Page 100 of Anti Player

“Give me a minute,” he says. He mutters something to Ellie about watching Syd. He tells her he has me on the phone.

The background noise falls silent. “’Kay, you got my attention. What’s going on?”

“I’m in love with Maddie,” I blurt.

Connor laughs. “No shit. Are you just realizing this now?”

“Yes, no, honestly I’ve wanted her ever since we were younger, but yeah, I think I realized when I was back home that I’m in love with her, but I’m going to lose her and I don’t know what to do.”

“What makes you think you’re going to lose her?” he asks.

“She’s leaving New York, moving to Texas to follow her dream of going to some hot-shot culinary school there,” I explain.

“For starters, you should tell her how you feel,” he advises.

“I don’t know if she feels the same,” I say.

“Oh, she feels the same,” he assures with a chuckle like I’m dense.

“How could you know that?” I ask.

Again, he snickers. “Because I’m not blind, dude. We all saw how much you two were in love that day at Coney Island. You two were like a couple of lovesick teenagers who couldn’t control themselves. Do I need to remind you what happened on that Ferris wheel?”

“That’s quite all right,” I assure my friend. “She wouldn’t be leaving if she had feelings for me.”

“I disagree,” he says.

“I’m not following.”

“Have you given her any reason to think you may be interested in her past your little arrangement?” he asks.

“No,” I humph. “I promised her we would be fun. That I’d help her forget the douchebag who screwed her over. I promised her that her heart was safe with me. How can I take that all back and tell her I want it all?”

“Is her heart safe with you?” he questions.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Damn, Kaleb, you’re clueless. I’m asking if what you’re feeling is real. If you’re going to cherish her heart and do everything to make her happy?”

“I’d really like for that to happen, Connor. I’d do my best,” I say.

“Then you really aren’t going back on your word. You care for her, meaning her heart is safe with you.”

“She’s leaving,” I remind.

“Well, bro, you can’t expect her to give up on her dreams,” he says.

“I’d never want her to do that,” I agree. “I’m going to need to follow her to Texas, but my contract doesn’t come up until next year.”

“Enough couples do the long-distance thing. Besides, how long will her program be?” he asks.

“I’m not sure. We didn’t really talk about it. She kind of told me she was leaving when she told her brothers she was accepted. We didn’t have any alone time back home. The house was small, and Brett and Henry were there. No way was I willing to risk touching her and having those two beat me up.”

“Speaking of Brett,” Connors says. “You need to come clean to him. If you’re serious about his sister, I’d imagine he’d be okay. I’ve seen you with Asher and I think you’re great with him.” His acknowledgement does something to my insides. Connor is an amazing dad and his opinion matters to me.

“I really love Asher. We have a special bond,” I reply, feeling choked up.

“I could tell, and I’m guessing Maddie sees it too. You know that he and Maddie are a package deal, right?”