* * *
The rest of the wedding went beautifully.
Andy was the perfect bride—gracious and fun-loving, while Logan was the ideal groom—by her side all night long. Which, of course, left a hell of a lot of leeway for Matt to "run into" Shay. Over and over and over again.
He'd go for a drink and she'd be leaning against the bar, or he'd walk outside the tent for a cigar and find her there with her hair in the breeze. It was no wonder he'd fallen for her, she was practically omnipresent. No, not fallen for her. That was too strong. Untrue.
Besides, it didn't matter how he felt now. They were over. Within the next two days, they'd both be heading home. He'd be back in the minors, and she'd be able to go on focusing on her more important clients.
Which was what he'd wanted in the very beginning, right? He wanted to fall off her radar? Wanted to be invisible?
By the time the reception ended, Matt was sick of running into Shay that he couldn't even bring himself to go back to the beach house. Instead, he sat on the bluffs overlooking the ocean and leaned back, thinking of all the games he'd play this year. All the teams who could have drafted him and hadn't.
His career was over.
His whatever-it-had-been with Shay was over.
And now? The wedding was over too.
He reached into his pocket for the flask Logan had given him before the wedding, but found something square and thin and flat there instead. He pulled it out and looked it over in the moonlight.
Shit, Shay's phone.
He clicked the tiny button, more out of habit than curiosity, and noticed that the entire screen had been clouded out by little white lettering. Even without reading it, Matt could sense the utter panic behind every word, and he slid his thumb across to take the messages in.
Shay. Answer me.
Shay, why isn't Andy telling you I called? Did you two come up with some scheme?
Shay, sweetheart, I need you. Please, now more than ever.
Why won't you be here for me when I need you?
You always do this. You're so selfish, you know that? Always avoiding things so that you don't have to deal with the unpleasantness.
This is life, young lady. This is your family. Your responsibility.
Matt blinked at the messages and then at the one that stood out to him most.
You always do this. You're selfish... Always avoiding things so that you don't have to deal with the unpleasantness.
Hadn't he said nearly the exact same thing to her before he'd turned her away? He had, he guessed, but that was different. He wasn't Shay's mother. He hadn't asked and asked and asked until she had nothing left to give. All he'd wanted was some honesty. Some decency. Some respect. And she hadn't bothered to give it to him. Hadn't trusted him with it.
Which, of course, meant she pitied him just as much as everyone else.
She wasn't different. Not where it mattered.
He shook his head.
He read over the messages again.
You always do this. You're so selfish, you know that? Always avoiding—
He clicked the screen off. Shay's mother would know they'd been read, he supposed. And if Andy was in on it, then it wouldn't be long before Shay knew the truth. But...
He turned the phone over between his thumb and forefinger, and then allowed it to slip between his fingers and land in the ocean with a little plunk.
There, he'd done his due diligence. She was free and so was he. If she wanted to pity him, she was more than welcome to. But him?