Double Coverage

by Meghan Quinn

  The lady approached Hannah, so she was inches away from her face, while still holding her child, who must have been asleep on the lady’s shoulder.

  Todd’s…wife pushed Hannah up against the bar and got in her face.

  “Don’t act all innocent. I am so sick of your little woe-is-me expression. No one can be that stupid.”

  “I didn’t know…”

  The lady slapped Hannah so hard, Hannah thought her cheek was on the floor somewhere. Hannah’s eyes started to water and she wondered why no one in the bar noticed the crazy blonde with the baby on her hip attacking Hannah.

  The lady was just about to slap Hannah again, when her hand was stilled.

  “Slap her again and I won’t care that you’re holding a baby. I’ll make sure you regret ever laying a hand on her.”

  Ryker.

  The lady looked over at Ryker and then back at Hannah. “Stay the fuck away from my husband and out of our lives. I swear to God, if I find out that you’re still fucking him behind my back, you’ll regret the day you ever laid your eyes on him. Todd is mine; he belongs with me and his daughter, in New York where his family is. You are nothing but a two-bit whore that caught his eye. You are nothing to him and you will never be anything to him…or anyone, for that matter.”

  The blonde turned on her heels and stormed out of the bar, crashing the door into the wall. Hannah just stood there and stared at the bar exit. She couldn’t believe what just happened. Todd was married? He had a whole other life. Everything he said to her about getting married, loving her and wanting to be with her was all a lie. The last few years of her life had been a big fat lie. Hannah slid down the bar and sat on the floor with her head hanging between her hands. Tears fell from her eyes as she realized that her life as she knew it was over. No longer did she have a fiancé, technically, nor did she have a boyfriend; she was alone in the world.

  “Hannah…,” Ryker placed his hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away.

  “Don’t touch me,” Hannah said in a nastier tone than she expected.

  Ryker stood up, shocked at her tone and looked at her while running his hand over his forehead. She felt bad that she snapped at him, but then again, Ryker was a player, just like Todd. She didn’t want to be near any men right now that could hurt her.

  “You know, I’m not the one who lied to you.”

  Hannah looked up and she knew fire was burning through her eyes. “You might as well be. You are a player, just like every other guy in this world. You are no better than Todd.”

  “Don’t you fucking compare me to that dick weed. You know I’m nothing like him and I’m insulted as hell that you would compare me to such a manipulative ass.”

  “Manipulative, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”

  “What the fuck does that mean?”

  Hannah stood up and got in Ryker’s face. “This whole time, you’ve been manipulating me to like you, to get into your bed by telling me how you are going to marry me one day and how you just can’t live without me, but then you go and run your hands all over another woman’s body…multiple times. You are just as bad as Todd.”

  Ryker’s hands flexed at his hips as if he wanted to knock someone’s head off. He blew out a heavy breath and said, “That’s it. That is fucking it. I don’t have to take this shit from you anymore. I can’t believe I’ve lasted this long. I was ready to give you everything, Hannah. I genuinely wanted to be with you, but you clearly have a different opinion of me, an opinion I don’t deserve. I’m out.”

  “Fine!” Hannah practically screamed, drawing attention to her and Ryker’s conversation. “Just leave, like every other man in my life.”

  Ryker shook his head and left. Hannah fell back down on the bar floor and cried until Leela came over to help her up and out of the bar, so she could go back to her apartment…her very empty apartment.

  ***

  Piper walked back and forth in front of Mason’s door. She knew she shouldn’t be there, but she couldn’t help herself. She had to see Mason. She needed to hear his voice, she needed to hold him.

  When Jax came over earlier in the day, Piper was a little shocked to see him. She hadn’t heard from him all week, but then there he was, wearing his worn jeans, a white shirt and his white Nike hat. He looked just as good as the day she first met him and her heart squeezed at the sight of him.

  Little did she know he was going to confess his undying love for her and propose. The man actually proposed and she said…yes. It just came out of her mouth, before she could even think about the consequences. The consequences being having to say goodbye to Mason…forever. The minute Jax left her apartment for the stadium, a huge wave of guilt washed over Piper’s body. What the hell was she doing? She couldn’t marry Jax. She loved him, but…she wasn’t in love with him. No, she was right all along when she said her heart belonged to one person and one person only…Mason.

  It was going to be okay, she told herself, as she raised her hand to knock on his door. She could do this. She was going to tell him she loved him and he was the one she had chosen, no more games, no more lying. It was over with Jax. She gave him back the ring and now she was going to claim the person who owned her heart.

  Sweat trickled down her back as she knocked on the door. It seemed like ages before Mason came to the door. When he opened it, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He was wearing sweatpants…and that was it. His bare chest glistened in the light and it took all of Piper’s energy not to run her hands up and down the expanse of his muscles.

  Shock registered across Mason’s face as he took in the sight of Piper standing at his front door.

  “What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your fiancé?”

  She deserved that, Piper thought. “He’s not my fiancé,” Piper said, trying to hold her head up.

  “That’s not what I heard. It was really fun to find out about your engagement from the media while I was in the locker room, a couple feet away from your douche bag of a fiancé.” Mason shook his head and then said, “I have nothing to say to you besides stop fucking with me and get out of my life.”

  He went to shut the door, but Piper stopped him by squeezing her body in the doorway.

  “Stop. I broke it off. I don’t love Jax, I love you. I’m in love with you, Mason. It’s always been you. I have been an idiot this past week…these past weeks. I’ve been too damn stubborn to give in to my real feelings for you, but it wasn’t until I realized I could lose you forever that I knew I needed to be with you. Mason, I can’t be without you. I love you so much. I need you just as much as you need me.”

  “What are you doing to me?” Mason asked in a strangled voice.

  Piper took a step forward and put her hands on his chest, reveling in the warmth of his skin.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for everything Mace. Please believe me when I say this is it for me, you are it. I want to be with you. I want to be able to walk down the street, holding your hand and not worry about who might see us. I want to go on vacation with you and experience new things with you without juggling my other life. Please forgive me.”

  “Jesus. Piper, I don’t know what to say. I’ve been waiting so long to hear you say those words, but how can I believe you?”

  Piper didn’t give him another chance to speak. She pulled his head down to hers and captured his mouth with the passion that was running rampant through her veins. She wanted to show him how much she loved him, how much she cared and how he was the only man for her. She moved her lips across his as she pulled his body as close to hers as she possibly could.

  “Excuse me?”

  Piper froze mid-kiss at the sound of someone else’s voice. Piper pulled away and, out of the corner of her eye, saw a figure in the doorway of Mason’s bedroom. Piper whipped her head around and made eye contact with Brooke wearing Mason’s shirt and nothing else. Piper instantly backed away from Mason and started shaking her head, while saying no repeatedly.

&nb
sp; “Piper wait…” Mason said, while pulling her into him.

  “Get the fuck away from me. Don’t you dare fucking touch me.” Piper made eye contact with Mason and saw instant regret and hurt in his eyes. “How dare you fucking touch me when she was in the other room. This is over. I told you I would not tolerate you being with her.”

  Fire enveloped Mason’s eyes. “You are such a fucking hypocrite. You’ve been with Jax this whole time and I’ve dealt with that. The only reason she is here is because I thought you were engaged.”

  “Wow, you really took some time mourning our relationship.”

  “What relationship? I wouldn’t consider a few fucks behind everyone’s back a relationship.”

  “Fuck you, Mason.”

  “NO! Fuck you, Piper. Get out of here. I deserve someone better than your pathetic ass who strings men along by their hearts, not caring whether or not you break them. You are a conniving bitch and I should have left you alone a while ago, but for some God damn reason, my heart needed you. For some damn reason, you made me feel again and you made the light come back in my life, but boy, was I wrong. If I knew you were going to break me in half more than Brooke ever did, then never in my life would I have gotten involved with you. You have completely broken me, Piper.”

  With that, Mason shut the door in Piper’s face, ending any kind of chance she had at being with him and any future she might have in Denver. She knew she had overreacted to Brooke, but then again, she couldn’t bear the fact that Mason was with Brooke and now that he was, she couldn’t stay around to see how their relationship blossomed in the public eye. No, she had to get out of Denver. She needed to go elsewhere.

  Where she was going, she had no clue, but all she knew was it was going to be sunny and she was going to go to a place where there was no football…

  To be continued…

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