“There are no flights to Phoenix. There’s a bomb scare.”
“Oh my God. Oh, I don’t know what to do.” She started to cry again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out. It may take longer than we planned, but I promise I’ll come and get you.” I could only imagine how Margo must be feeling.
“Thank you so much,” Margo gushed. “I’m sorry to put this burden on you. I wish I’d just gone to the hotel as planned with my parents. I could have had my meltdown there.”
“Don’t worry. Just try and keep safe. Do you have enough change to call me?”
“Maybe for another three calls.”
“Okay, try to get cozy somewhere near the phone. I’ll call you as often as I can. Just don’t worry.”
“Thanks, Abi.”
I placed the phone back inside my pocket when I hung up. I made a move to go back the way I’d come but, once again, found myself staring up into Scott’s eyes. Curiosity lit them up.
I almost collided with him, but he caught me, steadying me with his grip on my shoulders. “So it looks like my sister is stuck in Phoenix. The question is why?” he smiled down at me.
I shuffled out of his grasp and gazed at him, thinking about what to say. He’d clearly been listening. “I’m going to get her.” I tried to move past him but he stopped me by placing his hand on my waist and pulling me back towards him.
“Not so fast. How are you going to get her? Are you driving?”
“Scott, I’m sure I can find some way of getting to her. I’ll rent a car.” I stepped out of his grasp once more.
“Or you could come with me.” His smile widened.
“Why’d I do that when I could rent a car or, heck, get a bus?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Margo is my sister, I know she’s stranded at the bus station in Phoenix and there’s no flights because of a bomb threat. Of course I’ll be going to get my sister, and I’ll get there much quicker than you. So, Abi, if you want to come with me, the offer is there.” He turned his smile up a notch and gave me that cheeky look again.
I bit the inside of my lip wanting to curse him but held back realizing he was right. By the time I organized a rental car, he’d be well on his way, and I’d just be in tow, going to Phoenix for nothing.
I watched him as he turned and walked away, and I tried to contemplate all this. I supposed I could have let him go and get Margo, but Margo hadn’t called him. She’d called me.
Not only that, but now I was worried for my friend and wanted to be sure that she was okay. The journey from here to Phoenix was an exceptionally long one by car. Could I survive that many hours with Scott? Especially if I was trying to avoid him.
“You coming?” he called back looking over his shoulder.
I groaned inwardly, hating this idea, but, right now, it seemed like the best way to get to Margo. It would be a long, and most likely terrible, journey, but I supposed I could bite the bullet and travel with my ex for my best friend.
Releasing a sigh of frustration, I followed him.
Chapter 1
Scott
* * *
I looked over at Abi and smiled. Nothing was funny about this situation, but I had to laugh at the opportunity that fate had dished my way.
Fate, karma, life, coincidence. Whatever it was, I was grateful for it. I’d been thinking about her for a while now, even before I’d found out about the wedding. From time to time, she had crossed my mind purely because I’d had my longest relationship with her. I knew I took absolute advantage of her and that I’d been a complete asshole to allow her to leave the way she did.
I knew that now, or rather a few years back when reality began to sink in.
My grandfather always told me that one day the fast, reckless way of life would catch up with me and that I’d burn out from it. The old man couldn’t have been more right. Fortunately, nothing bad had happened as such. It was simple, really, and began with the news of my friend and teammate Gage Montgomery, the infamous Gladiators quarterback getting married. This was a guy who I saw with one woman after another and preached that he’d never settle down. But, yet, he’d found Evie, the one woman who could change his mind and change his ways.
Who was even worse was Josh Mancini, whose wedding to Amy, his former assistant, took place at the end of last summer. That guy used to be the poster boy for womanizing, and, yet, like Gage, he’d found one woman who could change him, and Josh had one hell of a change to make.
I couldn’t have been more shocked and surprised at the two of them. It was all good stuff, and I was happy for them both, but the whole occurrence was something that flagged itself to me. It made me question my own life. It made me think about the one woman who’d been good to me, the one woman I could remotely classify as the kind of person that I’d want to be serious about.
There was just one massive problem: I’d ruined my chances with Abigail Winters, singeing any hope with her to within an inch of its life.
Right now, my car felt colder than Antarctica with the coldness the said woman was giving me and the icy, emotionless glances she occasionally threw my way.
Abi did not want me.
She hated being in my car, and she was most probably calculating an alternate route to Phoenix.
It was her love for Margo that made her decide to go with me. I knew she wanted to get to her as quickly as possible and, honestly, while I was worried about my sister, I admittedly took advantage of the situation to spend some time with Abi. I knew I had no chance in hell, but that didn’t mean I’d turn away an opportunity for her company.
I looked over at her reserved form sitting next to me in my Range Rover. She was looking through the window, watching the scenery as we drove by. Her hands were clasped on top of her purse, which was the same peach color as her long, perfectly-manicured nails. As the wind picked up, she tucked a wayward strand of her light brown hair behind her ear. It reminded me of warm, liquid caramel, and it looked just as smooth too. Her hair and her large green eyes were a perfect combination. Her eyes were the first thing I had noticed that night I’d first met her. I’d thought they were beautiful with their olive-green shade and specks of brown that made them unique.
It was amazing how that night had always stayed in my mind. The three nights with her that I remembered the most were, the night I met her, the night I first made love to her, and the night she left me.
That last memory was the worse.
“Do you think Cole believed you?” I asked breaking the silence.
“Yeah,” she answered without looking at me.
Before we left, we had gone back to the lobby to speak to Cole. I didn’t think Cole believed Abi for one second about Margo being delayed, and then he got this uneasy look about him when I tried to comment, and he asked me if I was okay. There was something amiss, here, and the only person who knew what was going on was my beautiful ex who was sitting next to me.
“He didn’t look like he did. How come you didn’t tell me Margo was stuck in Phoenix?” I’d guessed that Margo had asked her not to, but the question was ‘why.’
“I told you enough.” Again, she didn’t look at me.
I glanced across at her as we stopped for a traffic light. Wow, she was definitely hell-bent on ignoring me. I smiled as the Cranberries came on the radio and started singing Away. Abi loved the Cranberries, and I knew she loved this song, in particular. I drove across the lane when the lights changed, moving into the fast one. As much as she didn’t want to talk, I was determined to get her to warm up to me.
“Do you remember this song?” I looked over at her again.
“No,” she said, a little too quickly.
I couldn’t resist the smile that tugged at the corners of my mouth. She remembered the song, alright. It was one of her choosing, and she loved playing it when we made love.
“Are you sure?” I teased. “I seem to remember you loving this song. A lot.”
She turned around and glared at me. �
�I don’t remember the song, Scott. Please stop pestering me.”
“Pestering?” I laughed. “Babydoll, come on.” That was what I used to call her when we were together because she’d reminded me of one of Margo’s dolls she used to play with when she was younger. Petite, beautiful, and delicate with golden, smooth skin which always glistened in the sun. “I haven’t seen you in all of six years, and you think I’m pestering you? Look how nice I’ve been too.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Scott, considering what happened at our last meeting, I wonder what you could have expected,” she retorted with cold sarcasm.
“God, what happened?” I clutched my chest. “It sounds serious. Baby, was I drunk? You know better than to talk to me when I’ve had a few.” I was trying, really going all out to feign innocence, but she wasn’t buying it.
“I’m not going to even answer that. If you think me breaking up with you is something to joke about, then that’s says everything.” The critical tone in her voice was evident.
Okay maybe joking about it wasn’t the best thing.
“I don’t think it was a joke.”
“You could certainly fool me.” She met me with accusing eyes.
“I just want you to talk to me. Without the scowl.” I chuckled as she scowled even more. “I missed you.” She turned back to the window, but I did see the slight hint of pink flush her cheeks on hearing my words. “Did you miss me?”
“No.” She bit the inside of her lip and tossed her hair over her shoulder casually as if she really didn’t care at all.
“Ouch. Don’t lie. I missed our Saturday walks in the park, and date nights when you’d make me a Mexican feast if we didn’t go out. I miss you laughing anytime someone said the word Rat. Hey, remember that time when you nearly died laughing when you saw a host of rats escaping from a science lab?”
“Not so much.” Her dark brows slanted in a frown.
This was fruitless. I was going in for the general everyday stuff, but she wasn’t budging. What I missed most about her was how she made me feel. I could be comfortable around her, and I never had to try to impress her. I also missed her body. To annoy her, I rested my hand on her thigh and she smacked me, swatting me away.
“Abi, come on.” I smiled and playfully leaned in to kiss her when I stopped at another traffic light.
Now she slapped me in my face. “What is wrong with you?”
“Ouch! Damn, I just wanted a kiss,” I said, poking her in the waist where she was ticklish.
She tried not to laugh and scowled at me again. “You are so weird.”
“Okay, so would you rather we sit in silence for the whole journey?” The journey would have taken up to ten hours, depending on traffic. I wasn’t sure if I could stand it, especially since I was used to her being bubbly and a lot livelier than this.
“Did you have something else you needed to talk about?” Her tone was very businesslike. It was the kind of tone you’d expect to hear when you called a customer services department.
“How are you?” I kept my gaze on her.
I knew she’d made a lot of changes to her life with her move to New York. Margo had told me that Abi was doing really well with her job in advertising. It didn’t surprise me because she was always good at whatever she put her mind to.
“I’m fine. Really good. You?”
Well, at least she asked.
“Good. I’m good. And work?”
“Fantastic. Going to New York was the best thing I ever did.”
There was undoubtedly a double-edged meaning to that answer. I was certain she included leaving me in that mix too. I couldn’t blame her. I was an asshole. Most of the guys on the team were; being on the team seemed to come with the personality. I should have never been with a sweet girl like Abi, but it was her sweetness that drove me to her in the first place like a damn predator to prey. But I wasn’t the kind of guy who should have had a girlfriend.
I had wanted to cheat on her so many times that I’d lost count. For a majority of the time we were together, I saw her as a hindrance more than my girlfriend. As much as I’d wanted to cheat, though, I could never bring myself to do it. Instead, I treated her like she was some kind of burden on me, a damn drag that stopped me from having sex with the host of women who congregated to worship me. I all but rejoiced when she said she was leaving me, and, within five minutes of her leaving, I dragged that redhead that had secured herself to my lap off to my car where I practically devoured her. And the redhead wasn’t the only one that night.
That night I thought I was free to do anything. Now the thought of how I’d been made me feel sick. Sick to my core that I could have been like that, and truly ashamed.
No… ashamed wasn’t even the right word.
What I felt at my disgusting behavior could never be described with words.
Being with Abi, was like having someone hand you a pot of everything that could mean something in life. A pot of pure gold, and the idiot that I was lost her. I lost the one women in my life who was everything.
That night I metaphorically picked the pot up and emptied all the goodness into the sea. Like it was nothing. Like she was nothing.
I’d been a fool, and, as Abi held my gaze now, more shame filled me. That night was the last time I saw her. It was the reason for the coldness she gave me. She looked away again, and I returned my focus to the road.
“Is it safe for me to ask why Margo’s stuck in Phoenix, or do I have to drag it out of you?” I asked.
Charm. It was the one asset that never let me down. I could charm my way into anything and use it to melt most women. At one point, I’d been able to melt her.
“I’m certain if she wants you to know, she’ll call you.” She resumed her disregard of me and kept her focus outside.
I laughed. “Wow is this seriously how we’re going to be, Babydoll?”
She cut me a crude glance. “Scott, some things are private. I’m simply accompanying you for the convenience of the lift and a quicker route to my friend. Please don’t ask me anything else.”
I smiled and looked at her as we stopped for the traffic lights. “So, what happened? Is Cole in trouble? I reckon she ran away or something.” Yup, I was totally ignoring the warning, much to her dismay. She adjusted herself so that she could face the window more, and ignore me, but I knew how to get under her skin. “That’s a better view of your sweet ass.”
That did the trick. Quickly, she shuffled around again and scowled at me. “What is your problem?”
“What? I don’t know what you mean, baby. If your ass is fine, it’s fine. I’m just telling you.” I laughed at her and ran my gaze back to the side of that sweet ass I remembered so well. There were several favorite parts to love on her. On that thought, my eyes went to her full, very hefty breasts that looked even more defined against the slimness in her waist and hips. I’d noticed straightaway that her body looked more toned, as if she worked out, which I guessed she must have.
“My God, could you be any more of a pervert?” She looked completely appalled.
“It’s not my fault you look the way you do.” I chuckled and looked away.
“You are so annoying.” She opened her little purse and searched around inside. She then pulled out a box of Tylenol and took two out.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Migraine, thanks to the blockheaded jock sitting next to me.” She put the tablets in her mouth and swallowed them.
“Doll, you should seriously have water with that, and food.”
“I’m fine.” She raised her hand to her head and winced.
I had an idea. I pulled off the main road and careened down towards the intersection. It was early. I’d wanted to get to the hotel as early as possible so skipped breakfast, something I never normally did, especially now that I was supposed to be getting myself back in shape and in routine to start training for the new season.
This morning I slept through my alarm and woke up an hour later than planned.<
br />
“Scott, where are we going? This is heading into town.” She looked about us.
“Breakfast. I’m taking you to breakfast,” I answered firmly and pretended not to notice the look of disdain she threw my way.
“What? No, we need to get Margo.”
“Doll, Margo is fine where she is. There’s no way we’re driving for more than half a day on empty. Have you eaten yet?”
She sighed with frustration. “I haven’t. We can’t stay long.”
“We stay as long as we need. You know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We have to keep that fine body of yours in good condition,” I chuckled.
Her shoulders slumped. “Scott, if this is how you’re going to be on this trip, it would definitely be best for me to hire a car.”
I raised my hands into a shrug and laughed. We continued down the road for about five minutes until we saw a diner.
"How about here?" I leaned into her shoulder and smiled.
"Yeah, sure."
I parked up close to the entrance, and we got out. Inside was mostly empty, except for a few truckers in the corner.
One of them zoned in on Abi, locking his eyes on her. He looked her up from head to toe. I instinctively thought to put my arm around her, to claim her, but had to remind myself she wasn't mine.
The man, however, didn't seem like he would have cared one way or the other. His eyes were peeled to Abi. Looking at her with smug delight and satisfaction.
She noticed and seemed uncomfortable with the way he stared. Seeing the awkward look on her face, I placed my arm around her anyway as we walked towards the opposite corner. I was amazed when she didn't protest or make any comment.
When we sat in the last booth opposite each other, I glanced across at the man and saw that he was still staring. He looked like a fool ready to start trouble.
Clearly, he didn’t recognize me. Most people around San Francisco and LA tended to recognize me straightaway, if not from football then at least from an ad or promo. I’d already done roughly ten photo shoots, one of which was for a Calvin Klein ad I actually saw on a billboard on the way here. I was happy Abi hadn’t seen it. It probably would have added to her sour mood of my presence.
Play of Love: The Gladiator Players Box Set Page 26
