Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
The rest of the meeting went by in a blur. I made out a few random sentences, like make sure there’s no drama and try to be seen together in public, but other than that, I had nothing. I could have told them I’d had Houston’s secret love child for all I remembered. Before I knew it, the two of us were walking out of the building together, not speaking until we were down the block and had turned a corner. “What the fuck was that?” I asked.
“Me saving your ass. Funny how I used to have to do that in college too. Keep your voice down before someone hears us.”
Because of course he was perfect fucking Houston. “No, you didn’t,” I replied.
“Yes, I did.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself. And seriously, McRae, if you wanted me that badly, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to hatch this whole plan to set us up in a fake relationship.”
He looked at me like he was going to kill me, and I couldn’t help but smile. I was maybe a bit of a masochist, but I liked it when Houston looked at me that way.
“What the fuck was I thinking?” he asked more to himself than me. He ran a hand through his hair, and I could tell he was nervous. “This is a mess. Why in the hell did I tell them that?” His breathing picked up like he was on the verge of hyperventilating.
The thing was, Houston didn’t put his private life on blast like that. He kept his shit on lockdown. He’d just stepped into the thick of a media frenzy…for me. Because even with all the drama between us, he hadn’t wanted me to start my season off in trouble. And that…fuck, that meant something to me. “We can call it off,” I said softly.
“Little late for that now, don’t you think? Fucking Garrett—I wish he’d never texted to tell me you got called in and that there were photos of us together all over the internet.”
He paced back and forth, making me notice his limp again. “Hey, you’re hurting. Let’s call a car. We can figure this shit out at home.”
“At home?” he asked, brows pinched together. “I thought you were moving out.”
“I mean, now that we’re boyfriends, that might look a little suspicious. They’ll think you kicked me out and broke my heart.” I tried to make him laugh, even though I knew this whole situation was a disaster waiting to happen.
“You’re enjoying this way too much.”
“Come on, sweet cheeks. You know if I moved out, you’d miss me.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Snookum? Babycakes? Lovebug?”
“You’re going to make me lose my mind.”
“I could make you blow your load instead?”
Really, I couldn’t get over what he had done for me. In some ways, it was perfect. If they thought I was with Houston, maybe the media would leave me alone. I could keep my shit in check and not get into trouble, we’d win a championship, and the league would love me.
He closed his eyes and sighed. Suddenly, all I could think about was comforting him. As soon as that thought hit me, I tried to freeze it out. I wasn’t going to let myself get wrapped up in Houston McRae again. We’d go back to his place and talk this out. If we decided to continue this charade for a while, we’d keep our distance and make sure things stayed completely professional.
Houston had broken my heart once. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.
6
HOUSTON
When my brother called me about Cullen and the headlines, he’d of course wanted to be filled in immediately, but I’d been solely focused on damage control. Jury was out on whether my impulsiveness had actually created a bigger mess. Actually, no, the jury wasn’t out. The verdict was a big “yes” as evidenced by the fact that my former lover was now my current lover—at least in name—and living with me for the foreseeable future. I hadn’t had time to mentally unpack that clusterfuck yet, though. I probably needed to see a therapist. Jesus.
Now, I sat in a chair across from Garrett and Ramsey at their cozy Cedar Grove house, their unwaveringly curious gazes as hot and intent on me as the flickering flames from the open hearth beside us.
“So you are seeing Cullen? How long has this been going on and you haven’t told us?” Ramsey cocked his head. I knew both he and Garrett were caught off guard that I’d never said a word to them about Cullen and were possibly even a little hurt.
“I’m not exactly seeing him. Or wasn’t.” I scrubbed my face. “Not for a long time. We had a thing in college that—”
“Holy shit.” Garrett smacked his palms together, startling both me and Ramsey. “Holy shit… The ‘guy’ in college on the team. You told me about it vaguely, and I totally forgot.”