Play Maker(59)

“What the f*ck is that?” I blurted out, causing half the diner to turn and stare at me.

Ethan looked up towards the TV and then gestured for one of the waitress to turn up the volume.

“James Martin, famed British soccer star—”

“Football,” Ethan and I both muttered in unison.

“—was caught in a compromising position last night outside a Los Angeles night club. Martin was in town for an exhibition a few weeks ago and it looks like he’s brought his Play Maker reputation along for his stay in the states.”

“That is not me,” I told Ethan, who had already pulled out his phone.

He nodded. “Of course not.”

I stared up at the screen with a sinking sensation in my chest. I had managed to keep myself – and Nicole – out of the tabloids during my visit. Especially after the shots of Mikey and I had been circulated, I enlisted Ethan to do everything he could to keep our faces out of the papers and away from gossip columnists in both the magazines and TV. And he had done a good job.

What I hadn’t done was tell Rick – who was one of the players taking an extended vacation – that he needed to stop pretending to be me when he went out on the town. Clearly he had been having a good time while he was here. I needed to call him immediately. I grabbed my phone, and punched in my password. Immediately a photo of Nicole, Mikey and I, one that he had set as my background, smiled up at me.

Fuck. Fuck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck.

I put my face in my hands, knowing that Nicole’s mom was an avid reader and watcher of this kind of media. This was not good. I threw down several bills and gestured to Ethan. We needed to get out of there and I needed to get to Nicole. Right now.





35





Nicole





I knew something was wrong the moment I saw my mom’s expression. She met me at the door, her face ashen, Mikey’s laptop pressed to her chest.

“What’s wrong?” I dropped the groceries I was carrying, not caring that they spilled out onto the entryway. “Where’s Mikey?”

“In his room,” my mom said quickly. “He’s fine.”

I placed a hand over my racing heart. “Thank god.” I bent and began wrangling the rolling apples and other wayward groceries back into the bag. As long as Mikey was ok, it couldn’t be that bad.

“Sit down.” My mom put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I’ll take care of those.”

I was confused, but I did what she said.

“What’s going on?” I asked as she set up the laptop in front of me.

Several tabs were open, all to my mom’s favorite gossip sites. The one she had left on, however, had a video. I pressed play.

A photo of James appeared on the screen, next to a blurry picture of two people making out. Like hardcore making out.

“James Martin, famed British soccer star—” a reporter for TMZ was saying.

“Football,” I muttered.

“—was caught in a compromising position last night outside a Los Angeles night club. Martin was in town for an exhibition a few weeks ago and it looks like he’s brought his Play Maker reputation along for his stay in the states. Looks like old habits die hard.”

My blood ran cold. I pushed the laptop away, feeling sick to my stomach. No. This wasn’t happening. The paparazzi had left James alone. There had been no stories about him for weeks. Since we started dating. And yet…had this been going on the entire time? Had he been hiding other women and finally got caught?

“I’m so sorry, honey.” My mom came and sat in the chair next to me.

“It’s fine,” I said numbly, getting up from the table. Everything around me seemed to fade away and all I could see was that blurry photo of James making out with some other woman. I should have known better. I had wanted a playboy, hadn’t I? Well, I got exactly what I asked for. I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. I felt like a fool. I had believed him. I had believed him when he said he was crazy about me. Now it looked like I was the crazy one. For believing that a guy like him could commit to a girl like me.

“I’m going to go lie down,” I managed to say.

My mother said nothing, looking up at me with concern.

“Can you put the groceries away?” I asked, thinking that there was ice cream and it would melt if I left it out on the table.

“Of course.” My mom reached for my hand but I didn’t want her pity. And I really didn’t want her to say ‘I told you so.’ Then, a sharp pain went through me and I looked over towards Mikey’s room, towards his closed door.

“Does he know?” I asked, hearing the pain in my own voice. Poor Mikey, this would be so hard on him. Rage rushed through me. I never should have let Mikey meet James. He was going to be heartbroken to learn he could never see his friend again. Why had I trusted James? That was my first mistake. I should have known he would let me down eventually. Just like they always did.

My mom nodded, her lips pressed tightly together.

Everything inside me seemed to short-circuit and then I was crying. I never cried and now it was like I couldn’t stop, the tears heaving out of me like the world’s worst waterfall. I sank to the floor, sobbing.

It was my own fault. My own stupid fault for falling for him. For allowing myself to think he was different than other guys, for allowing myself to believe we had a future. I had gotten lost in the fantasy and now I was paying for it.