Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
“Before what? How did the relationship end?”
I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “I can’t, Reese. Don’t make me tell you everything. I can’t. Not yet.”
He stepped closer. I could feel him, and he spoke so softly that it broke the rest of me apart. “How long did you have to breathe for him? Before you got help?”
I was crying.
I couldn’t feel the tears, but I knew they were there.
I saw them falling to the floor, some hitting my shoes.
“Too long.”
“How long were you guys together in total?”
I paused, not because it wasn’t in me to answer, but because my vocal cords had frozen. One beat. Two. Three, and then I could speak again. “Seven years.”
I’d had two years, two amazing years with my soulmate.
He cursed under his breath, then stepped close to me. His arms came around me, his hand cradling the back of my head, and at first I just stood there.
I had never spoken about what I went through.
I never said any of it out loud, just explained the bare minimum to his mother before they’d stepped in to help with him. I had to write out a list of behaviors and events for a lawyer once, but that’d been it. No one else knew—until now, until Reese. My parents. My siblings. My friends. No one. And in some ways, even I didn’t know it all.
It was out now, though.
I had a bleak thought, standing in Reese’s arms, that Trent had gotten what he wanted. Grant had gotten what he wanted. I was dealing with life again.
Then I crumbled.
Reese caught me. He held me, righting me so I didn’t totally fall to the floor. He went with me, moving so we were sitting in a corner of the room, me between his legs. He folded his arms around me, and I broke apart, my sleeve stuffed in my mouth to quiet my tears.
I was still sitting in his arms, resting against his chest when I heard people leaving the dining area.
“You should go eat.”
“Fuck eating.” His chest rumbled from his words.
We heard a voice asking for Reese through the kitchen, then a tentative knock on the door.
“Reese?” It was Juan.
He opened the door, his head poking in and his eyes sweeping the room until he saw us. He didn’t look surprised to see how we were, just pursed his lips together a second.
“Uh. Coach wants a word with you. We’re having a meeting, then we’re doing practice in an hour.” His eyes flashed to mine, an apology flaring. “You got some keys on you? I can open the courts for you, if you want?”
Oh. That made me feel nice, but crappy. I shook my head, scrambling up. Every inch of me protested as I pulled away from Reese, but I had a job to do. No way would I let a camper, and a professional ball player at that, do my job for me.
“I got it. I’m okay. Minor meltdown on pause.” It was a lame attempt at a joke, and it fell flat. No one laughed.
Reese stood behind me. “Coach is mad at me?”
“Uh…” Juan’s gaze fell to me again. “I think he just wants clarification, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah. I got it.” Reese’s hand found my arm as he stepped around me. “Give me a second? I’ll be right out.”
Juan nodded. The door closed softly behind him.
Reese looked at me. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Totally.”
He laughed. “You’re a shitty liar.”
I grinned, knowing it was crooked and more just an attempt. “You’d be the first to claim that.”
“I doubt it.”
I lifted my gaze, feeling the dried tears caking my face. I flinched, seeing his knowing gaze, feeling him in me, feeling how he knew I was so full of shit, feeling him know the storm I’d been through, just feeling him know me.
“Your coach wants to know about me?”
“Probably. He knows the team likes you, but me coming right in here and skipping a meal, that’s going to raise eyebrows.” He gave me a crooked grin. “Don’t worry about it, though. I’ll explain. It’ll be fine. I don’t have a $20-million endorsement deal in the works for nothing. As long as I show up and win, he’s happy.”
“What an understanding guy.”
He smiled. “Think you can find me something quick to eat before I head over to smooth things out with him, just in case?”
“On it.”
Owen and Hadley were quiet when we came back out, but Owen being Owen, he already had a plate ready. He indicated a tray on the counter: water, milk, silverware, even salt and pepper were on there.
“There you go. Owen’s way ahead of us.”
“Thanks, man.” Reese nodded to Owen.
Owen cleared his throat, tugging one of his sleeves down, his shoulder rolling back. “No, thank you.” He jerked his head toward me. “We, uh, we heard some of it.”