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I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit,” she whispered. “Come on, this is me you’re talking to. I realize I may not be your favorite person and I understand why, but it’s still safe to talk to me.”
I sighed. “Haley, it’s nothing like that. I’m just worried.”
“About what?” she demanded.
“About you,” I told her honestly. “I caught some asshat trying to take pictures of you tonight. You were minding your own business, and this guy was hiding in the bushes like a creep snapping pictures of you.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Oh,” she said, sounding oddly relieved. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean, that’s it? It’s a huge violation of your privacy.”
She nodded. “You think I don’t know that? I’m not a fan of it either, but to tell you the truth, I’m surprised it took them this long to find me—it was nice while it lasted.”
“Would you listen to yourself? You shouldn’t have to deal with that. You deserve to be left in peace.”
She looked at me patiently, stepping closer so I could see the resignation in her eyes. “I’m not disagreeing with you, Cooper. But I had to accept this as part of the deal when I got engaged to Marcus—there would be photographers and unflattering pictures, and a lack of privacy—no matter how much I hate it.”
This whole situation made my blood boil with anger. “That may have been the case before Haley, but you’re no longer engaged to that jackass and you’re definitely not his wife,” I said, spitting out the last two words, hating to refer to her as someone else’s wife. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this anymore.”
She sighed, frustrated. “Cooper, you of all people should know that’s not how any of this works. Did they stop hounding you just because you weren’t playing anymore?”
“We’re not talking about me, Haley...”
“Why not? You had to deal with the press, too. This isn’t any different,” she insisted.
“The hell it isn’t.” I argued.
“How?”
“Because I was a famous professional athlete,” I growled out, “and now I’m going to have to break the hand of every slimy paparazzi who’s trying to make a buck off of you.”
She smiled softly at me. “While I appreciate your enthusiasm, it’s not necessary. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, Haley, but I’m asking you to let me help you. You don’t have to take on the world alone.”
Something flashed in her eyes, and her lips twisted into a wry smile. “That’s kind of the point of not sharing your burdens—to protect the ones you love.”
“It’s a fine line between love and martyrdom.”
Her eyes narrowed on me then, and she shook her head. “What would you know about it, Cooper? You can play big and bad protector all you want, but you have no idea what it means to protect someone you love from something that would hurt them. It’s not always breaking hands and puffing up with machismo. Most of the time, they’re sacrifices no one else sees.”
“Don’t talk in riddles, Haley. What did you have to sacrifice? I don’t believe for a second it was the catastrophe of a wedding you ran away from. We both know damn well you’ve been running for longer than that.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she shook her head. “Don’t go there, Cooper,” she warned.
Maybe I should have heeded her warning, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “No, Haley, you put it out there, so now I want to know what these sacrifices are you speak so cryptically of. What did you give up that hurt you so badly?”
“You!” she spit out, tears falling freely now. “You. Are you happy now? It was you, Coop.”
It felt like she’d punched me in the gut. I shook my head in confusion. “What do you mean, me?”
She turned away from me, swiping the tears away from her cheeks. “I thought I was doing the right thing by walking away from you—I thought I’d be in the way.”
Her words didn’t make any sense. “Why would you ever think that? What did I do to give you that idea?”
She shook her head emphatically. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said.
