Playing House: A Small Town Brother’s Best Friend Romance (The Playboys of Sin Valley Book 1)

by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

  Of course Nadia and Desiree wanted the full story from me the minute I stepped in here and I gave it to them, revealing that Rocky left me on our wedding day because he discovered that he had a secret baby.

  “Damn, girl. If I ever decide to write a soap opera, you’d better believe I’m adding in that story line.” Nadia bumps her hip into mine.

  “Go right ahead,” I laugh. “I deserve to start collecting royalties on the dramedy that it is my life.”

  I’m one of the few here who is actually watching the game. All biases aside, I can admit that it’s a good matchup. LA is known for their incredible offense, but Jace and his teammates are really slowing them down tonight.

  The matchup between these teams makes me nervous. I’m always on edge when Jace plays, but tonight’s different. Maybe it’s just because it’s against Rocky. I just feel this heavy tension hovering over the stadium.

  My heart beats with nervous anticipation as I wait for this to all be over so I can get to Jace. I want to share all this information with him. I want us to sit and make sense of it together. Because all this time, I’ve been holding a tiny piece of myself back from him, out of self-preservation. I was scared that he would hurt me, proving once again that my instincts are shit when it comes to love.

  But now that I know the truth about Rocky, I know that I don’t have to doubt the little voice in my head telling me that it’s safe to give my love to Jace.

  I love him.

  I love him I love him I love him.

  And it’s about time I say it to him out loud.

  I’m so excited for the life that is about to unfold for us. We love each other and we’re building a home together. Plus, I’m in the best place professionally. I’m being taken seriously, and that’s all thanks to him.

  I can’t help but stare at him every time he stands on the sidelines tonight. His too-long hair is a mess, slick with sweat. And his eyes burn with determination each time he pulls his helmet off and watches the other half of his team do their thing on the field.

  Now, the Paragon’s defense is standing at the line of scrimmage, facing off against the Boomerangs offensive line. I watch Jace bouncing on the balls of his toes. His helmet blocks most of my view, but I can almost feel the raw determination radiating from his body.

  Rocky shouts, calling the snap count, but my eyes stay on Jace. I don’t really care what the L.A. team does, to be honest.

  But instead of darting around the field, following a chosen receiver like he usually does, Jace dodges several tackles, leaping over fallen teammates as he artfully blitzes the quarterback.

  My breath leaves my lungs when Jace sprints forward. He reaches Rocky in a split second, and even though Rocky has already released the ball, Jace tackles him to the ground. Hard.

  Gasps go up around the stadium as the stunned fans look on. Horrified, I press my palms to the glass of the sky box, gaping down at the field below.

  I can’t hear what Rocky and Jace are screaming at each other as they rise to their feet. But Jace shoves Rocky. Both guys swing, but only Jace hits his mark, violently smacking the side of Rocky’s helmet.

  Whistles pierce through the air. Yellow flags are thrown. People are on their feet shouting.

  “What the hell, Jason?!” I scream.

  The second my man is ejected from the game, I’m out the door, flying down stairs to find him. I get to him right before he slinks into the Paragons’s locker room.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” I yell, as soon as I spot him in the darkened hallway.

  His head rears back. He definitely wasn’t expecting to see me in the middle of his game. Well, I wasn’t expecting to witness that spectacle on the field. So I guess we’re even.

  “You can’t just go around attacking people!” I bark. “You’re going to be fined for that, too, you know.”

  “What—you worried that I hurt your little fiancé?” Jace spits venomously. “Why don’t you go check on him instead of chewing me out?”

  “What are you talking about?” I snap, entirely taken aback by Jace’s reaction.

  He mumbles something I don’t hear and starts to move around me to head to the locker room. I don’t think so. I hold my arm out, blocking his path. “Talk to me, Jason. Tell me what’s going on. Why are you doing this?”

  “I saw you with Rocky,” he seethes. “I saw you laughing and hugging him like it was…was…The Bachelor rose ceremony.”

  “What?!”

  “Don’t deny it. Please.”

  “No. No, you don’t understand, Jace. You don’t understand what you saw.”

  “What I saw was my wife, laughing and swooning in her ex’s arms!” he shouts.

  This is so unfair. “How can you react like that without even giving me the chance to explain?!”

  Jace growls, slamming his football helmet to the floor. “Because I fucking love you, Sera.”

  I open my mouth to continue arguing, but when his words register, I freeze.

  From the look on his face, it’s obvious he didn’t mean to speak those words out loud. Not right now.

  I’m already weak in the knees when I grab him by the front of the shirt and pull him down to get his lips close. In an instant, he’s pinning me to the wall and locking his lips on mine. His tongue fights with mine, effectively short-circuiting my brain. He tastes like salt and Gatorade and desperation.

  When my back presses to the cool concrete, he pushes his hard body into me. I claw at him. I want more of him. Damn his football pads for getting in the way.

  “Sera,” he groans into my mouth, gripping my thigh and wrapping my leg around his middle. The shift brings him just a tiny bit closer, and I give into the urge to rub against him.

  We’re a hot mess of wandering hands and fevered lips. I’m squeezing two fists-full of his damp hair when his palm slides up my skirt.

  I don’t register the sound of footsteps approaching until I hear an angry growl. “What the hell is going on here?!”

  My eyes pop open just in time to see my brother charging toward us like a bull. Liam is right on his heels.

  Jace puts space between us as he turns and shields me with his body.

  “Bellino. Answer me,” my brother demands. “What are you doing all over my sister?”

  Now, the two of them are standing toe to toe, chests heaving, shoulders squared for a fight. Liam’s expression says he’s staying on standby in case things escalate.

  “Wyatt, back off,” I yell, edging my way between them.

  My mind is spinning from all the drama. This can’t be happening. Not when things were finally starting to go so well. This can’t be happening.

  Shoulders slumped, Jace turns and kicks his helmet on the floor. “Fuck this love shit. It’s not worth it. I’m done.”

  I watch, helpless as he stalks off into the locker room.

  Forty-Three

  Sera

  The bowl of rice and beans in my lap is getting cold. Tucked into the window seat in my bedroom of my childhood home, I flip mindlessly through the pages of Taken by my Bad Boy Tax Consultant. But even the hot, steamy, pressed-up-against-a-stack-of-banker’s-boxes sex scene that had overdue IRS forms flying to the floor couldn’t hold my attention.

  I’m hopeless. Hopelessly broken.

  While mom is at work, I’ve been spending the day, feeling sorry for myself. If I thought I knew what it was to be devastated when Rocky left me, I was wrong. This—losing Jace—is the worst pain I’ve ever endured.

  The sunken expression on Jace’s face yesterday as he’d walked out of the hallway keeps replaying in my head. I’ve made an absolute mess of the man’s life. I’ve gotten him tangled up in an unplanned marriage without a damn prenup, I’ve gotten him mixed up in a rivalry that’s wrecking his career and now, his relationship with his best friend is in limbo. All of it is my fault and I feel awful.

  I think the worst part is that he thinks I betrayed him. He has the entirely wrong idea about what he saw between Rocky
and me in that hallway. It was anything but a reconciliation between my ex and me. And if my stubborn husband would answer my calls or read my text messages, he would know that. But he’s turned his back on me completely and I don’t know what to do.

  I glance at my phone again. No response to my three dozen text messages. No callback to my voicemails. I’m losing my mind and I feel like I’m a heartbeat away from doing something restraining order-worthy to get his attention.

  He loves me. Jason Bellino loves me. And I know that getting there wasn’t easy for him.

  I could sit here and argue that he overreacted to seeing me hugging Rocky. I could say that he’s wrong for not letting me explain myself. But I know his old wound. I know that beneath his brash dimpled smiles and his arrogant playboy swagger, he’s paralyzed by the fear of being betrayed by love. That’s why he’s stayed away from relationships his whole life. Until me. He trusted me. And now he thinks I’ve betrayed him.

  I lean my forehead against the cool glass pane and watch rain beating the street. No kids playing outside today. No football on the neighbor’s lawn. No hopscotch on the sidewalk.

  Just rain. Just sadness.

  I think back to the friendship Jace and I had as children. I never thought it would unfold like this and I’m absolutely devastated over it. I’m finally ready to give my heart to him and he wants no part of me. We could have everything, we could be happy together, if he’d just let me explain myself and make things right.

  When Minka’s junky red hatchback pulls up at the curb, I perk up in my seat. I’ve been texting her but I haven’t heard back from her in at least a week and I was starting to get worried.

  I set my food and my romance novel aside and head to the front door to let my friend in.

  “Hey,” I say when I open the door. I stand aside so she can enter.

  “Hi, hun.”

  Her eyes brim with worry as she examines my face but I’m filled with alarm when I look closely at her. Her skin is pale, her cheeks are gaunt and there’s something flat in her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” I ask her. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. Where have you been?”

  She shakes her head dismissively. “I’ve just been…busy.” She lays a hand on my shoulder and leads me into the living room. “So I got your text message about Jace. What happened?”

  We sit side-by-side on the couch and I rehash the story again; running into Rocky in the corridor at the arena, his confession about why he disappeared on me, the hug we shared and Jace’s reaction to seeing it. Minka watches me sympathetically the whole time.

  “Everything is going to work out, Sera,” she tells me with conviction. “That man loves you. He won’t be able to keep denying it. It’s only a matter of time until he’s here begging you to forgive him for being an idiot.”

  “Do you think so?” I hate the way my voice cracks when I ask. So much is on the line here. My heart can’t take another beating.

  “Absolutely,” Minka says with confidence. “He will come find you and you’ll explain what really happened and then you can smack him upside the head for being a fool and you can be with each other. As it should be.”

  I nod through the tears trying to pour from my eyes.

  Minka reaches into her purse and produces a set of keys. “In the meantime, here are my apartment keys. I’ll be out of town for a little while and you can stay at my place if you need to.”

  I furrow my brow at her. “Where are you going?”

  A shade of pink gusts across her cheeks. “I-I just need some time away from everything. To clear my head. A little ‘retreat’ if you will.”

  “Okay,” I say despite the skepticism I feel. Something is going on with her. Her energy is quiet and sedate, a huge departure from her usual larger-than-life personality. But she doesn’t seem to be in a sharing mood so I don’t push it. “Okay. I guess I can relate to needing a retreat.”

  We share a long hug and then Minka hustles off to her car. I watch as she takes off down the street.

  I try to absorb some of my friend’s beliefs. “It’s only a matter of time until he comes looking for me…It’s only a matter of time…” God, I hope it’s true.

  A few hours later when my phone dings and Jace’s name pops up on my screen, I’m hopeful that my wish is coming true, that my husband is contacting me to let me know that he wants to work things out.

  But when I open the email from him, I see that I couldn’t be more off-base.

  From: jasonbellino69@paragonsplayers.com

  To: Admin@OlsenSteelDivorceAttorneys.com

  CC: Sera.Rodriguez@KlineSimmonsRealty.com

  Subject: Re: Reminder re: annulment deadline (File# JBSR-0711)

  Hi,

  Unfortunately the circumstances in my marriage have changed. I would like to check your availability for an appointment to begin annulment proceedings.

  Thanks.

  Jason Bellino

  And that’s how I know my marriage is over…

  Forty-Four

  Jace

  Rain beats down on the windows all around me. Hoodie up. Sunglasses on. I’m parked in the grocery store parking lot, eating mozzarella straight out of the package.

  If rock bottom were an actual place on the map, the GPS would point to this location.

  I’ve been here a few hours now. I don't see a point in leaving. I’ve already run out of mozzarella and had to come back twice. So I figured I should save myself another trip because I’m only going to run out of cheese again and have to come right back. So I'm staying.

  Besides, I don’t want to be at my condo. Everywhere I look, there are reminders of Sera. A romance novel on the coffee table in the living room. A makeup brush on the bathroom counter. A furniture brochure on the kitchen island. Hell—this morning, two burly guys in identical Reyfield Furniture Depot shirts showed up at my door to deliver the hideous new couch.

  Yes, now I have a pink couch. With buttons. And no wife to sit her pretty ass on it.

  Fuck.

  My.

  Life.

  I catch a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror. It’s not pleasant.

  How did I come to this?

  I chose love, that’s how. I knew better. I knew that falling in love only leads to letdowns and betrayal.

  I used to be a popular guy. I used to have my pick of women wanting to spend time with me. Now, The only living being I have to keep me company is the annoying fly buzzing and circling my unwashed head.

  I'm alone. Alone.

  Why am I even surprised?

  I always knew love turns out this way. I scratch at my itchy beard as I peel back the wrapper and take another bite into my brick of cheese. I haven't showered today. Which is especially bad since I had a football game last night. Fuck the Boomerangs, by the way. But whatever.

  This is what loving Sera Rodriguez has made of me.

  My phone won’t stop ringing and beeping and buzzing. Sera’s mom has called a few times. Liam, Katrina, Knox and Jude. But I don't want to talk to my family and friends. They’re probably all saying the same thing.

  ‘Hear the girl out’, ‘Give her a chance to explain’, ‘Maybe you can work thorough it’.

  They can all save it. I know what I saw.

  I saw the woman I love in the arms of another man, a man who used to own her heart. I don’t need to read the script. Trust me—I know how this movie unfolds and I won't be anyone's fool.

  Everyone I love disappoints me. And I loved Sera the most. Now here I am, gutted.

  I’m done with this. The appointment with the lawyer is on Friday. Gonna sign the damn annulment papers and get this over with. I’m not setting myself up for anymore disappointment where this marriage thing is concerned. If I shut it all down now, maybe I can save myself from even more pain down the line.

  Through my windshield, I see a figure approaching in the rain. Goddamn, it better not be the grocery store security telling me I need to stop loitering. Because I don’t wan
t to go home.

  I flick on my windshield wipers to get a better view of what’s headed my way. But it’s not security. It’s a man in dirty, tattered clothes, pushing a shopping cart that contains his whole life.

  Gabriel.

  A walking reminder of what you become when you give yourself over to love.

  My former step-father flashes a stained grin at me through the window. When he gets close enough, I lower the glass.

  “I thought that was you.” He brings his cart to a stop mere inches from my vehicle.

  He’s like a drowning chicken, soaked from head to toe. I reach into my wallet and hand him a few twenty dollar bills. He’s gonna need a warm drink with the way he’s shivering. “Gabriel, when are you gonna let me get you off the streets, into a nice apartment? I can get you into a treatment facility, man. You don’t need to live like this any—”

  He waves a hand dismissively like he doesn’t want to talk about that. He wipes a dirty palm down his face brushing water away. “I just wanted to know—how’s your granny doing? Do you have any updates?”

  I squint my eyes. Did I hear him right? “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Your granny,” Gabriel repeats. “Did she get released from the hospital or is she still in there?”

  My heart is kicking at my sternum in an instant. “My Granny…?”

  Gabriel’s mouth drops into an ‘O’. “You didn’t know?” he questions. “I was going past the hospital earlier when the ambulance brought her in. I thought you knew.”

  My grandmother’s in the hospital. No way. No.

  I glance down at the three billion text messages and missed calls on my phone.

  Fuck.

  “Gabriel, I’ve gotta go.” He backs up off of my car as I toss what’s left of my mozzarella into the passenger seat and screech out of the parking lot.

  Forty-Five