“I missed you at the game yesterday.”

“I missed being there. It was lonely cheering for you at the house all by myself. I mean, the game was awesome, of course, but not the same as being there.”

“So why didn’t you come?”

“I had work.”

He took a large bite of spring roll, swallowed, then took a drink of water before answering with, “That’s a load of crap, Mia. You can’t keep hiding behind work.”

She sighed. “Nathan told you.”

“Yeah, but only after I accused him of hurting you.”

She frowned. “Oh, you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“It was me, Flynn. I broke up with him.”

“You can tell me it’s none of my business, but you know I’m always here for you if you want to talk.”

She knew that was true. And Flynn of all people would understand.

“Two weeks ago after the game we were all gathered outside the locker room and Nathan had his arm around me. The press was out there, too. That was the day we were all headed over to Mick and Tara’s for a postgame celebration.”

“I remember that. You decided not to come.”

“I surfed some social media sites after that, and they had linked Nathan and me together. I got scared.”

“Because you don’t want to be linked to Nathan? Why? Because of MHC?”

“No. Okay, partly yes because some articles implied I was using Nathan to benefit my company.”

“Assholes.”

“True. But I can handle that. It was mainly because of Nathan’s career. Because I didn’t want the press to focus on the whole Cassidy/Riley dynasty thing to the detriment of his career. One photo of the two of us together and that’s all the media covered. Not how well Nathan played that day, but how Nathan Riley and Mia Cassidy were a couple.”

Flynn took a sip of water and looked at her. “I see. So you broke up with him because of that.”

“Yes.”

“And you think that would matter to Nathan?”

“It matters to me. As someone who manages athletes, it matters how they’re perceived, and what the press focuses on. Nathan’s just starting out and the attention should be on his performance on the field. Not on what he’s doing off of it.”

Their lunch arrived, so Flynn didn’t say anything else for a while. Mia tried to enjoy her miso soup, but she wanted to know what was on her brother’s mind, so she ended up leaving half of it.

“Well?” she finally asked.

“Well, what?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you should talk to Nathan. Tell him the truth, and then the two of you should decide what’s best for both of you. I don’t think it’s up to you to make a decision about his career, Mia.”

She sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. But I did what I thought was right.”

“So you don’t really care about him.”

She threw her napkin on the table. “How can you say that? I broke up with him because I love him.”

Flynn laughed. “Yeah. That’s how you tell someone you love them. By telling them you don’t want to see them anymore.”

“Screw you, Flynn.”

Their waitress came over to refill their water glasses, so that silenced her for a few minutes, which was probably a good thing, because she was about to blow up at her brother in a public restaurant. Instead, she took a couple of deep breaths and a few sips of water to calm herself down.

“How is Nathan?” she asked.

“He seems a little pissed.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

Flynn reached over and grabbed her hand. “I know you think you did the right thing. But you didn’t give him a chance to be a part of this decision you made. And knowing Nathan, I don’t think he would have been on board with your idea.”

“But—”

“But nothing, Mia. If he cares about you like I think he does, it won’t matter. And honestly? The media is hot on a topic one week, and the next week they’re on to something else. It might not be as big a deal as you think it is.”

“Of course it shouldn’t matter. But the timing of it sucked. Nathan’s career is a priority right now.”

“Nathan might think you’re just as important a priority. Don’t you think you should give him the chance to prove that to you?”

“I guess.” She was kind of surprised by Flynn taking Nathan’s side. She’d worried for so long about how her brothers would react to her dating Nathan. Flynn didn’t seem surprised—or even bothered by it. In fact, he seemed pissed that she’d broken up with Nathan.

“So talk to him.”

“I will.”

They walked back to her office and she hugged him outside. “Thank you for lunch, and for listening. And I guess for the lecture.”

He laughed and gave her a tight squeeze. “That’s what big brothers are for. To give you all that unwanted advice you need.”

“I love you, Flynn.”

“Love you, too, Mia. Now go talk to Nathan.”

After Flynn left, she rode the elevator back up to her office, and realized Flynn was right.

She’d made unilateral decisions without discussing her thoughts or her feelings with Nathan. And without taking his feelings into consideration.

She’d made a colossal mistake, and she needed to talk to Nathan.

If he even wanted to speak to her anymore.

But she loved him, she missed him and she was going to make him listen to her. After that, it was up to him.

THIRTY-SEVEN

NATHAN WAS SLUGGISH DURING PRACTICE. ALL DURING drills today he’d felt like he was dragging a Chevy through the turf. Even his coach had noticed and told him more than once to pick up his own ass and run.

He’d never been happier to see the end of a practice. He’d stood under the running water in the shower for what seemed like an eternity, hoping it would wash away the tons of turf he’d eaten when his defense had knocked him down over and over again.

There wasn’t a part of his body that didn’t hurt like hell. What he wanted right now was a damn beer and a cheeseburger.

“You look like you’ve been run over by a truck,” Flynn said as he passed by his locker.

“Feel like it, too.”

“I’ve had rough practices like these before. Some days are just like that. You need to shake it off.”

“I plan to. With a beer and a cheeseburger.”

“Ninety-Two makes the best cheeseburgers in the city. Let me treat you to one.”

He wasn’t in the mood to socialize. He’d planned to grab something on the way home and nurse his aches and pains on the sofa, but Flynn was a veteran and he could probably use some insight into why he’d been dragging ass on the field today. So he nodded. “Sure. That sounds great. Thanks.”

“Okay. Meet you there.”

Flynn left and Nathan sat there for several minutes, trying to summon the energy to get dressed.

He had to start getting his shit together. They had a tough game coming up this weekend against Dallas and he had to get his mind-set right.

Last night he’d stayed up way too late thinking about calling Mia. Or going over to Mia’s place and making her talk to him.

God, he missed her. He thought by now he’d be over her. It had been three weeks. He always got over women fast.

But he’d never loved a woman before. Not the real love kind of love. This really fucking hurt. Getting over her wasn’t going to be easy.

Maybe he needed to text her, to ask her to meet with him so they could talk things out, so she could make him understand what the fuck had happened.

Closure. What he needed was that mystical closure thing people talked about when relationships ended. He’d always laughed about that when his friends talked about it or he saw it portrayed on TV. What the fuck was closure anyway?

Whatever it was, he needed it so he could move the hell on with his life.

He got dressed and drove into the city, parking in the lot at Ninety-Two. By the time he got there, he decided that the closure thing was overrated. What he needed was a beer and a cheeseburger and an awesome game on Sunday.