Revelation

BROOKE

After we all chat for a while, Katie excuses herself to the restroom, and Colin gets pulled away by a couple of other guys from Ashton’s team, leaving only me and Ashton at the table. “So, how’s your daughter?” he says. “Sydney, right?”

“Good memory,” I say with an awkward laugh. “I think the last time you and I talked, she was only three.”

He shrugs. “She’s important to you. I try to remember the stuff that’s important to you, even if we don’t talk much.”

“Well…Sydney…is good. She’s seven now. She loves football! The Bucs are her favorite team, actually.” I go on and on about Sydney; I can never help boring people with all my stories about her.

“I’m shocked,” I say, remembering suddenly. “John actually got her tickets to see you play against the Panthers next month.”

“Really, Moore did that?” Ashton sounds as surprised as I was.

“Maybe it’s an early Christmas present? Or maybe he’s finally making an effort with Sydney? Making up for all he’s missed in her life?”

Ashton hesitates and just nods, not making eye contact with me. “Listen, Brooke. I know back when we were together…maybe we, I…didn’t have a chance to fully figure things out before I left…”

He bows his head shyly. “I never wanted to hurt you…or leave you like that. I wanted you to come with me, actually, but I knew you wanted to finish school, and I would never think to make you choose between your career and me.”

Ashton sighs sadly. “You were always on my mind. The one that got away, I guess. Then when you got with Moore…it took me a while, but I was happy for you.

“All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, Brooke. And then when he left you like that? God! I wanted to kill him.” I reach my hand across the table to stop his rant before it can get rolling any further.

“Hey, there’s no need to explain yourself, Ashton. We were young, and it was a long time ago,” I say sweetly. Deep down, I know I’ll always feel the burn of how things between us ended, but I can move on.

Maybe I want him to feel a little sting too. “You had a choice to make, and you made it. I know how it is with you football guys by now.” I play the stinging comment off as a joke, but it’s not.

The truth is, it’s not just Ashton who hurt me, but all the guys I’ve been with. “But in all seriousness, I am happy for you, Ashton. Katie seems really nice, and you guys seem perfect for each other.”

Ashton looks up and seems to confirm that Colin’s in deep conversation with a Bucs player I vaguely recognize as the tight end before looking back at me. “He’s different from everyone else, Brooke.”

“Hmm?”

“Colin. He’s different from the rest of them. If you haven’t noticed it by now, then you’re fighting it.”

“What?”

“Colin likes you, a lot actually. I know how John hurt you. Hell! We all know how he went off the deep end, and we all want to kill him for what he did to you and your daughter. But Colin’s not like that.”

“Ashton…” I try to stop him before he can say something I’m not ready to hear.

“I’m glad you want to see me happy. I want to see you happy, too. You should give him a chance.”

He looks up again at Colin. “Man! He’s going to kill me for this!” Ashton hesitates for a moment. “I told him I wouldn’t say anything, even though I don’t agree with what he did…”

“What do you mean?” I ask, completely confused.

“John didn’t get those tickets. Colin did.”

My face drops in shock. “What?”

“Colin asked me to get two tickets to my game. He jumped through hoops to get the private box seats that we usually save for corporate sponsors. I came by your office today to drop them off.”

I blink. “But why? The envelope said it was from John.”

“Colin wanted you to think the tickets were from John. Don’t ask me why, and I couldn’t convince him otherwise. But he insisted he didn’t want you to know.”

Before I can gather my thoughts enough to ask more questions, Katie comes back from the restroom, looking exhausted. “Baby, all that dress shopping has wiped me out! Can we go back to the hotel now?” she asks.

“Of course, babe.” Ashton pulls her close, giving her a kiss, and the two of them say their goodbyes to me, Colin, and the rest of the guys who’ve wandered into the bar over the past hour.

Colin and I stay a little longer while he talks sports with the other Bucs guys. I feel stuck in my thoughts the entire time.

Why would Colin buy me those tickets? And why did he want me to think John did it? If he liked me and wanted me to give him a chance, then wouldn’t he want to give them as his gift?

For all he knows, an incredible gift like that could have sent me right back into John’s arms…I mean, not that that would ever happen, but I don’t think Colin knows that.

“Hey, you ready to head out?” Colin asks, jerking me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah.” We say our goodbyes to the gang and head out.

The whole way home I keep tossing my thoughts back and forth. Seriously, nothing about Colin’s choice here makes sense. And he doesn’t want me to know…so I can’t just ask him, although I’m dying to know his reason.

I’m so confused that my stomach has turned to knots as I go back over every little thing that has gone down between Colin and I. He paid Luna’s vet bill—and I did finally get the vet’s office to admit how much that cost.

Over seven thousand dollars! Seven! Thousand! Dollars! Why would he want to pay that bill? That was back when we barely knew each other!

At the time, I assumed he felt bad for me because he was witnessing my life in shambles. But I’ve never felt pity from him, not really. Was it pity after all? Is that what he’s doing with these tickets too?

Colin’s car comes to a slow stop outside my house. He gets out to come around to my side and opens the car door for me. Like a gentleman, he walks me to my front door.

“So, did you have fun tonight?” he asks with his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah,” I answer vaguely, still stuck in my thoughts.

“Ashton said he didn’t tell Katie about you because he knew you two would get along really well,” Colin explains lightly.

“Katie is very shy around other women, especially because Ashton has so many obsessive female fans. He didn’t want her to think of you as another woman she has to sort of compete with.”

“I get that.” I remember well how it always felt when I had to see John around other women, with their flirty smiles and plastic boobs pushed out. But Katie’s not my biggest concern right now.

Why? I keep thinking. Colin sways closer to me, as if he’s going in for a kiss. That’s it! I just have to know! “Why?” is all I can utter. My question stops his lips just inches from mine.

“Why what?”

“Why did you pretend those tickets were from John?” That’s it: the truth is out. I need an explanation.

Colin pulls away from me, running his hands through his hair. “Fucking Ashton!” he huffs under his breath. I just stand at my door, waiting for his response as the anger starts to pool in my chest.

“Have you been pitying me this entire time?”

“No. Brooke—” I cut him off, my voice escalating with anger.

“Because you should know I hate it more than anything when someone pities my unfortunate life!”

“Brooke!” Colin shouts over me. He cups my cheeks in his hands, forcing me to look him dead in the eyes.

“I don’t pity you. You’re the strongest woman I know!”

“Then why did you do it?” I ask through my teeth, trying not to cry.

“Sydney,” he says with a sigh that makes me believe he must actually be telling the truth. “She wouldn’t stop talking about how excited she was to see the game with her dad. It just broke my heart, and I know it breaks yours too.

“We both know he’d never take her. I thought you could take her instead, and at least she’d think her old man came through with the tickets.” He looks down at the porch step, guilty after his confession.

I feel the tears start streaming down my face as I stare in shock at Colin’s vulnerable, truthful eyes. And just like that, the foundational brick of my protective wall has moved aside, making it all come crumbling down.