The rest of the meeting went by, not without lack of tension and animosity, rather quickly. The whole time Morgan watched the two of us carefully. It almost seemed like he didn't know what was going on.

Later that night I was finishing up getting ready right as Amy texted me to let me know she was on her way to pick me up. She wanted to make sure we stuck together when we were thrown in the mix with a bunch of important people.

"That's such a cute dress" Amy gushed the minute I was seated in her car.

"Thank you" I smiled at her reaching for the seatbelt. "I've been looking for a reason to wear it"

"If it calls for it, maybe we'll go out for drinks after dinner. Show it off some more" she laughed.

"Considering no players are coming, I think tonight might be major stress free. But you know I'll never turn down drinks with the best event planner in town...plus we gotta show you off because dang girl you look good" I grinned over at her.

"Shut up" she giggled. "How are you doing after, well you know" her tone shifted to serious.

"Not going to let it bother me, tonight is too big of a deal to slip up because of that jerk" I smiled at her.

"Let's have some fun tonight then, yeah?" She smiled at me putting the car in reverse.

"You've so got yourself a deal" I breathed a laugh as I relaxed in my seat.

Walking into the back room of the restaurant, suddenly I became sick to my stomach.

"Players, players everywhere" I muttered to Amy.

"But I thought-" she started before I could cut her off.

"I know, so did I...let's go find Max" I tugged her along with me.

"Girls! I'm so happy you could make it! Isn't it wonderful? We got some of the players to come so you could get to know them before the big event" he said happily.

I couldn't crush his spirit, he looked so excited.

"What a great idea!" I smiled at Amy, who was looking at me like I had just grown another head. "Right Amy?" I nudged her slightly.

"Oh yeah" she snapped out of it. "Definitely helpful" she smiled.

"Grab a drink and mingle, enjoy yourselves before dinner is brought out" Max patted our arms before walking away.

"What was that?" Amy asked with a confused look on her face.

"That, was me trying to not completely crush our bosses mood and let him on to something being wrong" I breathed.

"Smart, so what's the plan now?"

"The plan is to just avoid Vince at all costs...and drinks after this might be totally necessary now" I looked at Amy before giving a small defeated laugh. "Let's go" I linked my arm with hers and gave it a tug.

Amy was quickly pulled away from me by a few of the players, but not without an eyebrow raise from myself. I settled at one of the small tables mere seconds before I was met with Jared McCann sitting across from me.

"Hi" I said almost confused.

"Hey, I'm Jared" he held out his hand with a smile.

"Y/N" I took his hand with a small shake.

We made small talk and quickly got along really well. I tried to ignore the glare I could feel coming from Vince's direction by the bar.

I made the worst mistake I could have and glanced his direction.

His eyes were like lasers, and completely focused on me. He stayed rooted though, almost like being around a teammate of his was making me keep his distance.

"What's wrong?" Jared asked making me snap my attention back to him, and away from Vince.

"What? Nothing, I'm sorry I was just thinking how I needed another drink" I giggled lightly.

"I can get it for you" he stood up quickly. "What are you drinking?" He asked stopping in front of me.

"I'll just take a trip with you" I smiled warmly, standing with him.

He guided me with his hand on my back, as a small smile played on my lips. If Amy wasn't going to be my buffer tonight, his teammates sure would.

We quickly ordered our drinks before Jared leaned against the bar.

"If I'm being honest, I couldn't wait to meet you" Jared smiled as they brought our drinks.

"Really?" I asked shocked, taking my drink.

"Yeah, all the guys who got to go to the meetings can't stop talking about how awesome you two are" he gave a genuine smile. "And I'm like the only one here who hasn't met you two yet"

"That's actually really nice to hear" I smiled widely before I felt another person's presence.

"Can I borrow you for a second?" I heard Morgan's voice smally ask.

When I turned and noticed he was talking to me and not Jared, I quickly threw Jared an apologetic smile.

"I'll catch up with you in a bit" I said warmly before turning to Morgan who gestured with his hands for me to lead the way.

We settled at a small table in the corner and he immediately turned to me.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened earlier with-" he started before I shushed him quickly.

I moved my chair around closer to him so no one would hear.

"No one else has to know about that" I said only loud enough for him to hear over the hustle.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea you two had a history" he said again sincerely.

"It's not a big deal, I don't really let it affect me" I took a drink quickly.

"Really? Because it seems like it's affecting you a lot, your entire personality changed when I mentioned it" he chuckled.

I shot him a look before taking a deep breath.

"I should be thanking you really" I explained tapping my glass.

"Why's that?" He asked stilling my hand with his making me laugh.

"Because I was this close" I held up my thumb and pointer finger barely about to touch each other. "To giving Vince another chance"

"Yeah" he breathed in and out deeply. "That's kinda what I'm sorry about. Look after that whole thing earlier Vince talked to me, explained everything. Your history, why you were so upset and why he was so pissed"

"You honestly really saved me from making a bad decision, I kind of owe you one" I said seriously.

"Yeah, here's the thing about that. It was a joke" he looked at me cautiously.

"What do you mean?" I rose an eyebrow at him.

"I mean it was a joke, the girlfriend thing"

"Don't. Don't cover for him" I started before he held a hand up to stop me.

"I'm not. Swear" he held his hand up as if he was doing a scouts honor. "It was a joke. He went on one date with this girl and she still blows up his phone even though he's told her so many times it's not going to work. We call her the girlfriend as a joke, to kinda poke fun at him. I had no idea who you were to him or what he had riding on that moment or else I wouldn't have said it"

He gave me a look as I realized I was tapping on my glass again.

"Sorry" I gave a soft smile. "I just-"

"You don't have to believe me" he read my mind. "I just had to tell you.

"Thank you" I swallowed hard.

"And before you ask me, no" he laughed lightly.

"No what?" I asked confused.

"He didn't ask me to talk to you, honestly I'd usually tell him to fix his own shit but this one was kind of my fault" he shrugged making me laugh.

"He really didn't ask you?" I looked at him seriously.

"Honestly" he said sincerely. "He probably has no idea why I'm talking to you right now"

"Explains why he looks like he wants to kill both of us right now" I giggled catching sight of Vince's clenched jaw and angry scowl.

Morgan leaned over and almost whispered to me so no one else could hear.

"He still loves you, you know" his voice matter of fact.

"Really?" I looked at him almost hopefully.

"Go talk to him" he nudged his head towards Vince slightly with a soft laugh.

I patted his knee gently before getting up.

"Hey" Morgan called out to me making me stop and face him again. "I've got your back now. He hurts you, you let me know got it?"

A smile grew on my face.

"Thank you" I turned with the smile never leaving my face to find that Vince wasn't where he was just a few seconds earlier.

I walked out to the actual part of the restaurant just outside of the room our company had rented and found Vince pacing, not a leisure pace but a furious one.

"Vince" I called, making him stop and look up at me.

The look of pure anger on his face almost scared me.

"What?" He said bitterly.

"What the fuck are you doing?"