AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s up your ass?” he asked, and I knew arguing with him would lead nowhere. He wasn’t the one I was having issues with, so why was I taking it out on him?
“Nothing, bro. I’m just tired," I whispered as I rubbed my temples. “I’m gonna go home early today,” I said as I got up from the bench, and Leo snickered.
“Must be nice to be retiring, huh? You get to go home early,” he teased, and I rolled my eyes. “Old ass man,” he mumbled, and I chuckled as I pulled my bag up my shoulder.
“When you retire, I’ll be sure to return the kind words,” I said as I raised my middle finger and walked away from the training field after bidding goodbye to Coach Anderson and a few other players.
As I walked through the admin hallways, I could hear hushed whispers and decided to visit Naomi’s office. Maybe she was in. I knocked on her door, and no reply came. As I tried to open the door, a soft voice stopped me, telling me my efforts were futile.
“Are you looking for Miss Collins?” I turned to face the woman, and she was dressed in formal wear. She was one of the administrators for the company.
“Yeah.” I answered as I pushed my hands inside my pockets. She offered a kind smile and moved her mug from her left hand to her right hand.
“Miss Collins took the week off. I think she’s sick or something, but she doesn’t sound well. We’ll inform the other players tomorrow.” I thanked her and walked away quicker than I did when I was heading to her office.
If she was sick, why didn’t she tell me anything? She didn’t have to, but I thought she would at least let me know so that I wouldn’t be so worried about her like I was.
Throwing my duffle bag in the backseat of my car, I rushed to the nearest pharmacy and purchased the basic flu medication. Am I overreacting? Sure, I could say that I was overreacting, but I should do something to show her that I did care about her and that I wanted to look after her well-being.
I noticed the chocolates she was obsessed with and decided to throw those in the basket among the other many things that I picked up for her. Maybe I was going a bit overboard.
Luckily, I knew where she lived because I’d once picked her up from her place when we were going out for dinner, and I’d dropped her off more times than I could count. Grabbing the items I had bought, I walked up the stoop and knocked on the door.
It was quite a historic house, but they did well in keeping it maintained. The lawn was lush green and the house paint was quite fresh. They probably applied a fresh coat every two years or so.
What’s up with Chicago houses having so many windows on the front of the house?
“Can I help you?” a rich voice said, and I looked up at the woman, shocked. I hadn’t noticed her standing there. Her light brown eyes watched mine intently as I struggled to find the words.
“Hi, ma’am.” Why do I feel so much younger than I actually am? “Is Naomi home?” I finally asked, and she looked behind her before she looked at me and sighed softly. The answer was yes, but she didn’t want to see me.
A series of loud thuds sounded throughout the house; someone was coming down the stairs. “Who is it, Mia?” Noah’s voice echoed throughout the house, and I cursed under my breath as I stared at the rusty welcome home rug. I didn’t think he would be home. Either way, this was the famous Mia with whom Naomi was so in love?
“Alexander, is it?” she asked with a small smile, and I nodded. I guessed she knew all about us. “It’s Alex,” she called out, and the door was pulled wider.
Fuck!
“What are you doing here?” Noah asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Fuck, he was the last person I wanted to deal with. I knew he was not going to want to listen to anything I had to say. I have two sisters that I’m very protective over, and it’s not like I made dating in high school easy for them. And I knew this hostility that he was projecting toward me very well.
I had been there, and I could tell when I had lost, but did that mean I was going to give up and n0t fight for her? Fuck no. If he lost it and beat me up, I was totally okay with that, as long as she knew that I’d tried.
“I’m here to see Naomi. I heard she was sick.” I raised the flowers and medication that filled my arms. I lifted my head to not seem intimidated even though I was shitting my fucking pants. “Is she home?” I asked, and he raised his eyebrow.
“She is, but you don’t need to be buying her anything. Go back!” he instructed, and had I been any younger, I would have quickly turned around and walked away with my tail stuck between my legs, but I had come this far, and I was not going to end here.
“No, sir. I want to see Naomi.” I swallowed hard. “Please,” I whispered, and he snarled, visibly tightening his arms against his chest. Intimidating, but I was not going anywhere.
“No!” he roared, and all I could think of was how much time he had spent with Coach Anderson. My heart wouldn’t stop beating hard against my ribcage. I was pretty terrified of Noah, but what I was even more afraid of was Naomi actually never wanting to see me anymore.
“Mr Collins—” I started, and he roared again, shocking me.
“What?!”
“Let him speak!” Mia whispered harshly as she pinched his elbow, and he winced, letting his arms fall on his sides. His eyes changed from hard to soft in an instant as he looked at her. He must love her.
He looked at her the same way I looked at Naomi, and how stupid I was to not realize what it was exactly that I felt for her. I wasn’t interested just because she intrigued me and was daring. That wasn’t the reason I kept on wanting to spend time with her—not because she would listen to me and not assume what I was feeling, but because she listened to me and that was where it ended. Her listening to me, without making my emotions feel any less valid than they were. When I finally talked about my father and how I started playing baseball because I thought our relationship would develop further, she didn’t judge me for my stupid childish decision, but instead she commended me for making efforts to bridge my relationship with him.
