by Amanda Cowen
He rises to his feet, determined. “I am ready. Until I met you I was a mess. Nothing meant anything. Now everything means something. You changed me. I support you studying at Harvard. I want you to be happy. Please. Don’t give up on me.” He reaches over to wipe the tears from my cheeks and pulls me closer and kisses me. Instinctually I melt into his arms, my mouth opening to the soft familiar caress of his tongue. I lose myself in him and start to panic. I press my palms against his chest and break our kiss, pushing him back a fraction.
“My lips may have belonged to you before, but you sure as hell lost the rights to them when you kissed another girl.”
When he looks down at me, his pupils are so large his eyes nearly turn black, and he grabs my wrist and pulls my lips inches away from his mouth. We stare at each other in silence, his warm breath beating against my lips. My heart pounds in my chest as I fight the emotions swimming in his eyes. They are broken, miserable and glazed with defeat.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice breaks and he lets go of my wrist. “Please forgive me.”
His phone vibrates in his hand from another incoming call. My eyes glance down to the screen, lit up with a picture of the strawberry blonde that walked in on us that night in the locker room. He catches me staring at it and clicks off the call.
“That’s why I’m here. There is something you need to know. Right now I don’t expect you to understand it, but it’s the truth. She’s what I need to talk to you about.” Panic rises in his voice.
I grab my carry-on. “Too late.”
I spin on my heel, rush down the hallway and merge myself into the swarm of people funneling through the security gates. My heart clenches when I hear an angry female voice on my right. “Cash, where the hell have you been? Why aren’t you answering your phone? I’ve been calling you.”
Slowly I spin around and see Cash’s jaw tighten and sweat forming on his brow. The leggy strawberry blonde from the picture rolls a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage behind her in his direction. She slides her sunglasses to the top of her head and gives him a forced grin. She shifts her gaze between the two of us and when her bright green eyes meet mine, I think I might throw up.
“What the hell is going on?” I watch her wrap her arm around his shoulders and kiss him on the cheek.
All the blood drains from Cash’s face as he peels her arm from him and takes a step forward. He stares at me, his eyes piercing with such remorse and guilt that my body starts to go numb.
I hold up my hand to halt him and nearly collapse when I hear her shout. “Ohmigod, don’t even tell me this is the little puck bunny who thinks she can ruin what you owe me.”
“Excuse me?” I laugh, placing my hand on my chest. “Puck bunny? Who the fuck are you?”
“His wife,” she states so calmly that I’m not sure I heard her right.
Wife?
Wait. He’s married?
“What did she say?” I shift my gaze, my pulse thundering as my eyes meet Cash’s. My bottom lip trembles. She couldn’t possibly be speaking the truth after everything Cash and I have been through. This couldn’t have been what he was hiding from me? How did no one on the team or in the league know about this? I don’t believe it. “Cash, please tell me this isn’t true.” My heart lurches in my chest. His glazed blue eyes stare intently at me, his silence confirming her claim to the only man I have ever loved. She looks thrilled at my absolute dismay. She wraps her arm around his bicep, but he shakes it off and reaches for me.
His attempt to touch me sends rage coursing through me so strongly, that before I can even stop myself, my hand swings up and slaps him hard across the face. The smack sharply echoes in the air, causing the people passing by us to stop and stare. He rubs the side of his red stained cheek, staring back at me with pain in his eyes. The imprint of my hand red and visible on his skin.
“You’re dead to me,” I say through gritted teeth. Unwanted tears fight their way from my eyes and spill over. “Once I walk through those gates, don’t find me. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Don’t even think of stepping foot in Boston.”
“Quinn, please.”
“How could you hide something like this from me?”
“I never wanted you to find out this way.”
I gape at him, my stomach plummeting. Finally, the truth. He simply hoped he could hide her from me. “You didn’t want me to find out this way? Did you think moving me to Santa Anna was going to keep me from finding out about her?”
He reaches out for my hand, but I yank it away.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” I warn. I turn my back to him and push through the crowd in the direction of the security gates.
“Please let me explain,” he calls after me. “It’s all for my brother, Quinn. You have to understand why I’ve hid this from you, from everyone.”
I’m drowning in humiliation, forcing myself to breathe deep to prevent more tears from falling down my cheeks. As I make it safely through the gates, I turn around to face him one last time. “The only thing I understand is that this whole time I’ve been with you, everything has been a lie.”
Emotions swim in his anxious blue eyes as he stands there staring at me.
My feelings are equally confused, but I understand one thing. “You have a fucking wife,” I say, my voice as cold as the ice where we met.
“Please give me the chance to explain.”
“Stay away from me.” I fumble to the gate, my heart lodged in my throat and my head an absolute mess. Once I make it onto the plane, I drop into my seat, fingers trembling and pain radiating in my chest with each staggered breath. I dig in my purse to find my sunglasses. When my hand brushes the smooth silver ring I made for Cash at the bottom of my purse my stomach clenches. I never even had the opportunity to give it to him. I drop the ring and quickly pull out my sunglasses. I slide them on to hide my bloodshot eyes, letting my tears fall and my thoughts subside. I have no idea why he kept this from me, but I feel the shards of deception pushing deep into my lungs, making it hard to breathe. I put in my earbuds to drown out the painful pounding in my heart. I turn on my iPod and my playlist kicks in, blaring the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses.” I shake my head and bite my lip letting the tears continue to fall. Just like the lyrics that once brought me hope for us, they now bring me deep despair. Loving Cash has broken my faith and made me shed one too many tears. No matter how much I still love him, I have to drag myself away.
And this time, it’s for good.
Cash and Quinn’s Story Isn’t Over Yet…
Perfect Love (The Perfect Series #2) - RELEASE DATE: 2017
