Love Was Easy When We Didn't Make It So Hard

I walked into the small sandwich shop in the heart of Chicago, flipping my sunglasses on top of my head and smiling at Jake who had a dark scowl on his face. I shook my head, giving him a small smile as I crossed the restaurant to my sulky brother.

"Jake." I greeted him, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and giving them a squeeze. I kissed his cheek as I pulled away, throwing a toothy smile his way. It did nothing to lighten his sour mood. "What?" I finally asked, throwing a defeated sigh his way as I slid into my chair across the small table from him.

"Where is Decker?" He asked me with a snippy tone, taking a sip of his water as he looked at me. I rolled my eyes at his annoying behavior and set my purse on the ground in between my feet.

"He has football, Jake. I told you that on the phone." I reminded him to which he scoffed, crossing his arms tighter over his chest.

"You did not."

"I did too. Now, is this going to turn into a screaming match because I have better ways to spend my day." I snipped right back to him, eyes narrowing in on my brother dangerously.

"Riley, you aren't fooling me, the only thing you have to do today is catch the latest episode of that one soap opera you like." Jake rolled his eyes on my behalf.

"Are you done?" I asked him, slamming my hand down on the table and tilting my head in fained curiosity.

"Not really, but if you insist I be." He gave me a fake smile. We stared at each other in complete silence, our eyes barely taking the time to blink. Jake's blue eyes were narrowed in amusement while mine were squinted with frustration. "How did pansy ass take his verbal beating? Is he still running Decker's show? Is that why he isn't here?"

"No, Jake. He has practice." I told him, rolling my eyes at him for the millionth time and sinking back into my chair. "Just drop it. He said if he was done in time he would come to say goodbye to you."

"Well I won't bank on it. I'm sure Decker has more important things to do." Jake told me in a rather sniffy tone, his nose twitching in annoyance.

"Jake, seriously?" I asked him, placing my hand on the menu where his eyes were scanning the type of sandwiches he could choose from.

"He's changed, Riley. He's changed a lot. I can see it in the way he acts around you and especially when that asshole is by him. He gets tense and he pushed you to the side as if you were some sort of ungrateful trash. That is not okay and I'm dead serious, I will hang him by his balls from that big tower they have here."

"The Willis tower." I mumbled to him, shaking my head at my crazy brother.

"Yeah, that one. And I can guarantee he won't like that." Jake finished with a loud huff, running his tongue over his teeth in a loud and obnoxious way. I shook my head at my brother, not knowing what to say to him. He was obviously in one of his moods and he didn't want to be contradicted. But I wasn't sure if I could contradict him. Part of me hated to be around Jake because of the way he made me think. He was a no bullshit kind of guy and he brought things to the front that I didn't want to think about. I liked to be a turtle with my head buried in the sand but when Jake was here, there was no place to hide.

"So my question for you is why you let him get away with so much crap?" Jake asked once we had ordered. I looked down to my french manicure, running the pads of my fingers over the smooth surfaces of my nails.

"I don't." I mumbled to him, shaking my head at his immediate scoff. "You don't get it. This is our life now. He can't be with me every second of the day, fawning over me and making sure I'm okay. He has a job he has to do, Jake. Football is his job. You don't understand that it has to come before me. I understand that, Eric and I discussed that before he even signed his contract to come here. I knew what I was getting into so stop blaming this all on him." I scolded Jake as he continued to snort and shake his head at me.

"Riley, this goes beyond his job. You guys fight all the time. Mom tells me these things. She tells me because she knows I can get through to you. What you two fight about is more than just football, it's his life in general. It's the way he doesn't bother to include you into certain things or how he won't inform you when he's going to be out late. That is bad behavior and you can't let him get into that habit. That's how cheaters form."

"Eric is not cheating on me!" I exclaimed immediately, tears burning my eyes as Jake looked back at me with a hard look. His cold, blue eyes softened when he saw my unshed tears, his hands coming atop of the table to take mine into his warm grip.

"Hey, I'm not saying he is. But he has a job where women will throw themselves at him. I have faith that Decker will say no; I know how much he loves you, but he needs to start showing it to you more. Chicago was a big change, the NFL was a big change, but that doesn't mean the way he treats you needs to change too. You need to be as much of a priority as football is."

"Jake, he needs time to adjust. He's always been bad at balancing." I told him, chuckling softly.

"That's my point. He shouldn't need time to adjust in terms of you. It should just happen." Jake let out a deep sigh, releasing his grip on my hands as our food came.

We ate in a thick, heavy silence, both of us contemplating what to talk about next. What more was there to talk about when Jake basically just told me that Eric really was treating me like crap? It was like a hard slap to the face, all of his words cut deep and they all confirmed what I had already knew; Eric was letting me fall to the back burner. I wasn't sure how to make myself a priority again, but at the same time, I wasn't sure if I needed to be right now.

Eric needed to focus on football, it was his job, the source of income, and something that he loved to do. The NFL was so different from college, so different from anything the two of us had gone through together, so why shouldn't I give Eric a breather? Plus, when it came down to it, the way Eric was treating me was a hell of a lot better than getting slapped around like some girlfriends. I scoffed at that thought, wondering how I got so passive. The old Riley, who I was now starting to see wasn't me anymore, would never let Eric get away with this.

"You're right. I'm soft." I pouted to Jake as I finished up my turkey sandwich. Jake chuckled around his last bite of his sandwich and nodded.

"Exactly. My baby sis tells Decker what to do." Jake grinned like a sly cat and threw me a wink across the table.

"No, there has always been a balance." I shook my head, pushing my plate towards the middle of the table. I took a sip of my water, looking out at the busy Chicago street. A bus drove by with a picture of a few Chicago Bears players and I smiled at the one of Eric in mid leap when he scored his first touchdown. "Wow, they sure got that out fast." I pointed the bus out to Jake. He turned towards it, squinting his eyes at it and shaking his head.

"Poor Decker, he has to be next to Jay Cutler. Oh well, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a career year this season." Jake and I both giggled and nodded, bumping fists.

"When does your plane leave?" I asked him, looking down at the yellow table top.

"A couple hours, but I have to get back to the hotel and help Hol pack everything." Jake sighed. "I don't want to leave. I'm going to miss you too much." I gave him a wide smile, sliding out of my booth to plop down next to him. I kissed his cheek softly.

"I miss you too, Jake." I looped my arm through his, leaning my head against his shoulder while my eyes began to close. Jake let his head fall on top of mine as his arm wrapped around my shoulders, fingers lazily trailing against my arm.

"When do you think you'll come back to Minny for good?" He wondered.

"I don't know, probably when the season is over." I sighed, wrinkling my nose and thinking that I had 15 more weeks to go.
***

It was a couple weeks after the Eric's first game when his first official road trip came up. He was across the country in Denver to face off against the Bronco's in a Monday night football battle. He left early on Friday morning, the team needing a little more time to adjust to the different altitude in the Mile High City. Little had changed since mine and Jake's talk. I didn't talk to Eric about it like Jake had asked me to before he got on the plane. Instead, when Eric came home that afternoon, I let him lead me to the bedroom and have his way with me until the two of us were too tired to even function.

I had fallen back into my routine of sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels and waiting for Eric to arrive back home from practice, or whatever football related event he had going. I opted not to join him the couple times he had asked because Tom was going with him and I didn't feel like being arm candy for the night, the kind that is supposed to be seen and not heard. But today was different, today was the start of a new week and a new day, and I wanted to take advantage of the nice fall day that was shinning outside. So I grabbed Gabby's leash and took off for a run through Lincoln park.

I blasted a whole bunch of hip hop, rock, and rap to get me in the mood to run. It kept my adrenaline pumping and pushed me when I thought my legs were going to give out from under me. A couple times I had to slow down to a walk for my sake, but Gabby would tug on the leash because she loved the feel of the wind through her fur, but maybe she also knew that I seriously needed the work out. I had been doing nothing but sitting my fat ass on the couch since we arrived in Chicago and it was severely starting to effect my body.

Gabby and I ran around the path that lead through the park, winding our way around people. Finally, I tugged on Gabby's leash as my lungs felt as though they were about to explode from the lack of oxygen I was able to suck into them. I walked along the path, heading to a tree so that I could sit down since all the benches in my immediate area were currently taken by people. I slid down the thick, rough trunk of an oak tree, leaning my head against it as bead of sweat dripped off my body and into the ground. Some of them slid down from the crown of my head and then soaking into my sports bra, the only thing covering the top half of my body.

A wet nose came in contact with my face and I winced, pushing at the dog who tried to lick my face too.

"Gabby, stop." I told her, not wanting to add to the liquid already soaking into my face. I was going to need to take a long shower with a lot of face wash and body soap to feel clean again, but sweating felt great. I felt like I actually accomplished something.

"Oliver, no!" A man's voice came as I tried to push Gabby away from me. My hand came in contact with much rougher fur, nothing like the soft plush I was used to feeling. I snapped my eyes open, shrieking as a black lab dove on me, pushing me into the ground as it licked at my face.

"Ohmygod!" I exclaimed, laughing loudly as the large, pink tongue of the equally large dog lapped at my face continuously.

"Oliver! Stop, now!" The same man's voice came before the dog was pulled out of my line of vision and replaced by a man. I laid completely still on the ground as Gabby finally made her presence known, stepping over me to stick her nose directly in the man's crotch. I tugged on her leash, grasping her collar as a deep blush ran over both mine and the owner of the black lab's cheeks. "I am so sorry. He got off his leash and he saw your dog. I guess he decided you looked better, although I can't blame him." The man extended his hand to help me up as I stood on my feet, my legs feeling like jello from the run.

"Oh, it's alright. I was just surprised. I thought it was my dog." I giggled as Oliver and Gabby sniffed at each other, the two of them seeming to find a new friend.

"Your dog is beautiful. What's it's name?"

"Her name is Gabby." I told him, leaning down to grab Gabby's collar as she started to pull a little too hard on her leash. It was fine if she wanted to make friends with Oliver, but I was sure as hell not letting her have puppies.

"What's your name?" The man asked, brushing away a strand of my hair away from my face. I looked up, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable with him. He had light, thick hair along with a thick trail of stubble running along his jaw and his chin. He has smoldering blue eyes that you could easily get lost in and it looked as if he walked straight out of a Gap catalog. I took a deep breath in, swallowing and setting a foot of distance in between us.

"Um, Riley." I told him, running my left hand through Gabby's hair so that he could get a clear look at the ring on my finger. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of the diamond before he took a step back, understanding what I was trying to tell him.

"I'm Jamie." He smiled politely, extending his hand for me to shake. I smiled at him, the corners of my mouth going up slightly just like his did while our hands met in a friendly hand shake. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," I told him, extracting my hand. I looked down at the ground, scuffing my pink and white Nikes against the ground as Jamie cleared his throat while our dogs continued to sniff each other.

"So do you live around here?" He asked me, curiosity evident on his face.

"Yeah sort of. A couple minutes away." I shrugged. "What about you."

"Yeah, I live in a condo not too far from here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's a newer development in the heart of Chicago. It doesn't get much better than that." He chuckled, blushing. "Listen, I was just about to head to lunch. I know this great place in the city despite the fact that I'm knew, and I could really use some company." I looked up at him, squinting at the sun that was hitting my eyes due to the fact that I had to look up at him. Part of me was wondering if this guy was an idiot or if he was just really lonely. "That's of course if it's alright with you." He murmured, taking another step back to give me some space. I nodded in agreement, letting him take the first step in the direction we needed to go.

"So what brings you to Chicago?" I asked him as we walked along the path, heading in the direction of my apartment building.

"Work, of course. I'm originally from Montana, kinda random, but I wanted to get into the business work and I thought Chicago would be a nice place. Plus, my dad owns a big company here that deals with computer software and he hired me to come join the business aspect of it."

"Oh, how fun, joining daddy at the work place." I giggled, wondering why anyone would chose to work for their father if they had a choice. I loved my dad, but I wouldn't work for him.

"Yeah. What about you? Are you from here?"

"No, I moved out here with my fiance for his work."

"Oh? What does he do?"

"Um, football stuff."

"So he works for the bears?"

"Yeah, something like that." I mumbled, biting my lip. I wasn't about to let this guy I barely knew, know that I was Eric's fiance. I didn't want to be used, and for some reason I just felt this need to protect Eric from the world. I felt like I needed to protect not only him, but also our relationship and this separate world we had created off of the grid iron. I liked our secret, safe, little life, and maybe that was what Eric was trying to protect from me.

We arrived at a sandwich place that was a few blocks from my building, opting to sit outside so that the dogs would be able to sit with us. We ordered and brought it back to our table, digging in as our stomachs grumbled in anticipation of what was to come. We continued to chat about life, our families, steering away from the more private side of my life. I found out that he was basically a single guy living the dream with a pretty good amount of money streaming into his bank account from his high paying job. It seemed as if that was supposed to impress me, but it didn't because unlike him, I wasn't looking for someone to fuck around with.

I checked my cell phone, seeing I already had a missed call from Eric and quickly excusing myself to go listen to it. I stepped into the bathroom, tugging Gabby with me since I wasn't going to leave her with some guy I barely knew. I had this thing with trust, and I certainly didn't trust Jamie even after being around him for a couple hours. And it wasn't even that he had given off any signals that he was a bad guy, it was just that I wasn't into letting strangers into my life. That came from being with a high class athlete and used to people using you to get what they want.

Hey baby, it's me. I just wanted to call and check in, make sure everything is alright with you. Hopefully Gabby isn't being too much of a pain in the ass. But I was thinking, when I get home, we can go on a date or something since we don't have much time to do that anymore. sigh I miss you Ry. I'll be home late. Don't wait up. Love you, bye.

I smiled as I exited out of my voice mail, looking at my reflection and the happy look that my face held. The message was reassuring to me that when he went away, he couldn't stop thinking about me, and he missed me too. I tugged on Gabby's leash, leading her through the restaurant and careful to not let her sniff at anyone's lunch. I reached the table where Jamie stood with Oliver, hands stuffed in his pockets as he eyed me up. I sucked in a deep breath, smiling politely as I came to a stop in front of him.

"I had a great time this afternoon. It's nice to sit with someone and talk that I don't work with." He ducked his head, nodding at the ground while letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, this was fun. I don't know many people in Chicago so it's nice to talk." I nodded in agreement with him.

"Look, I know you have a fiance and stuff, and that is totally cool with me, but I was wondering if you would like to hang out sometime. Just as friends of course. I'm just really lonely and I thought if you were too-"

"I'd like that, Jamie." I told him, cutting him off in mid-ramble since he was appearing to be too nervous for casual conversation as friends.

"So I'll call you?" He asked holding up his phone. I nodded and grabbed it from him, typing in my number and giving my phone a call. We exchanged numbers the easy way before we parted with our goodbyes, heading in separate directions.

"So I have a new friend." I spoke down to Gabby as I stood in the elevator, waiting to arrive at our floor number. I sucked in my cheeks, batting my eyelashes and pondering what Eric would say about my new friendship. "Daddy wouldn't like it, but you know what," I smirked into Gabby's fur as I leaned down to pet her for being such a good girl all day, "mommy doesn't like his friend either, so he can deal."
***

I sat on the couch, slouched down in an uncomfortable position as I boredly flipped through the channels on the big screen TV in our living room. I had found out quickly that I could reach a whole new level of boredom when Eric was gone on road trips. I felt like I was on pause while the rest of the world went on around me. After my lunch with Jamie, I stayed in the apartment, playing with Gabby and sleeping to pass the time until I could watch the game. But now the game was over and it was one in the morning, and I couldn't fall asleep. Gabby laid by the door, ears alert for any sounds coming from outside the door. I could tell she missed Eric and my fiance would never admit it, but he missed his puppy too.

I sighed, throwing the remote down on the floor and launched myself into the couch pillows. I let out a loud scream, unable to handle how bored I was. I felt like I was gong stir crazy. This apartment, my life, everything. What I needed was a friend, someone who could pull me out of the apartment and make me have fun. Someone to have in my life besides Eric and Gabby. But I still wasn't sure if it was a good idea for Jamie to be that friend. I looked over at my puppy, watching as she perked her head up at a something outside the door. I heard a key being placed in the lock before the door opened to reveal a very tired Eric.

"Baby!" I exclaimed, standing up and running to him. He dropped all of his bags, giving me a huge, tired smile and wrapping my arms around his neck as he lifted me into his arms.

"I missed you so much babe." He sighed into my neck, hands and fingers running up and down my back as Gabby jumped up and down excitedly, yelping at Eric.

"Don't ever leave." I pouted as Eric chuckled, walking to the couch where he sat down, placing me on his lap. Gabby hopped up on the couch, nuzzling her way in between me and Eric to lick at his chin affectionately.

"Hi baby Gabby." Eric mused to her, scratching at her ears as I smiled adoringly. Yep, he missed her. "How's my buddy? Did you take good care of mom? Yeah!" Eric laughed as Gabby excitedly flicked her tail around, tongue continuing it's assault on his face. "Why are you still awake? I told you not to wait up." Eric looked to me, his hand running down the side of my face.

"I couldn't sleep." I mumbled to him, pouting out my lips for a kiss.

"Aw, baby. Let's go to bed. I'm tired and maybe I can help you get to sleep." He grinned suggestively at me as I shook my head, blushing.

"You're too tired." I whispered as he scooped me up, carrying me into our bedroom. I was already in my pajamas but Eric still needed to change, so he set me on the bed before stripping down into a pair of football shorts and a long sleeved shirt. He slipped into bed next to me and I turned to him, snuggling into his body.

"You need to sleep babe. Tomorrow, we're planning our wedding!" I giggled as Eric produced a loud groan before he shushed me with a kiss, the two of us falling asleep quickly.