Play of Love: The Gladiator Players Box Set

by Gray, Khardine

  That was how I planned to be for the rest of this trip.

  “Abi!” Cole rushed up to me.

  I noted the look of worry on his face, his clamped mouth and the fear in his eyes. I’d spent an hour yesterday calming his nerves. Some guys got cold feet before their wedding, but this one was too busy making sure everything was perfect for his bride. He got all worked up yesterday when the hotel placed red roses in Margo’s princess suite instead of pink ones. He said the smell and the ambiance were wrong. I didn’t know that red roses smelled different from pink ones and couldn’t see what the problem was because the flowers were out-of-this-world beautiful.

  Apparently, though, they weren’t good enough for his Margo, who he insisted had to have pink roses.

  Cole had the tendency to go completely over the top when it came to Margo. Even this venue, beautiful as the Saylor Hotel was and the finest in San Francisco, was insisted on by Cole. He said he wouldn’t live up to his Barrett family name if he didn’t give Margo the best. And the best for the soon to be Mrs. Barrett meant the Saylor Hotel. Aside from its exquisiteness, Becca Walker –Margo’s favorite singer and absolute idol – had gotten married here. They had to book a year in advance, and he paid for all the guests who were attending to stay here.

  “Hey, you okay?” I asked, greeting him with a warm smile. I geared myself up for hearing some sort of ridiculousness like I had heard yesterday.

  “No. Margo’s not here,” he winced.

  “What?” Margo was supposed to arrive last night with everyone else traveling from LA. I had a migraine which is why I had come early.

  “Are her parents here?”

  “Yes.” His bright blue eyes looked sad and even more worried. “They got here just after you went up to your room.”

  Margo had planned to travel with her parents. I found it strange that not only had I not called, but that Margo didn’t call me either. “Have you spoken to her?”

  “Yes, and no,” Cole replied with a tentative expression on his face.

  “What does that mean?” I laughed.

  “Abi, I did something bad.” He brought his large hands together and clasped them at his chin, then touched the dimple in his cleft.

  “What could you possibly have done?” Cole was the most perfect guy ever. He and Margo met in college and they’d been together ever since. They were the description of the perfect couple. I couldn’t even think of him doing something to upset her. “Did she find out the roses were red instead of pink?” I had to laugh.

  The sick look on his face held my attention. “I did something worse than that.”

  “Cole, I’m sure she’ll be here. I’ll call and check.” I took out my phone from my back jeans pocket.

  “No, wait. I should tell you what happened first, before you speak to her.” He held up his hands.

  I narrowed my gaze at him and sighed, certain this was going to be one of his crazy tales of overliness. He’d probably tell me that he thought Margo was upset because he’d told her the sheets in her room were cotton instead of silk. And, if he did I’d happily highlight that Margo didn’t care about things like that. She was the humblest woman I knew, and Cole honestly didn’t need to be so over-the-top.

  “Okay,” I said, just to humor him.

  “There was something on my mind. Had been for a very long time. Years. I planned to tell her days ago, before we got here, but she’s been really busy at work. It was important to me to tell her before she got here. I wanted everything to be perfect and memorable as a happy time.”

  This sounded serious. I shifted my weight from one foot to the next and folded my arms under my breasts.

  Cole pulled in a breath and continued. “I had a secret that I needed to get off my chest.”

  “What kind of secret?” I bit the inside of my lip and tucked a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear.

  “The bad kind.” He brought his hand to his beard and shame filled his handsome features and made him look down. When he looked back to me, I saw that this really was serious. I’d never seen him look like that before. “Abi about ten years ago, Margo and I had a really terrible argument. I thought that was the end of us. We’d just left college and tried to live together as a couple. Anyway, this argument we had made me think we’d broken up. I was angry, and I got drunk, and um…”

  I dropped my hands to my sides waiting to hear what he had to say.

  “What did you do, Cole?” My voice sounded more rigid now, unlike the playful tone I’d used previously.

  “I slept with someone else.”

  My heart stopped and skipped several beats. My breath was caught in the walls of my chest. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “What?” My voice sounded fragile.

  “I don’t really want to say it again. And, it’s embarrassing for me to tell you. I can’t even remember how it happened, but it did, and I’ve lived with that secret for all this time. I couldn’t marry Margo with that on my conscience. She deserved to know, and I think she’s changed her mind. I don’t think she’s coming.”

  I drew my brows together and frowned at him.

  “Cole, why didn’t you tell her this before? This is crazy. You wait until two days before your wedding to tell her something that happened ten years ago!” I huffed. I was angry and disappointed. I instantly thought that if I felt this angry, then how did poor Margo feel?

  Cole bowed his head and lifted it up again. “I was scared. I thought I could never mention it, but I had to. I, I was young and dumb. I’m not a cheater.” His eyes glossed over. “She was crying when I told her, but then she sounded fine. I asked her if she still wanted to marry me and she said yes. I thought she’d be here by now.”

  “I’ll call her.” I nodded. I didn’t know what I would say to Margo, but I knew my friend would be incredibly hurt regardless of what she told Cole, and it was definitely the reason why she wasn’t here.

  “Thank you.”

  “Abi,” said a smooth, cool voice I’d recognize anywhere.

  My breath quickened. I looked up to find myself gazing up into Scott’s turquoise eyes. The simple tingle I had felt when I’d watched him from the balcony was nothing in comparison to the heat that rose within me now.

  It was because of the way he was looking at me. Smoldering with the heat I felt, probing and boring into me with an intensity that made me swallow hard and try to calm my racing heart.

  Considering that I’d been on a six-year mission to purge myself of him, I wasn’t doing so well. It wasn’t helping that being this close to him gave me a good view of how much hotter he’d become since I last saw him. Looking at him from afar gave only a taste; up close, he was all kinds of gorgeous, and six years older looked great on him. The boyish look he had about him back then had turned into sharper, more striking masculine features, and, while he still exhibited that bad-boy presence with overpowering wildness, he had an air of maturity that was even more attractive.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Cole beat me to it.

  “Scott, hey,” Cole replied putting out his hand to shake Scott’s. Cole looked nervous. He always did around Scott, but, with the secret he just disclosed to me, I was sure he must have felt like he was walking on eggshells. “When’d you get here?” Even his voice wavered.

  “Just now,” Scott replied. He must have meant the time at which he’d come up the steps because he’d been here for at least half an hour. “Abi.” He focused his attention on me again.

  “Hi.” I raised my chin and put on my best smile, trying not to see more into the look of interest he was giving me , or the way that his eyes caressed me with softness.

  My phone started to ring in my hand. It was an unknown number. I would have hung up on a normal day but welcomed the excuse of a phone call to get away from Scott. I answered it.

  “Abi!” It was Margo.

  “Hey there. Why are you calling from an unknown number?”

  “Are you near Cole?” Her voice was heavy with th
e type of panic that immediately made me nervous.

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t’ let him know you’re talking to me,” she said quickly.

  I glanced at Cole who was looking at my eagerly. “Why?”

  Margo made a whimpering noise and I realized she was crying. “Please, if you’re standing near him, move away.”

  I moved away and walked over to the corner of the room, leaving a perplexed Cole with Scott.

  “I’m away,” I told her. “Scott’s here.”

  Margo broke down. “Oh Abi, I seriously could do with having either of you here now. There are times in life when you lose your strength and when all a girl needs is her best friend or her big brother to help me pick up the pieces of a stupid mistake.”

  I held my breath as anxiety filled my stomach. “Sweetie, are you okay?” I asked trying to keep my voice under control. I felt it was more appropriate to allow Margo to tell me what happened and comment after. Scott glanced over at me , but I ignored him.

  “Abi, Cole told me he slept with some random girl just after we left college,” she cried.

  I turned around when I saw Cole looking on desperately. I couldn’t have a private conversation with him looking at me like that, and Scott was an excuse all by himself. There was a reason I wanted no contact.

  The last time we saw each other was when I’d gone to see him at the football stadium to break up with him. He’d had one of those man-hungry groupies on his lap. A fiery redhead who looked like all she wanted was sex. I would never forget the sight of the two of them. I had to tell him I was leaving him while the skank had her arms locked around his neck, and all Scott did was respond with a laugh. That was it. Seven years down the toilet and all the man could do was laugh. He never even came after me, I reflected with bitterness. I couldn’t have been more embarrassed, but what was worse than any embarrassment or humiliation was the hurt that left me feeling bereft and desolate.

  I walked back to the balcony, listening to Margo cry. After what Cole had told me, I expected this. I just wished I knew what was going on.

  “Margo, Cole just told me. Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not. I’m heartbroken and a mess. I was at work when he told me. I was crushed after we spoke, but I made him think everything was all okay.”

  “What are you going to do? The wedding is in two days, and all the guests will be here by tomorrow morning.”

  “I know,” she winced.

  “Are you… calling it off?” I asked with caution. To me, what had happened was a solid reason which anyone would understand, but, at the same time, I thought it would be sad. I didn’t understand why men had to be such jerks sometimes and ruin a good thing.

  “I wanted to. And… I panicked. I, I’ve just made the situation worse.”

  “By doing what?” I held my breath.

  “I got on a bus to Phoenix.”

  “What!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “I know, it’s crazy.” I winced. I could hear the frustration in her voice. “After Cole spoke to me I was in shock, upset and so numb I couldn’t think straight. One minute I was in LA getting ready to finish up at work, then he called and my mind went blank. I knew I should have been heading over to San Francisco with my parents but I ended up at the bus station.”

  That was definite, understandable shock.

  “God, are you okay?” It was a stupid question, but I asked it anyway.

  “No Abi, it gets worse.”

  Oh, sweet Lord. I closed my eyes remembering how eccentric and spontaneous my friend could be.

  “How?”

  “I changed my mind after I cooled off and had time to think. I remembered how much I love Cole, and that the mistake was well in the past. I was going to head to San Francisco, but then I couldn’t find my bag. I swear, I had it with me the whole time. I remember having it when I got to the station in Phoenix. And I remember sitting in the waiting area, but then it was gone. I think it got stolen.” Margo shrieked.

  “Shit.” I brought my hand up to my mouth, completely startled by what I was hearing. “Did you report it?”

  “I did, but that’s the least of my worries. Everything was in there. My ID, my money, phone, everything. Abi, I’m stuck here and I can’t get to you.” Margo broke down again.

  Shit, this was complete crap. What a thing to happen.

  “I could send you some money. There must be a money transfer place there.” I was trying to remember what the bus station in Phoenix looked like.

  “I won’t be able to get it without ID.”

  “Oh, yes, of course.” I closed my eyes, trying to think hard. “I’ll come and get you.” That seemed like the only viable thing to do.

  “Would you do that?”

  “Of course I will. I just have to work out my travel.” My mind was already working on my route. I would get a flight to Phoenix and a cab to the bus station, pick Margo up, and we could be back by nightfall, or even earlier, depending on how quick I could get a flight.

  “Oh, God, Abi, you’re such a good friend.”

  “You know you can count on me.” We could always count on one another, no matter what. And I knew that, if the situation had been reversed, Margo would do the same for me.

  “I know. Please don’t say anything to Cole. I don’t want him to feel worse. I know he feels guilty enough as it is. I don’t want him to think that I don’t love him enough to forgive him. Or, that I left him.” That was love. It really was. Again, I understood. It was a special thing when you found someone you could love like that.

  “I won’t tell him,” I promised. “He’s worried, though, Margo. I have to say something.”

  “Tell him I lost my phone and I’m a bit delayed at work, but I’ll be there as quick as I can.” That was a plausible excuse since Margo was an ER nurse and always needed to rush off to the hospital, work late shifts, and do whatever they needed her to do. She’d barely taken time off for the wedding by only taking the bare minimum needed for the wedding itself, and two weeks for their honeymoon. “If you see my parents, tell them the same. They’d freak out if they knew what happened to me.”

  “Okay, let me check my flight details. I’ll call back in a minute.”

  “Thanks so much.”

  I hung up and went straight to the travel app on my phone. I typed in flights to Phoenix but it came up with nothing for the whole day.

  “Dammit!” I cursed, stamping my foot down.

  “Going somewhere?” It was Scott, again.

  I turned to see him resting against the door frame. I wondered how long he’d been there. “Can I help you with something?”

  The corners of his sensual mouth lifted into a slow, easy smile. His eyes never leaving mine.

  “You can, but I don’t know if you’ll want to.” He had the audacity to give me that lascivious, purely sexual look he used to. And the smile to go with it.

  “I’m busy right now, and, no, I don’t think I can help you with anything.”

  He laughed, a deep hearty masculine laugh that filled me.

  “Are you sure?” There was that look again.

  “Yes, I’m quite sure.”

  “How long’s it been, Abi?”

  “Since what?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Since us. Six years?” His eyes brightened.

  “I’m sorry, I can barely remember.” I lied, raising my eyebrows.

  “It’s good to see you.” The cockiness in his smile echoed in his voice. He strode towards me and stopped paces away.

  “And you.” I only said that out of politeness, but, truthfully, I supposed it was good to see him.

  “You look good.” He looked me up and down slowly, taking his time to admire my legs, my waist, and my breasts. An unexpected flicker of heat rushed over me, and I was annoyed at the unwelcomed blush that crept into my cheeks.

  “I won’t tell you that you look good too so that your head can get bigger.” I met his eyes boldly and straightened up to
gather my composure. Scott had the ability to know when he’d made an effect on someone, and I didn’t want him thinking he could do that with me .

  He answered me with a deep, hearty laugh that filled the space between us. “Still fiery, Baby doll.” I wished he wouldn’t call me that. I’d been smitten with the endearment when things were good with us. It was a happy time I wanted to forget because of how things ended. “You were talking to Margo – where is she?” he added.

  “Delayed.” I didn’t know what else I should say.

  He looked at me for a few seconds and straightened up. “Where are you flying to? Is Margo in trouble?”

  “Scott, everything is under control. Margo is delayed, and she will be with us tomorrow.” I answered turning away from him, deciding to ignore him again.

  I walked through to the other corridor, in order to avoid Cole, and dialed the number for the airport. I thought I’d book direct. An operator came on within seconds of me holding.

  “Hi, there, I’d like to book a flight to Phoenix from San Francisco. I can’t seem to book online. Can I book through you?” I asked.

  “I’m so sorry, ma’am. All flights are grounded across the state. There’s been a bomb scare and the police are investigating. We’re advising people to find other means of travel or wait until one we have the all clear.”

  That was crazy and scary. “A bomb scare! You’re kidding.”

  “No, I’m so sorry. All airports across California are practically closed. You’re welcome to call back and check later if you’d like, but your best bet is either finding other means of travel or booking a flight on another day.”

  Shit. That meant flying was out. “Okay. Thank you.” I hung up and rested against the corridor wall, wondering what to do.

  My phone rang again. It was the same unrecognized number as before.

  “Margo.” I said into the phone. I wasn’t sure what to tell her because it was looking like either I couldn’t go and get her, or I’d have to drive there somehow.

  “Abi, I’m sorry to call back so soon and pester but I just wanted to see what’s happening. There are some really creepy guys here.”