get you a ride onto that sideline,” Andie says, smiling at her.

I pick the brace up and place it back on her knee. “You’re all set to head out there.”

She reaches up to touch my shoulder. “I’ll see you on the sideline, right?”

“Yeah, you will.” I tell her as I help her off the table and hand over her crutches. “Go Blaze.”

She scoots away from me and says, “Go Blaze.”

Andie waits until she’s out of sight to speak. “You know, I don’t think you two are terminal. Maybe if you communicated a bit better, things could go back to the way they were.” She winks at me before turning to leave.

“You knew?” I ask her.

She turns back to me and says, “Yeah, I know. So many of us know. One thing about this place is that it’s like high school; everyone knows everything about everyone.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell her, shaking my head and laughing.

I grab the snacks that I bought for the game from my desk and head out to the field. I have to wait to join her after the anthem plays. I watch her standing over there, doing her best to stabilize herself on her crutches as it plays. I grin, watching her small frame, standing a bit away from the rest of the team. I can’t wait to join her. Once it finishes, I make my way over to the bench. I see she’s sitting there, down by Lucas, but he’s giving her space. There’s plenty of room beside her for me. That fact puts a bit of pep in my step.

I walk over to her. “Is this seat taken?” I ask her playfully.

“Look at you with the cheesy lines. I would have never peggedyou for the type,” she says, looking up at me and grinning at her own attempt at humor.

I chuckle. “Yeah, well, I didn’t know what else to say to you.”

“Do you feel awkward around me now, football?”

“I do,” I admit.

Her head snaps in my direction. “I get it. I felt the same way about seeing you or even being near you. But now I’m not sure why I waited. I might have saved myself some pain.”

“What are you saying?” It takes everything I have to keep my eyes on the field because that’s where hers are. Apparently, we are going to have this conversation, we’re not going to have it face to face.

“I’m saying I miss you,” she admits sheepishly.

My face turns to hers so quickly but she’s not looking at me. She’s smiling, though, so I know she must feel my eyes on her. “I miss you too. I didn’t expect you to say that you miss me,” I admit.