The Player and the Bet: An Enemies-to-Lovers College Sports Romance

by Liv Reid

  “Now, what I can’t figure out is if you were incapable of doing it,” she says casually as she strolls back and forth in front of the metal operating table I’m strapped to, “—which surprises me because you don’t seem like a stupid or incapable guy, and something as important to you as your legs were on the line—or if there was another reason.”

  I glare at her, hard. She’s enjoying this. Her tone is casual, but her eyes are narrowed on me, and there’s a hint of a smile on her pretty lips.

  “Was there another reason, Mr. Law?”

  “There was no other fucking reason. I couldn’t do it. End of story.”

  “Was it her?” she asks abruptly. “Was there something about her that made you unable to do it?”

  “I couldn’t do that to Sadie. She didn’t deserve it.”

  “Why? It’s not like you’ve ever cared about hurting anyone before. We know you, Mr. Law. I know you. You’re a reckless, selfish party boy who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. All you care about is football and having a good time, so what’s changed now? Why her?”

  “Because I fucking love Sadie, okay? Is that what you want from me?”

  The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them—and I don’t know if I would have stopped them anyway. It’s the truth, and I don’t care who knows.

  I hear a tiny gasp and look over to one of the windows—and my heart freezes in my chest. I’m not the only one who heard it, and the rest of the people in the room turn towards the window.

  “Run, Sadie!” I yell.

  But before she can move, the man closest to the window grabs her arm.

  “NO! Let go of her!” I scream, but he drags her the rest of the way into the room.

  Another guy rushes over and grabs her other arm. She’s struggling with all her might—of course she is, my little badass—but the men are twice her size and built of solid muscle. She doesn’t stand a chance.

  Fuck, this is bad. What the hell have I gotten her into?

  46

  Sadie

  The car pulls up to a huge warehouse nestled in the surrounding forest. It’s the only building around for miles and looks like it’s been abandoned for a long time.

  “Are you sure this is the right spot?” my driver asks dubiously, as he stares up at the crumbling smoke stack rising far above us.

  I double-check the address my mom sent me.

  “Yeah, this is it. Please pull over there so no one sees us,” I say and point to a spot a little ways away from the building, under an overhanging branch.

  “This whole thing is pretty sketchy,” he says. “I’m not going to get robbed or anything, am I?”

  “No, I promise you won’t. Please, just wait here for me. Don’t leave,” I say and hop out of the car.

  Keeping close to the woods so hopefully no one can see me, I jog towards the building. There is no wind and the falling snow insulates everything, so it is eerily silent.

  I make it to the building, but I’m not sure where to go. I stop and listen. All I can hear is the breath rushing in and out of my lungs.

  I walk along the side of the warehouse, keeping close to the trees. I notice a couple of the windows are broken, but most are in surprisingly good shape and a lot of them are open.

  After going halfway around, I stop to listen again. This time I hear very faint voices coming from the back. My heart speeds up in excitement—and fear—as I hurry towards the sounds.

  The voices get louder as I approach an open window. I stop and listen again, and my heart freezes when I hear Mace’s voice. He sounds pissed off.

  I quickly look around for something to stand on, because the window is higher than my head. There is a small pile of garbage a couple of yards away, and I spy some wooden crates I can use.

  I rush over and grab one of them as quietly as I can. I take it back and place it under the window. I step up on it, being very careful not to make any noise, but the window is still too high for me to see anything.

  I hop down and hurry back to get another crate. I can’t hear exactly what they are talking about inside, but I hear Mace say my name and that makes me hurry even more.

  I have to be very careful because my pile of crates is shaking precariously, and I’m not sure it’s going to hold my weight. When I’m on top of the second crate, I stretch up and am able to see inside. My heart freezes.

  There is Mace tied to a metal operating table in the middle of a dusty, abandoned room. There are large men standing silently around and one very pretty woman who is talking to Mace.

  “—a reckless, selfish party boy who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. All you care about is football and having a good time, so what’s changed now? Why her?” the woman is saying.

  “Because I fucking love Sadie, okay? Is that what you want from me?”

  I can’t stop the gasp from escaping between my lips. It just jumps out of my mouth before I can even think about reacting. Mace just said he loves me. Mace Law is in love with me!

  I don’t have time to think about it though because all eyes in the room immediately turn to me, and I know I’ve made a huge mistake. I quickly turn and try to jump off the crates, but one of the guys inside reaches out and grabs my arm. He pulls me painfully through the window. My back scrapes against the metal frame, and his hand feels like a vice on my arm.

  I land with a thud, and I know I’m injured, but my adrenaline is so high I barely feel any pain. Instinctively, I start thrashing around to try to get out of the man’s clutches, but another guy grabs my other arm and I know I am so fucked. Their grips feel like solid steel digging into the tender flesh of my arms. Knowing it’s futile doesn’t stop me from fighting, though.

  “Let go of me!” I yell and try to kick at their legs.

  I hear Mace also yelling at them to let me go, but I don’t know why we even bother because they obviously aren’t going to listen to us.

  One of my kicks manages to connect with a shin, and the man’s grunt of pain brings a satisfied smile to my face. Even though I have no chance against them, knowing I hurt one of them, even just a little, is a small consolation. His grip doesn’t slacken in the least bit, if anything, it tightens in anger. An “ow” slips out of my mouth.

  The two guys holding me squeeze in closer so I can’t kick my legs to the side again. Recognizing how pointless it is, I finally stop struggling and take in the scene before me.

  Mace is lying there helpless, but the look on his face is pure fury—and concern. He’s scared for me more than himself—even though there’s a big guy close to the table and he’s holding a sledgehammer.

  “What’s going on here?” I turn to the woman, who seems to be the one in charge, and demand answers.

  She observes me cooly.

  “Hello, Miss Edwards.”

  “What is all this about?” I demand again.

  “This doesn’t concern you,” she answers in her calm, refined voice. “Well, I guess it does, but you still shouldn’t have come here.”

  “Let her go!” Mace yells. “You can do anything you want to me, I don’t care, just let her leave.”

  “How noble,” the woman says with a smirk.

  “She doesn’t deserve any of this,” he continues. “It’s all my fault. Please, just let her go and I’ll do anything you want. You can break my legs—”

  “We’re already going to do that,” she cuts in.

  “And every other bone in my body, but please, just let Sadie go.”

  Now the sledgehammer makes sense, and my eyes go wide. They are really planning to use that on him. I don’t know what to do.

  “Please! Don’t hurt him!” I beg. “Is there anything I can do? I’ll do anything, just please don’t hurt him.”

  “Sadie, don’t!” Mace calls desperately, but he can’t stop me.

  An image of that sledgehammer swinging down and connecting with his unprotected muscular legs and shattering them into a dozen pieces flashes through my mind. It’s such a horrible
thought I can’t help but wince.

  “Anything you want, I’ll do it,” I say.

  “Sadie, please don’t,” Mace begs me in a low voice.

  I look into his dark eyes, and what I see there makes me realize I’ll do anything I can to save him. He looks at me with such desperate concern that I know he regrets what he’s done to me in the past. He loves me. I can see it as plain as the handsome nose on his chiseled face. I can see he’d do anything to protect me right now—and that makes me want to sacrifice myself for him even more.

  “Aw, how fucking sweet,” the woman says sarcastically. “It warms my black heart.”

  I shoot her an angry glare. Even though Mace and I are both at her mercy right now, I won’t take being mocked.

  “You said this concerns me, right? Well, what do you need me to do? Drop out?” I ask.

  “No. You’re not doing it. This is all my fault, Sadie. You shouldn’t have to pay for my mess,” Mace says. “You’re. Not. Doing it.”

  “I know my mom got her boyfriend to get me to drop out of school, and I assume he hired Mace to do it.”

  A small, impressed smile spreads across the woman’s face.

  “And the punishment for him failing is that you’re going to break his legs. I get that now. But you don’t have to do it. I’ll drop out of school.”

  “No!” Mace growls.

  “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do whatever I could to keep him safe. My future isn’t worth him getting seriously hurt. I couldn’t handle it. So I’ll do what you want, just let him go.”

  She studies me for a while, and I don’t back down from her gaze.

  “I like this one,” she finally says to Mace.

  “Wish I could say the same,” I say before I can stop myself.

  Luckily, she doesn’t get angry. She just laughs, and it’s a quiet sound that’s not altogether pleasant.

  “Okay,” she says.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Okay. If you drop out of school, we’ll let you both go.”

  “Really?” I ask hopefully.

  I look at Mace, but he doesn’t look the least bit relieved or happy to hear the news.

  “Yes,” she says with a big smile, but it’s not a nice smile.

  “Thank you,” I say uncertainly.

  I want to get the hell out of here ASAP, but the guys holding my arms aren’t moving an inch. And no one is walking towards Mace to untie him.

  “We will drive you back to Winterford. You will then go straight to the administration’s office and let them know you’re leaving the university. You will never re-enroll in any school ever again. Do you understand?” she says.

  I sigh. I hate this. I’m losing everything I’ve worked so hard for these last few years. Through education, I thought I’d found a way out of the trailer park, but now it looks like I’ll never be able to leave.

  But I don’t have a choice. I can’t let them hurt Mace.

  “Yes,” I finally say.

  “Good. Lucas, take her out to the car. Sven, take Mr. Law out to the car as well.”

  I breathe out a sigh of relief. This whole horrible thing is almost over and we’re making it out of here safely.

  “But first, break his legs,” she adds dismissively.

  “What?!” I yell. “No!”

  I begin struggling again with all my might. The men holding me don’t expect it, and I’m able to use that to my advantage. I manage to slip my arm free and use it to punch one of them right in the face.

  “Ow, ow, ow,” I yelp.

  It’s not my first time hitting someone, but it felt like I just punched solid concrete. The other guy quickly grabs my arm again and they both hold me still.

  They are squeezing my arms extra tight, and I know it’s because I pissed them off by fighting. But I can’t think about the pain because I’m only thinking about Mace.

  “Don’t you dare!” I scream at the woman.

  She nods towards the man holding the sledgehammer. He nods back, then raises it into the air and approaches Mace.

  “NO!” I yell.

  I can’t let this happen right in front of me. I start struggling again, but I have no chance. They are going to smash him to pieces right in front of me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

  It feels like everything moves in slow motion as the man walks closer to the metal table. Mace’s teeth are clenched, his hard jaw tense as he waits for the blow. He’s not begging or pleading. He just stares down the man, rebellious until the end. He was only willing to beg for me, not himself.

  “Please, no!” I beg on his behalf.

  I feel like I’m going to burst into tears. I’ve never felt more powerless in my life.

  The dull metal of the sledgehammer starts to swing down, and it’s like watching a car crash. It makes an arc in the air and speeds towards Mace’s unprotected legs. I desperately want to look away, but I can’t.

  “Please!” I beg one last time, but it does nothing to slow the weapon’s descent.

  “What the hell is going on here?” A new voice booms out of an adjoining room, making us all turn to look.

  47

  Sadie

  “Ah, Mr. Davis,” the woman says as two people walk into the room.

  It’s my mom, and a man who I assume is Mr. Davis. I also assume he’s her new boyfriend—he looks rich enough to be with her.

  I turn back to Mace and breathe out a sigh of relief when I see that the man about to smash his legs stopped when the newcomers entered. He holds the sledgehammer at his side—and that’s exactly where I need it to stay.

  Mace meets my eyes, and I feel my heart constrict. Even though he just almost had his legs smashed, there’s no fear there for himself, only for me. I need to figure out a way to get us out of here.

  “I said, what’s going on, Delilah?” Mr. Davis repeats.

  “We are just completing the favor you requested of us. If you’d care to wait outside, we’ll be done momentarily—you probably don’t want to see this,” the woman—Delilah—says calmly.

  “Mom.” I look my mother in her large green eyes, ones that are so similar to my own. “If you don’t stop this right now, I am never going to speak to you again as long as I live. And that’s a promise.”

  She looks around the room and takes in everything that’s happening. She takes in the abandoned warehouse, Mace tied to a table, the men in suits, and the sledgehammer. All of it sinks in and a slight frown creases her forehead—as much as the Botox will allow, that is.

  She looks back at me, and I can see in her eyes she’s realizing just how serious this is. She sees the huge men holding her daughter’s arms roughly, and she finally knows how completely fucked-up and out of control this has gotten. It was fine when it was a faraway concept, something she’d never have to personally deal with, but now this whole ugly thing is staring her straight in the face.

  She opens her mouth to speak but then closes it again. She turns to her boyfriend, clearly conflicted.

  “What do you want to do, Linda?” he asks her impatiently. “This whole thing was your idea.”

  “I—” she starts, but then looks back at me.

  “Mom, call this off. It’s gotten completely out of control.”

  I can see her wavering, so I press harder. I need to save Mace. That’s all that matters right now.

  “If you call it off, then I’ll… call you more often. How about that?” I say.

  I can tell she likes that, so I keep going.

  “I’ll even, um… visit you for Christmas.”

  I don’t want to, but I’m desperate. A holiday with my mother is not worth Mace losing his legs over.

  “And my birthday,” she says, and I groan internally. “You remember when it is, don’t you?”

  “Yes. May. And okay, okay, I’ll visit you for your birthday, just please call this off.”

  She looks around at everyone in the room. Even in this fucked-up and stressful situation, I can tell she’s
still enjoying having all the attention on her. I really don’t understand how we can be related.

  Finally, after an agonizing pause, she says, “Okay. Warren, please call this off. I take back what I asked for. I never wanted this—” She motions in disgust to Mace lying on the table. “This whole thing, whatever it is.”

  Warren Davis rolls his eyes in annoyance, and I don’t think it’s going to be long until he casts my mom aside for a newer model.

  “Fine. Delilah, I take back the favor I asked for from the Org. I’ll speak with you later regarding particulars and any consequences, but for now this is over.”

  “As you wish,” Delilah says with a smile, like she finds this whole thing amusing.

  She looks over her shoulder at the guy with the sledgehammer and motions towards the table with a jerk of her head. The guy immediately puts down the weapon and starts untying the straps holding Mace.

  Yes! I want to run over to him, but there are still two men holding my arms tight. My mom turns and puts a hand on Warren’s arm.

  “Warren, make them let go of my daughter immediately. This is completely unacceptable.”

  “Let go of her,” he says impatiently to the two men.

  Their grips stay firm on my arm, and they look towards Delilah. She gives a barely perceptible nod and then immediately I’m free. I almost fall to the ground because it happens too quickly, but I catch myself and run over to Mace.

  The man unties the last strap and Mace effortlessly jumps off the table, like the athlete he is, just as I get to him. I throw my arms around him, and he picks me up in his muscular ones. He holds me tight against him, and I bury my face in his neck.

  His cologne, grass and cedar scent overwhelms me and calms me down at the same time. This is right where I’m supposed to be, wrapped up in his strong arms. I still can’t believe this nightmare is almost over and the both of us are going to walk out of here unharmed.

  One of his large hands is on the back of my head, stroking my hair.

  “I’m so sorry, Sadie,” he whispers in my ear. “I’m so sorry about everything.”