Right for Love(15)

Why hadn’t he told me he was coming back?

Why hadn’t I heard it before now? Usually, gossip tore around our little town like wildfire.

“Bye, Milo! Bye, Hawk!” Emerson waved enthusiastically as we walked away.

I could feel his eyes on us every step.

Every goddamn step, Hawk’s eyes were on me, just like they always had been.

It used to make warmth curl up inside my belly. Hawk took care of me like no one in my life ever had, which was why the anger he’d directed at me just now was like an iron dagger twisting in my back.

Hopefully, Hawk’s visit to Greenville would be short-lived, then Emerson and my life could go back to normal. Hawk was anything but normal, and I’d loved him for it at one time. But now, every time I thought about him, my chest hurt like an oncoming heart attack.

I’d done my best to keep my head down and mind my own business the last five years, and that wasn’t about to change, even if Hawk Larson was back in town.





    TWO





Hawk

My head fucking pounded.

My chest ached.

My teeth goddamn hurt from clenching my jaw so much.

I really had to work at controlling my anger better. I rubbed a hand across my face as I finished walking Milo around the park.

Of all the people to run into my first week back in town, and it was her.

And she had a kid.

Morgan had a fucking kid, and that kid wasn't mine. I’d been gone for too long for that kid to be mine, and that meant she’d fucking cheated on me.

Well, it wasn’t exactly cheating when she ripped my fucking heart out and left me bleeding on the floor.

No, that was a definite breakup.

But I guess, for me, it never had been. I’d been thinking about her nonstop. I couldn't get the soft touch of her lips against mine out of my head. The feel of her underneath me when I was sliding into her like a drug I was constantly chasing. The memory of the breathy sighs on her lips when I made her come. Morgan and I fit like puzzle pieces, a perfect set.

That was why I’d been so out of my mind when she’d left me.

I may have been the one to move out of state, but I would have married her, taken her with me, provided everything she needed. We could have lived the adventure together.

But instead, she told me she never wanted to see me again, and I believed her.

Instead of living life on the road with me, she stayed here, shacked up with someone else, and had the asshole’s baby.

I hated her.

Nothing good could come out of seeing her again, and suddenly the decision to move back home after I permanently injured my rotator cuff seemed like the worst decision yet.

“Fuck, Milo, we should have run the other way when we saw her coming. Trouble. Women are nothing but trouble,” I rambled to the pup. He turned, plopped on his ass, and hung his tongue out.

“Right. Glad we agree.” I shook my head. “Let’s go home, buddy. This has been too much crazy for one day.”

He wagged his tail and jumped to his feet.

“I’ve got shit to do anyway. Those fan letters won’t answer themselves, right?” I’d just received a huge box from my manager, fan mail, mostly from kids, that needed my reply. I had at least a few hours of signing photos and writing messages ahead of me.

I loved my fans; they're what kept me strong when two surgeries had failed to fix the problem. My pro career had been cut short, but truth be told, I was fine with that. Life on the road wasn’t for me. I was a simple guy; I liked to be at home. Crowds and team trips weren’t enjoyable. But I would always miss the fans. The look on the kids’ faces when they looked up at you, believing all of their dreams could come true. Hell, mine had. Every single dream I had had become a reality, except for maybe the most important one. Her.

Morgan Quinn had been haunting me since the day I walked away.

***

I stretched my hands before placing the last personalized letter on the top of the stack. My stomach chose that moment to rumble. There wasn’t an ounce of food in this house unless I wanted peanut butter and jelly again, which I didn’t. This place was only temporary until my new house was move-in ready. Five bedrooms, six baths, a pool, and a gated yard. All the privacy I could ever want and room to expand long-term. Even when I’d left for the NFL, I’d known I would be back one day.

Greenville, Indiana had always been my home. The slower pace and quiet atmosphere called to me.

Playing pro for the Bears had been great, but I’d just been biding my time and saving my cash until I could move back home and buy a place big enough to live out the rest of my days in.

I glanced over at Milo, feet up and snuggled deep into the couch. “Guess you’re not going anywhere.”

I pulled my keys off the table, shoved them deep into my pocket, and then walked out the door.