21. Lucia

Lucia didn’t want to talk to Max. She really didn’t. But she’d told herself she would allow him to apologize. Plus, if it meant never having his contact flash across her screen again, she’d be thankful, though she couldn’t be sure it was true. No matter the outcome, she could feel this would be the last time she talked to him. She wouldn’t be falling back into his trap ever again.

He’d done a surprisingly good job of not contacting her until Thanksgiving dinner at Jenna’s, but whether that was because he thought they would be getting back together during this call, she didn’t know.

Her phone buzzed.

Isa

You got this! You are so strong.

And also I love you! Remember you deserve the world :)

Lucia chuckled, though it came out shaky. She struggled with confrontation of this nature, and it was clear from her breathing and the nausea in her stomach that this wouldn’t be different. She’d memorized a script of points to hit on, but she knew Max would probably find a way to derail it.

Her laptop signaled a video call. She took a few centering breaths, touched her new lucky pearl necklace, and answered.

Max sat in the dining room of a house that used to be hers. In a chair that she’d picked out. In front of a painting she’d found at a flea market. She hadn’t even thought to take it and the other art when she’d left, only grabbing the essentials.

“Hi, Max.”

“Hi, baby. I’ve missed you.”

A year ago, those words would’ve given her butterflies and set her heart alight. Now, they were just words, ones that actually made her a little uncomfortable.

“I know you said you had something important to tell me. I wanted to give you an opportunity to do that.”

So far, so good. The script was doing her well.

“Lu, come on. It’s us. I know it looked bad, but you didn’t have to start hooking up with Beaumont to make your point. I got it, loud and clear. Just come back to me.”

And there it was. He hadn’t even attempted to start the conversation with an apology and had completely ignored the glaring fact that she’d lost her job in Richmond because of him.

“Max, I thought you might apologize. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but at this point—”

“I’m sorry, okay? I am. I’m really sorry that it happened. You were working so hard, and we hadn’t been together in a while, and I thought I’d get away with it.”

Lucia scoffed, “You’re sorry you didn’t get away with it? You can’t even apologize for cheating?”

“What does it sound like I’m trying to do? I said I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. I love you so much, baby. We were a perfect fit. Do you remember our anniversary trip to Greece? We spent a week in paradise together, and it was perfect. The sex on the beach? All the sunset dinners? And remember how we talked about going there for our honeymoon? Let’s do that, baby. Let’s get married and go to Greece. Right when the season’s over.”

She remembered Greece. It had been beautiful and just what she’d needed. He’d whisked her away for their anniversary, putting in a good word with her bosses who gave her a week and a half off during offseason.

What he failed to mention was that it’d been a spontaneous trip because he’d gone days without responding to her. She’d been with the Cardinals for a brief time, helping them with a training program for their quarterback, and had planned to fly out to Richmond to spend their anniversary with him. For the three days leading up to her flight, she hadn’t heard anything from him. Radio silence.

It was only as she got on the plane that he’d texted her that he was looking forward to seeing her. She’d been uncertain about whether to even go, not sure where they stood or if Max had forgotten their anniversary, but then she’d gotten that text, and everything was okay again. She hadn’t yet gotten to the point in their relationship where she realized how shitty it was for him to spend days at a time without so much as a hello, especially during the offseason when he wasn’t nearly as busy.

He’d surprised her with tickets when she’d landed in Virginia, and they’d left the next day. He’d flirted with the flight attendant the entire flight, but then they’d touched down in Greece, and it had all gone away. He’d treated her like a queen the entire week, taking her to expensive dinners and flying them to the islands for clubbing. Buying her presents and telling her how much he loved her, how much he couldn’t wait to marry her so they could honeymoon there.

She had let him get away with so much because he’d always known when she’d been thinking about leaving, and he’d found a way to fix it. It hurt to know that she’d spent such a long time allowing herself to be wrapped up in a relationship like that, but if there was something she could take from this experience, and from what Colton had taught her, it was that it was time to forgive herself.

Forgive herself for allowing Max to sweet talk her into staying in a relationship in college. For not seeing the toxicity and abuse the longer she stayed with him, even when it meant getting hurt. For not listening when Isa told her she could do so much better.

The point of life was to learn. She hadn’t learned from her father’s mistakes, so she’d had to live through the experience herself. And now that she had, she knew that love just simply wasn’t for her. Maybe she’d get a dog and become Auntie Lucia to her friends’ children.

She smiled sadly. “I remember, but I’m not in that place anymore, Max. I’m not in love with you, and haven’t been for a while.”

There was a loud thud as Max slammed a hand on the dining table, his phone shaking at the impact. “Bullshit, Lu. Bullshit. Is this because of Beaumont? I’m going to crush him the next time I see him. Had you already started seeing him before you took the job? Is that how you got the job?”

Lucia sighed exasperatedly, her eyes closing. Leave it to Max to believe she couldn’t get a job on her own. “I never so much as looked at anyone else when we were together, and I think you know that. Colton and I…it just kind of happened.”

Colton’s timing was impeccable, a text vibrating her phone.

Colton

Cooper is annoying the shit out of me. I’ve never wished to be free of team bonding more.

Lucia let out a small giggle before she looked back at her laptop screen, noting Max’s pinched brows. She set her phone back down.

“He’s playing like shit.”

“Colton’s been steadily improving to his best performance all season, which is more than I can say about some people.” Namely him, but she was trying to be mature. “He’s talented and a hard worker and already doing so much better than he was. He’s an amazing quarterback, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.”

“Didn’t help him when we beat his ass during rivalry week junior year. And I’ll do it again if you guys somehow manage to get to divisionals.”

Lucia rolled her eyes. The Sabertooths had more of a chance of getting to divisionals than the Vipers. Then, she remembered what he’d told Colton after the game, “I can’t believe you told him Isa took his playbook.”

He grinned slyly. “Genius, right? If only I knew someone who could help me actually pull that off this year.”

She scoffed at the insinuation. “Yeah, I’m gonna give you our plays. You jeopardized my career, and now I’m going to end it entirely so that you can cheat your way through playoffs? No, thank you. I’m gonna help Colton make sure you lose.”

She couldn’t believe he’d even thought she’d be on board with that. “Is that why you called? Because you thought I’d give you their game plans?”

“Of course not. It would’ve just been a bonus.”

“I can’t believe you.” But honestly, she could. This was absolutely something Max would do.

“What do you see in that asshole, anyway? You know what he was like in college. He was the scum of the earth. What does he give you that I haven’t?”

Lucia could think of a lot of things Colton had given her that Max never had. Even though it was just pretend, he found ways to make her smile whenever he could. He didn’t act like a childish asshole when he lost games, punching walls around her and yelling in the way that Max used to in college. He’d introduced her to his friends so that she could have a community in a new place. He’d offered to help her when she was at her lowest point. He treated her like a person, made her feel heard, and listened to her when she gave him feedback. He celebrated her achievements. He didn’t expect her to give him other teams’ playbooks.

He’d made her come. Many times.

“Colton cares about my feelings. Not just when he wants something from me, but all the time. You spent our entire relationship putting in just enough effort to keep me around. Right when you could see I was on my way out, you started giving me the love I needed the entire time. I deserve more than that. I deserve someone who makes an effort to talk to me, even when they’re busy, even if it’s just a ‘hi, I miss you.’ I deserve someone who wants to spend time with me. I deserve someone who can see that I’m an intelligent person with thoughts and insights that matter beyond stroking their ego.”

“Come on, Lu. I can be that person for you. Let’s talk through this. We can make this work. You’re right. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I can fix them. Just be patient with me and I can be who you need me to be.”

“No, Max. No. There’s nothing you can say to me to change my mind. I’ve been plenty patient. I waited seven years for you to figure your shit out and treat me right. I have no patience left to give. I appreciate everything our relationship taught me. We had some good times, and I’m thankful for that.”

“Lu, plea—”

“I’m not done. I forgive you for cheating. A few months ago, I might’ve wanted to know everything about it. Why did you do it? Why her? What was I doing wrong? But I don’t care now. I forgive you, and I thank you. Because of what you did, I have Colton and the Sabers. I’m finally happy. Can’t you just let me be happy?”

“Wewere happy.”

“Maybe you were. But I wasn’t.” He didn’t respond immediately to that, so she continued, “You promised you wouldn’t call or text me anymore, so please don’t. I won’t respond.”

She ended the call, having gotten as much from the conversation as she could. She went to Max’s contact, and after only a moment’s hesitation, she blocked him.