Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
I shouldn’t do this. Things were going well with us, and I’d find this out as she grew comfortable with me. Sleeping with a woman didn’t mean she had to tell me her life story. I’d never even cared to know too much about a woman before this, so why did it suddenly matter with Elyse?
I entered a coffee shop and ordered a tea and a bagel with cream cheese. I chose a table in the back and set my phone on the table, staring thoughtfully at it. If I searched Elyse and found something that was as serious as I expected it to be, that could change everything. I couldn’t go back from that, and I needed her to tell me.
I sent her a message to ask how she was today. I’d try to ease into this. Elyse replied and said that she was attempting to paint today after the wine the previous evening. I looked back to the regret I felt about last night and falling asleep when I planned to call her. I meant what I said about not sleeping with other women, and jacking off on my own wasn’t working so well. Hearing her voice was enticing last night, and if I brought this up, I might never feel her again.
We had a chat as I ate my breakfast, and I enjoyed how silly she sounded this morning. I didn’t have to hear her voice to pick it up since I’d been memorizing her since the day I met her.
I miss you, Elyse. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Will you stay the night with me?
I’ll try to get a lot done so I can.
Perfect. Have a great day.
You too. Travel safe. You did great this week.
I went to my home page, where the Google search bar was. Could I likely search her by name and discover this secret? I knew that at least one officer knew about it and that she seemed to have no contact with her parents. I knew that her father covered a lot of her bills, but she didn’t seem to have a personal relationship with him. I thought back to her reaction to the first game that she saw and how my aggression seemed to bother her.
Did someone hurt her? Elyse was so young that it seemed hard to imagine. Then again, she did seem to have some thick walls around her. She was highly responsive to me now, but that did take a little while. That was something that she needed to tell me.
I went back to the hotel and worked out in the gym for a solid hour. I went back to my room to shower and board the bus for my game in Pittsburgh. We practiced for a while and then went to get the pep talk from our coach. He was more positive than negative, but he could get pissed off. It was usually in defense of us, but I always kept quiet at these times. He sent us out there and told us to play like we did the other games, but to step it up a notch. Pittsburgh was a solid team that we’d need to work hard to beat.
We lost by a goal. I showered and changed into street clothes for the bus ride to the airport. We were taking a red-eye tonight so we could be home sooner, though that was mostly for the players with families. Tonight, it was also for me. I planned to sleep in my bed for a while and spend as much of the next night awake with Elyse.
I was going to get to the bottom of things with her before I left for another week.
Chapter 11
ELYSE
I PAINTED THE last of my two pictures that week the day I expected Ryder to be home. I never told him so, but I missed him. I thought about him a lot as I painted, and when I tossed and turned alone in my bed at night. I slept great when I was wrapped up in his arms and wondered if it was because my father never held me when I needed him most. That got worse after losing Mom, and while I tried to fill the void with a few guys when I was older, it didn’t work as well as it did with Ryder.
I didn’t want to need him. Needing him meant that I would have to tell him the truth about my life. Ryder was a compassionate person under the tough surface that he showed people. He would give me the pity that others did who knew my story. He would drive me away.
I stepped back from the canvas and reached for my water. I sipped it as I eyed the painting critically. It was a harsh abstract since I’d been haunted by the past most of the week. I drank too much wine and struggled with a hangover the days following those nights. I still painted. I needed to make that a stable future for myself and try not to depend on someone else.