by Natalie Lux
“I’m really sorry about your dad,” he said. “I’m sorry it had to be me that told him about her.”
Still, I said nothing to him. I didn’t trust myself not to burst into tears.
He moved towards me at the edge of my bed and grasped my numb hand.
“Look, Eva, you and I both know I’m not perfect. I’m not some superstar and I may never be. But I’ve been telling you the truth. I’ve been telling you the truth since the day I met you—you’re everything to me, Eva.”
The light in his eyes shone through into mine, and it was all I could do to keep it together. Because I knew what had to be done. I moved forward and pressed my lips against his, putting all the feelings and emotions I’d had now, over the last few days, over the last few years, into this special kiss.
“I love you, Reid,” I whispered, pulling back. I took a deep breath and steadied my voice, looking deep into his eyes.
“But we can’t be together. You have your own path wherever you go in football, and I have mine out in California. I believe you, Reid. That’s what makes this so hard for me. I was wrong the entire time about you… but I have to let you go.”
Reid stared into my eyes, an intense expression on his face as though he was trying to fully process what was going on.
“Y-you’re done with me?”
The pain in his voice was one of the worst things I’ve ever heard in my life. I closed my eyes tightly and shook my head.
“It’s just the way it has to be. You’ll have girls everywhere in the NFL just like me. I don’t want to be the one to take that kind of fun away from you.”
I looked up at him one more time, the tears flowing freely once more.
“Goodbye, Reid.”
27
Reid
I couldn’t believe it would hurt more than last time.
I couldn’t remember how I got home, what I did when I got home or going to sleep that night. The only thing that kept running itself through my mind was Eva’s tear-streaked face as she told me she loved me but didn’t want to be with me. I could still feel my heart freeze every time I saw a picture or video of her in the news even a week later leading up to our championship game.
The final practice before the big national championship against Washington was approaching. I was playing as well as ever, but my mind couldn’t be further from football right now, which was probably the first time in about ten years I could safely say that.
Coach was still on the team for now. I didn’t want to jeopardize the other guys' chances, losing their coach to a scandal right before the biggest game of their lives. Coach seemed to have forgotten his vendetta against me for knowing about his affair and was treating me as normal as ever.
Maybe he thought I’d forgotten about it or that once I graduated, he wouldn’t have to worry about me. As soon as the season was over, his reputation was finished—I’d make damn sure of that.
It was a struggle trying not to out the piece of shit when I knew it was mostly his fault that I’d had to break up with Eva. If he hadn’t pulled that little stunt with my phone, we’d be happy and Eva would know she never needed to worry about being with me. It was all I could do not to punch him square in the face as I watched him bark orders and scream out plays for me.
So, when he called me for a private meeting after that final practice, I could only imagine it was to gloat because he knew I couldn’t do anything about him.
“Have a seat, son,” he began, a knowing smirk playing across his lips. It was amazing how quickly he’d gone from the genial-if-strict coach that I’d gotten to know the last four years, into someone I barely recognized. All thanks to Eva’s soon-to-be-ex stepmother. If there was anything good to come from this whole thing, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Sheila trying to ruin her life anymore.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “The incident with your girlfriend didn’t happen. The rest of it isn’t my business and that’s not what I’m here to talk about.” My surprise was the only reason I didn’t bite back with a smartass reply about getting him fired.
“Then what do you want to talk about? Because that’s pretty high on the list of things on my mind right now.”
“Son, I don’t know how much you know about college recruiting, but you’re damned lucky you have me as a coach. Did you know there are maybe five or six quarterbacks getting drafted this year? If you want to be one of ‘em, I suggest you listen because you aren’t gonna get a better shot without me.”
I knew there was a part of him that was afraid for his job and his marriage. As much as he was acting ‘normal,’ he was still nervous I would out him to the faculty and ruin his life.
“I happen to be good friends with the assistant coach over in Arizona. I showed him some tapes of you and he’s gonna talk with the staff there after your meeting with him following the game on Thursday. He’s driving up to LA just to see you as a favor to me. Win or lose, good game or bad, you’ll meet with him and discuss your future. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll be in the NFL next year.”
His fists clenched.
“In return, you keep your mouth shut about everything that happened, got me? I don’t want to hear anything about it ever again. You breathe a word to anyone, I’ll make sure you’re so blacklisted, you won’t even be able to get a job cleaning toilets in a stadium.”
For the first time since Eva had left me, my thoughts were firmly on football. Was he serious? Could he get me drafted just like that? A guy getting drafted with no workout experience, no appearance at the combine, just a meeting?
This could be my big chance at a spot in the NFL. Sure, I wasn’t starting or anything, but I didn’t care. Coach was right about one thing; this was the best chance I was going to get. And all I had to do was play a game and not say a word about his affair to the press.
My decision came surprisingly easy.
“I have the text message right here, along with audio that I recorded in our last conversation,” I said, grinning. There was an almost collective gasp as the reporters interviewing me waved their mics in front of my face and started talking all at once.
Through all the claps on the back, the glow of winning the championship, the satisfaction of outing my cheater of a coach, there was only one thing on my mind in the hours following that game: seeing the one person I loved more than any. Maybe she wouldn’t have me back, but I had to see her if we were in the same city. I needed closure.
I somehow managed to escape the reporters shortly after playing the recording from my phone, determined to get out of my uniform, and drive to the place I knew Eva would be staying. Before we broke things off, she’d told me about an apartment her agent set her up with so I could visit anytime I wanted, and the rest was easy to figure out.
I felt my heart pounding heavily, more nervous than I’d been at the start of what would be our blowout victory against Washington. What would she say when she saw me? Would she approve of the way I’d handled things here? I just needed to see her one more time.
My car pulled silently in front of a tall, two-story house an hour or so after I escaped the media. I ignored the flurry of text messages that I’d been bombarded with, left my phone in the car, and stepped out. I could see a light on and felt my heart leap to my throat. My fists clenched. Just one more time.
28
Eva
I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t even enjoy the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream I’d bought after I landed home.
Our final conversation had been blaring into my head like a foghorn over the last week. The only person I’d texted was my agent to let her know I was back in town and wouldn’t be accepting work for the next month. I’d told Morgan and Tracy I’d be back to visit soon enough, even though I knew it’d be a long time before I could drive myself to go back.
I hugged my dad and told him to stay strong, and he said the same to me. And then that was it; I was on a plane and everything that had happe
ned in Evendale turned into the most painful memory of my life. And it had only been a week.
How could I concentrate on anything? Despite the raw pain, I felt every time I thought of him, I had to force myself to watch his unbelievable game. Had he been thinking about me each time he threw or ran for one of his six touchdowns? Was I a distant memory now for him while he got to enjoy some hot cheerleader? Maybe Sydney Coplin would get her chance to be with him after all in the end.
But then he’d outed his coach on national television. And everything changed. I should never have left things the way I did. He wasn’t the dorky, lovable kid I’d known, and he wasn’t the stupid, asshole jock I’d believed he was. He likely just threw away any chance he had at a football career just to expose the world to a cheater.
It took me a minute to realize someone was pounding on my door so loud it sounded like it was about to come down.
“Give me a second,” I croaked. I half-heartedly attempted to straighten out my hair, but it never liked to cooperate. I shrugged into my bathrobe and plodded to the door amid the pounding, too tired to even get up the energy to be annoyed at the sound.
“Can I help—” the words died in my throat when I saw who it was.
“Hey, babe,” said Reid, his face flushed. He looked about as disheveled as I was, his helmet hair hanging over his head, looking as though he’d just run here from the game.
“Look, I-I just needed to see you one more time. I—"
I couldn’t help myself. His words were lost as I threw myself into his arms, burying my face in his neck as he held onto me.
“I’m so sorry,” I sobbed into his shoulder as he stroked my hair soothingly. “I-I should never have left you.”
“And I shouldn’t have let you go so easily. You mean more to me than anything, Eva. I just needed to tell you that.”
I looked up at him, my eyes shining. There was no way I could leave him again.
“I love you, Reid.”
He brushed my tears away with a finger, a wide smile spreading slowly across his face.
“And I love you, Eva.”
My heart pounded as I reached my hand out and brushed against his cock. It responded immediately to my touch, hardening as I began to stroke him up and down. Before I knew it, his cock had swollen completely, so big I couldn’t even fit my slim fingers around it.
My hand moved up and down as he groaned in pleasure, his taut, sexy body tightening as I jerked him. I felt my body throb with pleasure even more as he let out a deeper groan, his balls tightening on my other hand. My mouth moved closer and closer to his groin, his cock radiating heat that made me ache for him even more.
My tongue flickered out as I licked him, just a little taste. He moaned again and that was all I needed. I wrapped my lips around his thick cock, groaning in pleasure myself as I began to push him down my throat, taking as much of him as I could.
I pulled him out and slowly slid my lips down his shaft again, the feeling of knowing that he was finally all mine increasing my arousal. My tongue tasted his precum as my tongue trailed over his shiny purple cock head and down another side of his cock, tasting his balls before sliding back up and enveloping the top of his cock once again.
I picked up the pace as I went back to the same techniques I’d used earlier. I jerked him with one hand and played with his balls with the other, my body shivering with a kind of pleasure I’d never felt before. This wasn’t just pure sex. I wasn’t scared or nervous about this anymore. It felt perfectly natural now that we both knew we were together forever.
I felt another jab of pleasure as I slid up and down his cock one more time before looking back up at him writhing slightly on the bed. I kissed the head of his cock one more time before climbing up onto the bed, my eyes begging him. I needed him inside me, and I needed it now.
I straddled his groin and pulled my panties to the side, pressing his cock against my tight hole. He seemed to get even harder as he groaned again, his expression twisting in ecstasy as I guided my body onto his hot cock slowly. I bit my lip as I took him all the way, deeper than ever before.
“Eva… fuck,” he groaned, his eyes closed, and his lips parted in a look of pure ecstasy. I grinned and began to move up and down on his cock in slow, deliberate strokes. He began to rock his hips back in forth as I picked up the pace, spreading my legs apart, my ass slapping against his toned thighs.
I let out another moan of pleasure as his cock plunged into me quicker and quicker, getting me closer and closer to orgasm.
I heard him groan as I bounced up and down on him, waves of hot pleasure crashing through my body as he hit my sweet spot over and over again until I began to feel myself slipping away into a world of pure lust.
I bounced on him faster as he groaned, wanting nothing more in that moment than to feel his hot seed explode inside me. It was the first time we hadn’t used protection and I wanted this to be as special as we knew it was.
I felt myself lose control quickly as his cock began to pulse deep into me, driven all the way to the hilt. I gave a little shriek of pleasure as I came along with him, his girthy cock spurting loads of hot cum deep inside me.
His orgasm pushed me over the edge as I lost control completely, a shudder of pleasure rushing through my body like none other I’d ever experienced. In that moment, I was in pure heaven. And as I looked down at him underneath me, grinning hazily at me, I said the words he’d hear from me for the rest of our lives.
“I love you, Reid Mannix.”
Epilogue
Eva
One Year Later
“Babe! You need to get to practice!” I called. What was taking him so damn long in the shower?
I rolled my eyes as I rose from our bed to make sure he hadn’t fallen down the drain or something. Ever since they named him starting quarterback for the Cardinals, he’s been taking longer and longer showers.
Yep, they were so impressed by the final game and the balls it took to out his old coach as a cheater, they decided to give him a workout anyway and the rest was history. He’d been getting better and better and our marriage hadn’t been bothered in the slightest by the extra hours. Especially because I’d taken a big step back with my acting career.
I still visit LA from time to time to check in with my part-time agent, who will let me know if there are any projects I might be interested in, but I’ve gotten very strict on what kind of roles I’ll accept which really only leads to a few parts a year. Plenty of time to spend with my husband and soon-to-be baby.
I’d broke the news to Reid a few months ago and he’d been nothing but ecstatic. In fact, he played the best game of his career just a few hours after I told him! My dad and his girlfriend, Julia, were thrilled too. Fortunately for my dad, Julia was the exact opposite of Sheila in every way possible.
She basically planned my entire wedding for me while Reid and I worked, and it was absolutely perfect. Dad already asked me about what I thought of him popping the question and I couldn’t have been happier for him.
Life had gotten so much better since I’d taken a step back from celebrity life to focus on my life with Reid. It was pretty much everything I could have hoped for.
“You’re gonna be late!” I said, sticking my head in the steamed-up bathroom.
“Nah, I’ve still got twenty minutes,” he said, pulling the shower curtain back to give me a full view of his steamy, pristine body.
“Why don’t you join me?” he said, grinning at me mischievously. I grinned and started to undress. How could I say no?
In no time at all, we’d soaped each other up and I was running my fingers over his muscles yet again. He’d gotten leaner since joining the NFL, which only made him that much hotter.
“You know, I was thinking we could paint the second bedroom blue next week,” said Reid. “Get it done ahead of time.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh? And why would we paint it blue?”
“Well it’s a pretty neutral color, w
e don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet but… why are you giving me that look?” he said quizzically.
“Because it just so happens, we do know. And we should probably use pink instead.”
His mouth fell open.
“I—I’m gonna have a daughter?” he looked absolutely shocked for a split second before his mouth curved into the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
“I’m gonna have a daughter, oh man!”
“Yup. You’re gonna be totally outnumbered.”
“You know what? I think I’m fine with that.”
He kissed me then, long and deep as if to say, ‘I can’t wait.’ And I couldn’t either. In that moment, I was the happiest woman in the world.
The End
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