The Player Hater (Accidentally in Love 1)

How often do you watch your niece?

What kind of uncle are you?

When is the last time you had a girlfriend?

Were you ever engaged?

Random things that are none of my business, I do my best to focus on the words in front of me even as Davis’s cologne drifts my way with every, blissful breeze.

My eyes scan the pages of my book, reading them over and over again, not retaining a single word.

Sighing, I give the air one more sniff, not able to stop myself.

CHAPTER 6

Davis

“Dude, you could have told us you were leaving today. We’re sort of butthurt y’all aren’t spending time with us.”

Thad is cracking open a bottle of beer and leaning against the porch of my shared camper.

“Sorry, Mia wanted some alone time.”

I glance around at the solitude. “Um, we’re in the middle of nowhere. How much more alone time could you possibly have? You dragged us here to bond with you.”

“I know, but with traveling and being on the road for work, she and I don’t actually spend much time together. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that it’s actually happening…the woods might have been a stretch.”

“You think? Juliet and I had jack shit to do today while you love birds were off having lunch prepared by actual chefs.”

“Oh come on—it couldn’t have been that bad. Juliet was prickly at the beginning, but you have to admit, she’s coming around.”

Yeah, I don’t think she hates him as much as she tried to in the beginning, which is indeed good news. For him.

“So what did the two of you do while we were gone? Take one of the boats out and do some more fishing? I think Ben said something about the pontoon boat being available.” Thad has an orange in his hand and begins gnawing on one of the slices.

Pontoon boat ride? That might have been fun.

“No, we ended up lounging around most of the day in the hammocks. Juliet read a book and I took a nap, and then we had lunch. Super chill and low-key, you didn’t miss anything.”

“Any sparks?”

Sparks?

My best friend has the audacity to ask about sparks? The idea of me dating anyone new has never entered our conversation; Thad knows that I’m still taking time for myself after my last breakup.

“No there weren’t any sparks, what are you talking about? The woman practically hates me.”

“No one hates you,” he says with a laugh. “Absolutely no one. Literally everyone loves you, including small animals and old people.”

He’s not wrong, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that I volunteer a lot. It’s not hard to win people over when you give a shit about them. Give a crap about the plight of humanity and try to make the world a better place—it tends to soften people who would ordinarily not take a shine to you. People like Juliet, with her preconceived notions of my best friend and I. No matter how much she tries to deny it, I know that she was judging us because we are professional athletes; or at least, one of us is.

“Aww, buddy.” I put my hand on Thad’s shoulder and squeeze. “Are you saying you love me?”

“Yeah, man, I love you. You’re my best friend.”

“In the whole wide world?”

He shrugs my hand off his shoulder with a laugh. “Not in the whole wide world, bro, only my mom can claim that title. If I wasn’t her best friend, she’d kill me.”

“Dude—only you would be best friends with your mom.”

He and his mom are close; in fact, both his parents are so far up his ass I’m shocked he’s able to have a fully functioning romantic relationship. Carol is great, but judgmental: no one is good enough for her baby boy. The boy she raised into a man, raised into a superstar.

Mia is a saint for putting up with his mother’s antics.

I’m shocked Carol hasn’t moved into Thad’s guest room at this point; she hired and manages his housekeeper, organizes his nutrition and keeps his fridge stocked—all via zoom because they summer in the Midwest and winter in Florida and Thad is on the East Coast most of the year.

“Look, sometimes the only people you can trust are your parents.”

He’s not wrong, but—at some point you have to trust your partner.

It didn’t work in my favor obviously or I’d still be in a relationship with…dammit. I don’t even want to say her name or use it in a sentence or think it, for that matter.

I thought my ex-girlfriend was a decent person. I thought she loved me, I thought she loved my sister, niece and my mom. Turns out, it was just an act because she wanted to marry some rich guy—or a guy she perceived as rich—and settle into a lifestyle where she would never have to work again.