Rundown (Curveball Book 2) (5 page)

Brett’s
right but I’m too pissed.  Now she wants to talk?  Why
the hell does she care all of a sudden?  The rational part of my
brain tells me that she tried to get ahold of me the same night we
fought, so it’s really not all of a sudden.  But the majority
of my brain, the pissed off part, blocks the rational thoughts out.

“
What
exactly did you tell her?” I ask.

“
Just
that you had business to take care of and that you were leaving town
for a while.”

Standing
up, I dig my phone out of my pocket and turn it on.  I sit back
down and see that I have several text messages, three voicemails and
a dozen missed calls from Breanne.  There are also two messages
from my parents, one from Agent Patterson and one from Brett. 
 Frustrated, I hold my face in one hand and throw my phone into
the next seat with the other.

“
You
wish you hadn’t turned your phone off, don’t you?”

“
It’s
a little too late to tell anyone now,” I say.  I sound bitter
and I am. 

“
I
thought you might feel that way,” Brett stands. 

I
look at Brett.  “I can’t call her this early.  I don’t
even know what to say.”

“
You
should try to figure it out quickly.”  Brett looks to my right
and I follow his gaze.

Standing
before me is a red-eyed, blotchy faced Breanne in sweatpants, a
sweatshirt and the turquoise running shoes I sent her, flanked by her
own security detail.   My mouth drops open―I’m
literally speechless. 

“
I’m
going to grab us some coffee.  I’ll be back,” Brett tells us
and then disappears. 

I
stand and fist my hands in my back pockets to keep from reaching out
to her.  Judging by her appearance I’d say she’s been crying
a lot and hasn’t slept that much either.  Seeing her like this
guts me, and I have to remind myself that she did this to us.  

“
What
are you doing here?” I ask.

Breanne’s
bottom lip begins quivering, and I can tell she’s trying hard not
to cry.  I reach out to her without thinking, wanting to console
her.  Just as my hand makes contact with her arm, she narrows
her eyes and swats me away.   

“
Whoa!”
 Taken aback by her reaction, I defensively hold up my hands and
step backwards until my legs hit the chair I was just sleeping in. 

With
tears streaming down her face, she takes a step forward and shoves my
shoulders.   
Shit, she’s pissed! 
 How
the hell can
she
be pissed at
me
?   She’s
the one who broke things off, I remind myself again. 

“
Why
haven’t you called me back?”

“
I’ve
been busy,” I tell her.   

Busy
trying to drink you out of my mind.

“
I’ve
been trying to contact you for days,” she hisses.  “You were
really just going to leave with things like this between us?”

“
Just
following your lead,” I snap a little too harshly. 

She
looks as if I’d just slapped her.  Breanne takes a step back,
her eyes shifting to the window, staring at the plane I’ll be
boarding shortly, as it’s being prepared. 

O’Conner
approaches me.  “Mr. Scott, might I suggest you two have this
conversation in a more private place?”  I glance over his
shoulder and become aware that the airport is now filling up with
travelers, many who are watching the two of us.   We follow
behind O’Conner, who ushers us to a door that leads to a private
lounge for pilots.  He and Everett sweep the lounge, and after
confirming that it’s empty, they leave us to our conversation. 

“
I
guess I deserve that,” she says fidgeting with her hands.

“
Breanne,”
I start, but I have no idea what to say.  I can see she’s
hurting and I’m torn between being hurt myself and wanting to fix
this for her.  “You can’t show up like this.”

“
Did
you listen to any of my messages?” she asks.

“
No,”
I admit.  Before I had no desire to listen to what she had to
say.  I didn’t want apologies or pointless explanations.  Now,
I at least wish I knew what they were about.

She
nods her head slowly and bites her lip. 

“
I’m
sorry to intrude like this,” she throws her hands out to her sides
and shrugs.  “I just couldn’t let you leave without seeing
you; without getting the chance to tell you face to face that I’m
sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt you.  I just wasn’t
ready to hear that you felt that way,” Breanne’s purser her lips
as she tries to regain composure.  “And I—“

“
That’s
what you came here to say?  That you didn’t mean to hurt me?”
I cut her off. 

“
Damn
it, will you let me finish?” She waits a few seconds and then
continues.  “I wasn’t ready to acknowledge how I felt
either.”  She chokes back her tears.  “I thought I knew
what love felt like, but this,” she says, gesturing between the two
of us.  “I’ve never felt this way and I was scared.”

“
And
I wasn’t?” I shout.  “So, what?  You just woke up
this morning and realized that you no longer had me at your beck and
call, so you decided to come here?”

“
What? 
No!” she scoffs.   “I’m here because I love you and I
need you to know that.”

“
You
don’t get to say that.”

“
It’s
the truth,” she insists.  “You know I love you.”

“
I
was wrong.   I’ve done nothing other than think about us,
Breanne.   And I’ve…”

“
Moved
on?” she asks.

Moved
on?  Does she really think I could do that so quickly, or ever?
 
 I exhale and run my hands through my hair. 

“
I
know about the woman at the bar,” she sighs.  “So that’s
it?  One tramp is all it took for you to forget me?”

I
don’t even know how to respond to that.  

“
Did
you even love me?   Or is that something you say to get
women into bed?” 

Now,
I’m really pissed.  
Is she trying to pick a fight?

“
If
I recall correctly I didn’t need to tell you that before you got
into my bed.”

Breanne’s
mouth flattens into a tight line.  I probably shouldn’t have
snapped like that, though on some level, I’ve purposely hurt her. 
I want her to know what I’ve been going through and I’m not
convinced she’s truly had a change of heart. 

“
You’re
right,” she admits.  “You didn’t need to say a word, and
neither did I, because deep down I already knew how we felt about
each other.   My head just need to catch up…and I’m so,
so sorry for that.   Please give me a chance to explain.  I
want to make this better.”

“
I’d
love an explanation.  Why don’t you start with all the guilt
you felt from moving on from Mark?  Has that magically
disappeared?”

She
takes a deep breath.  “The only thing I feel guilt over now,
is giving you a reason to doubt how I feel about you.”

“
I
bet.”

We
stare at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time.  I’m
speechless, yet she’s waiting for some kind of response and I don’t
have a good one.   Being with her is all I can think of,
it’s what I want.   But I don’t want to go through this
up and down bullshit.  And I don’t have it in me to recover
from her leaving again.

“
You
left.  What do you want me to say?   Days ago you were
adamant that you didn’t love me, and now all of a sudden you do.
 Either way you lied about something, and I’m not sure if I
can trust you.”

She
nods slowly and takes two steps backwards.  “I know that I’ve
hurt you, but I’m not giving up on us, Drew.  It’s clear
you’re not ready to talk.   Just think about what I’ve said
and call me when you get back.”

“
That
may be a problem.”

“
What
do you mean?” she asks.

“
I’m
not coming back.”

Her
lips part as the color drains from her face and fresh tears pool in
her eyes.  “W-what do you mean?”

“
I’m
meeting with the San Francisco Giants.  Brett’s confident that
they’re going to make me an offer,” I explain, watching her
shoulders slump. 

Her
hands momentarily cover her eyes as she slowly shakes her head.  She
maintains her posture for a long minute before her hands drag down
her face and come to rest over her mouth.

“
Why?”
she whispers.

Seeing
her come apart is too much.  My resolve is breaking and my
confusion is at an all-time high.  Right now I really need my
anger to come back.  I want to scream ‘
Because you broke
me’,
but I’m losing my ability to fight.  My gaze falls
to her feet.   

“
You’re
running from me, aren’t you?” she asks, reading my mind.

“
My
contract with the Red Sox is up.  I have no reason to stay.”

“
What
about us?” she asks.

“
What
about us?” I retort, raising my eyes to meet hers.

I
watch her swallow her sobs and clench her eyes shut. 

“
I
love you.”  Breanne takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. 

I
hold her gaze, but say nothing.

“
I
love you,” she says more adamantly as she takes a step towards me.

“
Don’t.”
 This is practically the same conversation we had a week ago as
we sat in her car outside this very airport.  
Now does she
realize how bad it feels to be on the other side?  
 Part
of me hopes so.

“
Stop
being so stubborn!  I. Love. You.”  She takes three
more steps until she’s less than a foot away.  I put my hand
out to stop her.

“
Just
stop!  Damn it, Breanne.  You really want to know what I’m
thinking?  I’ve never told anyone that I love them before and
you just walked out.”  Breanne’s opens her mouth to speak. 
“I’m just getting started,” I blurt out before she gets the
chance to reply.   She visibly gulps and nods so I
continue.

“
I
handed you my heart and you fucking crushed it.  I know you
thought you were doing me a favor, but that wasn’t your choice to
make.  Just like me leaving isn’t your choice.  You put
up road blocks left, right and center, finding every excuse possible
for why we wouldn’t work.   

“
I
couldn’t have cared less about your age, or even the fact that you
don’t want more kids.  I wanted you and a chance to build
relationships with Colin, Aubrey and Maddie.  I wasn’t trying
to replace their father.  I wanted to make my own memories with
all of you, without having to constantly feel like you were thinking
that I was trying to move in on someone else’s territory.  I
never would have let my job, or anything else come between us.  I
only wanted you, and I never would have hurt you.”

“
I
want all of that too,” she cries. “Whatever I have to do to prove
myself to you, just tell me and I’ll do it,” she begs.

“
You
made your choice.”

Breanne
watches me carefully, trying to assess the seriousness of what I’ve
just said.  Her shoulders sag and her head follows suit.
 She respires, appearing defeated as she continues contemplating
our situation.  After several minutes, she dries her eyes on the
sleeve of her shirt and walks towards me.  When there’s barely
any distance between us she takes one of my hands in both of hers,
and folds our combined limbs at the center of her chest.