“I can’t say I’m sorry to see her go.” Alex’s eyes follow Mallory’s retreating form until she’s out the door.
“Be nice.”
“I am being nice,” he scoffs. “I could’ve said, ‘Let me put a tail on her to make sure she follows through with her promise.’”
I swirl the pasta on my plate around listlessly. Cramps gnaw at my stomach, dulling my appetite in favor of nausea. “She’s going to Arizona for a fresh start at a new life. Give the girl a break; she’s been through enough.”
“Speaking of having been through enough and fresh starts, have you given my offer any more consideration?”
I lean back in the booth and meet his deep blue gaze. “You mean the offer to be your personal maidservant?”
He smiles, purposely showing me his half-eaten food because he knows it grosses me out. “You haven’t done my laundry since last year.”
“I’m not a football wife anymore. The only laundry I’m responsible for is my own.”
Alex glowers at his plate, stabbing his steak with more force than necessary. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it to Papou’s funeral. I tried to get away earlier. I really did.”
“I know. Your meetings in Orlando were scheduled before he passed. Life doesn’t stop for death.”
Or grief. Or broken hearts. Or mistakes. Or random horrific events. Or…
“What’s holding you back?” He trains his eyes on me. “There’s nothing for you here.”
“What is there for me in Orlando?”
“Me.”
Genuine laughter sneaks out of my chest. It feels foreign. “And what will I tell everyone? ‘Yes, I have a bachelor’s degree in general business. No, I don’t use it. I make amazing money doing Alex Fossoway’s laundry.’ Does that about cover it?”
“You could always be my business manager.”
“You have an agent for that.” I glance at my phone, wondering where Mike is. He hasn’t texted, even though he was supposed to be back from Albany hours ago.
“My agent negotiates my contract with the team and with any sponsors. Totally separate entity.”
I raise an eyebrow at Alex as he continues to shovel food in his mouth. “What would I manage, then? Your black book? Do you need me to vet your jersey chasers and have them sign NDAs? That seems like a job for an attorney.”
He wipes his mouth with his napkin before placing it on his plate. “I have not been sleeping around, and you know it.”
I do know it. Something about mine and Rob’s breakup seemed to shake Alex loose from the hold mindless sex had on him. He’s had a few casual encounters, but not nearly the quantity he had before.
“Jeremy and Alyssa moved to New York City. I was honestly thinking about going up there for a while.” It’s not NYU, but that ship has sailed. There are no do-overs in life. Still, disappearing into a city of millions of strangers seems more appealing now than it ever has.
“Do you have any idea how expensive New York is? You wouldn’t last a month in that concrete jungle.”
I push my plate away as my temper flares and another round of stabbing pain washes over my abdomen. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. You sound like Mike. I’m exploring my options and getting my shit together. You make it seem like I’m a child who needs someone to hold my hand and wipe my ass.”
Job listings, grad school applications, apartment hunting, health screenings. I’ve been adulting far too hard since Papou’s death, and a break is nowhere in sight.
Alex reaches across the table, threading our fingers together. “Hey. Don’t be that way. I’m not trying to treat you like a child. As your friend, I want to know you’ve got a solid plan. And I want you to know that plan can always include me. I’ll never let you down. Promise.”
I believe him. In an unpredictable turn of events, Alex is the only man in my life who has never let me down. “In that case, can we bail? I don’t feel very well.”
“Cramps, huh?” Alex throws some bills on the table, then helps me out of my side of the booth.
“Yeah.” I glance up at him in surprise as he steers me out of the restaurant with a gentle hand on my back. “How’d you know?”
He wiggles his phone at me. “I got this really cool app.”
This is a far cry from the Alex who went ape shit over my pads in his dorm room freshman year.
“Did Rob tell you about that?”
Alex smirks as he unlocks his car and opens the door for me. “Yeah. Way back in the day. I guess the guy wasn’t all bad.”
“He was never bad,” I insist, facing him in the doorway of his Lexus. “You should maybe talk to him before you leave next month. I’m sure he misses you.”
“He knows my number. He can call me any time he wants.”
“Maybe he would if he realized you don’t hate him.”
“I never said I hated him.”
“Alex,” I shoot him a deadpan expression. “The night he confessed to you it really was him who got caught in the weight room, you told him you wanted to chop off his dick and feed it to all the cheerleaders he hates so much.”
Alex nods, not even trying to deny it or make excuses for his behavior. “You’re saying this like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is a bad thing. You also called him a cock weasel, a coward, a spineless snake, and let’s not forget the cherry on top. You said he was turning into his father.”
“Your point?”
“My point is you’re wrong. Rob is nothing like his father. Thank you for sticking up for me, but I don’t need it. I broke up with Rob, not the other way around. He begged me to stay; I said no.”
Alex leans into my personal space until I feel his breath fanning across my lips. “If nothing I said that night was true, you wouldn’t have had a reason to leave.”
“You don’t get it, Alex.”
“Don’t I?”
“No,” I emphasize. “And I hope you never do. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
The doctor’s diagnosis rings in my ears. No cure…maintenance treatments…chronic.
Hopeless.
“You’re starting to look a little green, Papageorgiou.” Alex softens. “Let’s get you home.”
“What happened to you?” I nudge Mike’s prone body, lying face down in the middle of his mattress. “You were supposed to meet Alex, Mallory and I for her going-away dinner two hours ago. Did your flight get delayed?”
“Ugh,” he groans, then rolls over to blink at me with sleepy eyes. “So tired. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a house with six bedrooms and six bathrooms within driving distance to downtown Albany?”
“Why does a single guy need such a big house?” I plop down on the mattress next to him, wondering if I’ll be able to get up again. Exhaustion blankets my bones.
He rolls his head to stare at me like I’m dense. “A room and separate bathroom for me, one for my mom, one for each of my sisters, one for you, and one for a home gym. Obviously.”
Typical Mike. Always thinking of others. “Okay. Why so many bathrooms?”
“I grew up with three women. Trust me, I know sharing bathrooms does not go over well.”
Pain jabs at my stomach, so I roll onto my side in a futile effort to dull the sharpness. “We can share a bathroom when we come visit for your games. And I know this is going to come as a shock, but we don’t need our own separate bedrooms just for a weekend.”
“Who said anything about a weekend?”
Judging by his expression, he’s totally serious.
“Mike,” I sigh. “Your sisters don’t know where they’re going to college yet. Your mom has a life in Ironville, and I’m not living with you. You’re against incest, remember?”
He makes a gagging sound. “I didn’t say we were going to sleep together. That’s why all the separate rooms. Besides, my sisters will go to school in Albany, and then mom will move up there to be with all her kids.”
“And have they told you this?”
“No, but it’s the perfect set up. Why wouldn’t they?”
God bless his big heart, but the man absolutely cannot fathom letting people make their own decisions. He’s a natural problem solver. He doesn’t realize he has a tendency to smother those he loves.
“What if they have their own plans?”
“I just signed a five-year, six-million-dollar contract. The girls never have to wear second hand clothes again. Mom can have a new car and the big, formal dining room she’s always wanted for Thanksgiving dinners. You can be my number one fan.”
I’m already someone else’s number one fan.
“Your sisters like thrift shopping, Mike. In spite of what you think, it’s actually considered cool now, and a part of their style. And how would my family feel if I just up and hauled to New York to suddenly be part of your family?”
“We share a family. Have since we were twelve. They can move to New York, too. I have enough money to take care of all of us.”
A smile splits my lips. I want to be frustrated with him, but that’s impossible when his motivation is so obviously pure. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.”
He raises his eyebrows. “You’re running out of time, little sister. Our lease is up next month. You need to make a plan and stick with it.”
Now, where have I heard that before?
“Alex wants me to move to Orlando with him.”
Mike laughs. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“Why would I move to Albany?”
“Because I’m your brother,” he responds immediately. “Alex is just a friend.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know how highly you think of him.” I pull myself off the bed, tabling this discussion for when I can think more clearly.
“Where are you going?”
Frankly, I’m probably going to be worshipping the porcelain God soon. “I feel like shit. I think I’m going to take a nap, too.”
“You need anything?” Mike calls as I make my way across the hall to my own room.
“No.” My voice cuts out as the floor tilts beneath my feet. Dizziness overtakes me. I must have gotten up too fast. That, or I’m still getting used to the medication the doctor prescribed. I need to find a job with healthcare benefits, and fast.
But, first, I just need to…