Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
There’s a story to my life that results in exactly what Bryce said. More dollars to the people who need them. It’s the entire point of charity, the same way football is all about winning.
People forget that in both.
They forget their purpose and let ego take over. Or they decide they want to feel special and think their wishes are more important than the game.
But nothing is.
That’s why I have to bend the truth.
“Thirteen years ago,” I say, trying to think of that man.
A twenty-eight-year-old football star who never wanted fame or the attention his abilities brought him. He was nothing like the man I am now, getting photographed at least once a month, always with a different woman on my arm to stir up some buzz. The fact is, all anyone cares about are my dates and reputation rather than anything I’ve done.
Thinking of the women as dates causes my stomach to stir uncomfortably.
“I lost everything.”
My voice booms from the speakers, filling the relatively small room. Fifty or so people are crowded here, Trixie smiling at me encouragingly from the back.
I’m about to go on when the door opens.
“Sorry,” the woman mumbles when she realizes it’s already started. “I’m so sorry.”
She stands at the very rear. The room is small, giving me a full view of her, and suddenly I’m glad for the podium.
Do not get hard, I think, as I wonder if this is what ‘love at first sight’ feels like.
She looks young, with a flush to her cheeks, her wavy brown hair pulled down to partially cover her face. She’s wearing denim jeans that turn her wide hips into a feast, making my hands twitch, and her strappy top gives a glorious outline of her breasts.
I find myself wondering who she is, her name, everything about her.
This is new.
She looks up, and briefly meets my gaze.
I can’t stop staring.
It’s the nervous way she stands, with her hands holding each other, the tempting redness making her cheeks bloom for me.
To kiss those lips…hold her at the same time, cradle her as I kiss her deeper, more intensely, until she’s shivering against me and begging for me.
My woman, my mate, mine forever.
Where did that come from?
My head’s rushing.
I know it’s true, this woman belongs to me.
But now, the whole crowd is growing uneasy, exchanging glances.
What started as a dramatic pause has turned into something else, with me staring at this woman, this stranger, and wondering how I’m going to claim her.
Please don’t let her have a boyfriend.
I need to slow the fuck down.
“Excuse me.”
I clear my throat, forcing my gaze to settle elsewhere. Despite this confusion, I’ve got a job to do.
But suddenly speaking about Rachael, Anna’s mother, feels like a betrayal.
As crazy as it is, I don’t want to mention her. I don’t want this young, curvy, beautiful stranger to think anybody else could ever matter to me like she does. I want to pull her into my arms and kiss her with so much fierceness that she can never doubt it, not even for a second.
She’ll always know who she belongs to.
Stop, I scream in my mind.
“It’s difficult to talk about this,” I go on. “But I think it’s necessary, so you all know… you’re not alone in feeling this way. I’m sure most of you know my story, but for those who don’t…my girlfriend, Rachael, and my daughter, Anna, were killed in a hit-and-run. Their killer also took his own life in the process, and as cruel as it sounds, I was thankful for that. I’m sure many of you can relate.”
People are nodding, some of them with tears in their eyes, as they process the blunt reality of my words.
I try my best not to look at the woman again, but I fail.
She’s staring with a hard-to-read expression, her arms crossed. My savage mind, even now, goes to the way her breasts press together with her arms like that. It makes me think of massaging her, making her moan.
“But it didn’t take away the pain,” I go on, thinking truthfully of Anna and dishonestly of Rachael. “It didn’t make it any easier to bear. It’s so tragically random what happened to our loved ones. Some stranger, drunk or high or just a careless idiot, comes into your life and changes them forever. It’s random, makes no sense, and can leave a person feeling broken.”
There’s more emotion in my voice than usual, even during speeches, much more. I feel it all swelling up inside me for her, the woman whose name I don’t even know.
CHAPTER THREE
Lucy
There’s so much pain in his voice as he speaks about his lost love, Rachael, and his dead daughter.
Standing at the back, I remind myself he’s not looking at me on purpose. His gaze is moving over everybody and only seems to settle on me from time to time during his speech.