Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
I was about to be in my rookie season in the NFL. I’d worked my fucking ass off to get here, and all I wanted to do was spend my summer getting bigger, faster, better.
But whether I showed it or not, these guys were my family.
So, if they wanted me to come to their weddings and baby showers and whatever else they were celebrating, I’d be there.
Braden knew as much without me having to say a word, which was why he didn’t judge me in that moment. He clapped my shoulder as if to tell me to shake it off before packing up his bag.
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t have made it through college without my teammates — even if I was a pain in most of their asses while we were there.
So, with a sigh, I wiped the sweat from my neck with a towel before nodding at Braden. “Guess we should book our flights.”
He gave me a knowing smile, slinging his bag over one arm. “I’ll take care of it. Just you?”
He asked that question with more curiosity than jest, but it soured my stomach all the same.
“Yep,” I bit out, already walking toward the parking lot. “Just me.”
Madelyn
My hands were embarrassingly sweaty as I sat at a corner table at Rains, quietly drinking my water and eyeing the door.
I prayed he wouldn’t show up.
Almost as hard as I prayed he would.
My stomach flip-flopped with every minute that passed, with every tall man who entered the restaurant. I expected him to let me down, to show up late or not at all. But then there was the small part of me that wondered if he still had a little bit of that innocent kid I’d babysat left in him, if maybe that kindness still existed.
I snorted internally at the terms kid and babysit.
He’d been fifteen, and I’d been seventeen — counting down the days to my eighteenth birthday.
A softness washed over me then. God, we were so young, so naïve. We had our whole lives ahead of us then. Endless opportunities. Endless goals to achieve.
At least one of us had followed through on those.
My throat was thick with my next swallow, a flash of the last time I’d seen Kyle Robbins before this unexpected run in hitting me square in the gut.
The hard set of his jaw.
The accusation in his eyes.
The secret I thought I was keeping written out so clearly on his face.
He’d never talked to me again.
Until now.
I shook out of my memory just in time for him to blow in through the front door, and it really was like a stiff wind. Every head snapped in his direction, every mouth murmuring as I watched table by table get excited.
They recognized him instantly.
Kyle kept his sunglasses and ballcap on, speaking in a hushed tone to the waitress who then led him over to where I sat. I stood, folding my hands in front of my waist and putting on my best smile as he approached.
I knew when I asked him to come here for dinner that it was beneath him. I didn’t know exactly how much money he made, but judging by his house budget, it was easy to guess that it was at least fifteen million, if not more.
I couldn’t even wrap my head around that kind of money.
But seeing him strut toward me now, it was almost laughable how out of place he was. The rest of the room consisted of families celebrating birthdays, or couples grabbing a bite to eat when they didn’t feel like cooking dinner. Rains was kind of like an upscale Chili’s, and even in athletic slacks and a long-sleeve training shirt, Kyle looked too rich to be here.
The hostess gestured to the table once she was close enough, and then blessedly left us before Kyle peeled off his sunglasses and hit me with a sideways quirk of his mouth that made my stomach flip for entirely different reasons.
I knew that smile intimately.
“Madelyn,” he greeted, his voice a rumbling promise. “You look beautiful.”
I glanced down at the one nice dress I owned, the one without stains or tears in the fabric. It was navy blue, form-fitted and modest. I wore it to every important dinner I had. And when it came to showing houses, I had a whopping four outfits that I rotated between.
Not that I cared. I’d never been one for fashion. I would much rather spend my extra money on Sebastian — on a toy that would make him smile, or a new book to add to his rapidly growing collection. I loved that kid more than any dress, more than anything in the entire world.
Still, I arched a brow when I looked up at Kyle again, because we both knew me in this dress was not beautiful, nor impressive to him.