Never Let Go: Top Shelf Romance Collection 6

by Steiner, Kandi

  Flinging open the door, I grabbed him. “Stop talking.”

  He was alone.

  He was glaring, and he was pissed. Really pissed. His jaw was doing the clenching thing too.

  “What?”

  “You fucking left, that’s what!”

  Oh. He did care. I bit my lip to stop a grin from showing.

  “I texted you what happened.”

  “Yeah.” He scoffed, starting to go through my apartment. Finding my bedroom, he went in and began pulling items out of my bag. I hadn’t unpacked, like, at all. I still had on the clothes I’d left camp in. I just hadn’t had it in me to take off his shirt, and he noticed, his scowl lessening, but then he pulled out a pair of shorts I hadn’t realized I’d grabbed.

  “A-ha.” He pulled his phone out of the pocket and tried to turn it on. “It’s dead.”

  Crap. I felt a pounding behind my temples and rubbed there. “Sorry. It must’ve been with the pile of my clothes. I was packing in a hurry.” And I was slightly hysterical at the time. “Oops.”

  He didn’t answer. Seeing my charger, he took my phone off and put his phone on. When it started charging, he turned back to me, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “That crisis is averted. Now you want to tell me what the fuck happened?” His eyebrows went up. “Because I have news to share with you also—news about you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah.” He yawned. “But I need coffee first. Your friends showed up at my cabin, pounding on the door. Then I had to go and pound on Coach’s door, and there was a fucking early-ass meeting this morning. I had to promise two extra charity events before Coach let me come here today and not leave with the team.”

  My head was spinning. “What are you talking about?”

  Reese ignored me, going into my kitchen. My coffee pot wasn’t on, so he began looking through my cupboards. “Where’s your coffee?”

  I moved him aside, ignoring the tingle at just feeling him again, being so close to him again, and pointed to the table. “Sit. I’ll do this. You tell me what happened.”

  He went over and sat down. “You tell me first, because I think what I have to say is going to take longer.”

  I pulled out the coffee, put in a new filter. “Nothing really major. Keith told me the board hadn’t approved me working there, so they only had the funds to cover me for two weeks. So, you know, I was fired. Then I came out and your coach was there. I thought maybe it was him behind it, which he confirmed when you left. He wanted me gone, and to be honest, I kinda understand why. He was protecting you.”

  “Yeah, well, he feels like a dumbass.”

  Pouring water into the machine, I hit brew and went to a chair across from Reese. Tugging my knees up, I hugged them to me. “What do you mean?”

  “He told me in the afternoon what he’d done and wanted to apologize. The reason he did it was justified—we already knew that—but the way he did it was dickish. I went to my cabin to call you, saw your shit gone, and couldn’t find my phone. I went to find your friends and discovered them having a little meeting in the kitchen guy’s back office. They were upset.”

  I swallowed over a knot. “At me?”

  “They didn’t say that, but they asked if I’d be willing to speak about why you were staying in my cabin if they needed me. I told them I’d more than say a few things, and my coach too. After that, I decided just to wait till we were done, then try to bargain a deal with Coach to let me come here and get my phone.”

  The coffee was starting to brew.

  “You said my friends came to your cabin in the middle of the night?”

  He nodded. “They had to wait until another guy showed up, the speaker dude, but they’d convened the board and had them willing to do some form of emergency meeting about your boss.”

  “Keith?” I leaned forward.

  The coffee was ready to pour, but I was on the edge of my seat.

  How had this all gone down when I wasn’t there?! The laws of karma were not on my side.

  “They were so mad about what he did to you, what he’d done to you the whole time you were there, that they got fed up.”

  I might’ve been wrong about karma.

  “They called the board and there was a five-am video conference. They wanted to do it before your boss got in.”

  Reese’s eyes flashed, and his jaw was like cement. He leaned forward, his gaze holding mine captive. “I sat there and I listened as your friends ran through a list of shitty things your boss had done, and not just these last two weeks, but for years. And you were the subject of several of the items. The fucker sexually harassed you? You mentioned him making comments, but nothing like what I heard. How he radioed you on the camp radio where everyone could hear, asking if you were making out with your boyfriend? How you walked into a meeting with another guy behind you, and he accused you both of screwing around in the woods? I listened to your friends explain to a room of old, white fat dudes how the ‘boyfriend’ had only held your hand once, and you’d only ‘dated’ for two days, and you’d literally just walked into the meeting at the same time as the other guy. And there was more.”

  His nostrils flared. Shoving back from his chair, he began to pace: around my living room, back to the kitchen, and around to the living room again. He kept moving, his hands unfisting and fisting in front of him.

  “After they got through their sixteen-page fucking memo, complete with names and phone numbers and taped testimony from others, they got to me. I had to sit there and first deal with their fanning, which was fine, but then the leers. When I told them how you and I became friends, how I was at your cabin—fuck those leers. I could feel the dirtiness coming off of them. They didn’t seem to care until I told them I’d gone into your cabin. That got their fucking attention. I went to grab the rest of your stuff. Juan tried too. We both got sick. That’s what made them perk up. They seemed resigned to the shitty stuff your boss had already done, but they didn’t start sweating until they heard that two pro ball players got sick from entering a cabin that wasn’t condemned on their property.”

  Icy dread lined my spine. “Did you tell them about us?”

  He snorted. “Hell no. All your credibility would’ve been gone. You’d have to be a goddamn nun, do charity events twenty-four seven, openly donate all of your earnings to God, and maybe then they might give you the benefit of the doubt. I’m sorry, but that sucks. That really fucking sucks.”

  I sank as far down on my chair as I could get. I was almost in a ball.

  He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand what his words were doing, how I never would’ve been believed, but now I was?

  I pressed my forehead to my knees, feeling tears on my face once again.

  I was so sick of it.

  I was so sick of life, and that hadn’t hit me until Reese laid it all out.

  All of that I’d lived. All of that I still carried. All of that, alone, just on me.

  I’d never told anyone, not Damian, not my family. Everyone had heard when it happened, but no one said a thing. Why would I have bothered to tell anyone else? Why would anyone believe me?

  Until now.

  Reese kept pacing. I could see him swinging his arms around from the corner of my eye. He was rolling his shoulders like he was warming up for a game.

  “Coach spoke, and he backed up your claim about not having a place to sleep. He said he brought it up to your boss, and he’d said just what you told us he would. He’d have you stay in that janitor’s closet. No one should sleep in a janitor’s closet. And all the extra work you did? You worked from when you woke up, till I made you leave the gyms at night. You never got paid for all of that.”

  He snorted. “And you know what their first response was? That manning the gym courts wasn’t extensive physical labor. That was their justification. That place sucks. Why in the world did you work there in the first place?”

  He stopped now, waiting, focusing on me.

  I lifted my head and rolled
one shoulder back. “Because my friends were there. Because at one point, they were a second family to me.”

  His eyes swept over my face, and he cursed under his breath.

  Crossing the room in two strides, he bent and picked me up.

  I went willingly, my arms and legs wrapping around him, just like on that wooded path two nights ago. He carried me to the living room, sat us on the couch, and hugged me. His head burying in my neck.

  “I don’t have the words to take away what happened to you, but I can tell you what happened because of your friends rallying around you.”

  I sat back, wanting to see him when he told me.

  He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Your boss was canned. I spoke up, saying I’d only consider coming back to your camp if your friend Owen took that dickhead’s spot. Coach backed me up on that, just saying we’d consider it. I’m not saying they hired him based on our recommendations, but I think it helped a little.”

  “So you’re saying…”

  “Your friend Owen is the new director at that place. And they hired your friend Grant to take Owen’s spot. I don’t know what it was, because he was in the kitchen the whole time I was there, but they all seemed happy about it. They made another move to hire you as their head of publicity. Apparently you’re good at that stuff?”

  I frowned. I was? “If I am, that’s news to me. What’d they say?”

  “They approved it, and I told them what my publicist makes and not to take that position for granted. You could do a lot with publicity, so I guess if you want it, you have a job with them?”

  “What’d they say the salary would be?”

  Really? Was I going to be picky?

  “I don’t know. I just know your friend suggested you, and they approved offering you a job. I had to promise all your friends tickets to the next local game for them to let me come see you first.”

  “What?” I shoved back from him, already turning for the door.

  “Relax.” He chuckled, his hands moving down my back, pulling me close. “I got the night. They’ll show up in the morning, when I go to the airport. I worked it out with them.”

  This was all happening so fast.

  Still on his lap, I leaned back, dazed. “I went to bed last night worried about a job and a place to live, and now all of this? If they offer me a job, I’ll have to move there, but even staying in Fairview, the rent will be cheaper than anything here in the city.”

  I couldn’t believe it.

  And Reese was here. And he wasn’t mad at me, just irritated, then mad for me.

  I started crying.

  Big surprise there.

  “What? This is all good, right?” He brought his thumbs to my face, wiping tears away.

  “I think it’s just a conditioned response. Anything happens, and it was the questions. Now it’s this. I’m evolving.”

  I think…

  But I was laughing and smiling, and I couldn’t believe it. “Am I going to wake up and all of this will be gone?”

  Reese smirked, bringing his palm up to my face, wiping the last tear away. “Nah, but can we skip some of the other formalities, because I only have the rest of the day and night with you…if you know what I mean.”

  I nodded, and he picked me up.

  He took me to bed.

  Chapter 29

  Later that evening, after the bed, the shower, the couch, and back to the bed, we ordered pizza. The delivery guy left after a full-out gushing moment over Reese, who had answered the door before I could offer to get it first. He’d paid for the pizza, signed an autograph, and declined a selfie before I came out of the bedroom fully dressed. Only going around in shorts had its benefits—one was getting the door first.

  After we began eating, which I insisted we do at the table, I asked a question. “How’d you know something was going on yesterday?”

  He picked up a slice, folding it and lounging back in his chair. His legs kicked out under the table. “I guessed something was up, but I figured I couldn’t do anything till you came to see me. You never did, so I asked Coach. He told me what happened—oh, and I have that check for you. When he looked at it, he felt bad, said no one should earn that little after working morning to night like he knew you did.”

  He gazed over his pizza at me, his grin wolfish. “You’re a hot chick who knows basketball. Okay, that’s not that rare, but you’re a girl who gets noticed. We all saw you doing dishes when we came in for breakfast, and you closed the courts at night. You’re a hard worker, and you never complained about it.”

  “I still can’t believe what you said happened.” I’d checked my phone. There’d only been a call for a job interview. “Are you sure? My friends are really coming tomorrow?”

  He nodded, biting into his pizza. He chewed. He swallowed. “Trust me. It wasn’t just four tickets I gave away. Two of the guys wanted another for a date. That made six tickets, plus one for you because there’s no way your friends are coming and you aren’t. I made them promise that part, even if they had to drag you there.”

  “You really think I wouldn’t want to go to your game?”

  He snorted, grabbing his water bottle. “By now, who knows with you. You didn’t want your friends to know about our friendship. We’re fucking, and you’re aghast at anyone knowing. I had no clue what you’d do if I invited you to a game.”

  “I am a basketball fanatic.” I pointed toward my bedroom. “You gave me a shirt to wear, and a sweatshirt. If you think you’re getting either of those back, think again, buddy.” I snorted and couldn’t dim my grin. “It’s like you don’t know me.”

  Sex, food, and feeling wanted went a long way toward making this person happy.

  I stared at Reese, really seeing him. He was here. He’d come after me. He’d fought for me. He screwed me six ways to Sunday, and oh so amazingly. Yeah. I’m pretty sure I was glowing at this point.

  He stared back, his gaze growing somber. Putting his bottle back on the table, he twisted the cap on it and cleared his throat. That was his signal. We were going serious.

  “I know I put off having the talk, but I didn’t realize you’d hightail it out of there two hours later. Based on our history…” He adjusted in his seat, squirming. “Maybe we should have the talk.”

  Oh boy.

  Deep breaths.

  A whole new churning started in my gut.

  He opened his mouth, but I stopped him. I had to go first, especially with this one.

  “You know I have baggage. Caregiving for someone who wanted to deny he was losing his mind, that’s a lot. For me. For the next guy. For anyone.” I pulled my knees up again, pressing them against my chest. “I went to camp a little out of my mind—I’ll be honest. I think I’ve been out of my mind for a while. But at some point these last few weeks, I started talking about Damian. Not just to you, though you got the most, but to the others too. Grant knows. Now Owen and Hadley do too. No one knew what I was going through for all those years. Damian wouldn’t let me tell anyone. We had to pretend everything was normal, when it was so not normal, and I slipped away. Little by little. Every day. I’m just now starting to feel like a person again. You’re part of the reason for that, but…”

  I was so stupid. I knew it, but I had to say this.

  “I can’t be anything right now. I can be a friend, but anything more? I can’t take that on. I will never lose myself to a guy again, ever. And I don’t know what you’re going to say, but that’s what I had to say first.”

  He stared at me long and hard before scooting his chair back so he could lean his elbows on his knees. “I will tell you this. I like our friendship.”

  “I do too.”

  “And I really like fucking you.”

  I grinned. “I do too.” But then my smile dimmed. “But not if you’re dipping in others.” That was a deal breaker for me.

  He lowered his head. “Got it. Okay, I will not screw anyone, except when I see you. Then I’ll screw you.”

 
I nodded. Such crude words, but that was what we needed. Those words held no emotional attachment, and the only attachment I could handle was what we were spelling out right now.

  “So…” I sat up, lowering my feet back to the ground. “Still friends?”

  His head bounced up and down once. He laid his hand out on the table for me, palm up.

  “And we have sex when we see each other?”

  He nodded again. “And neither of us does that with anyone else. It has to go both ways. I’m all about female sexual equality, so I know you ladies get as horny as we do.” He wiggled his fingers at me. “Deal?”

  I started to reach for his hand, but paused. “Should we be ironing out how often we see each other? How often we talk to each other?”

  He stood abruptly. “Shake my damn hand, woman. Friends is friends. We talk as much as we can, and we see each other as much as we can.”

  “Deal.” I reached over and slapped his hand.

  “Oh no!” He caught my hand, reaching out and lifting me clear of the table and into his arms.

  It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. He made me feel like I could soar, but he could drop me so fast.

  “Christ, you make me work to get in your pants.” But he was grinning as his mouth found mine. He took me back to the bedroom, and once we got there, he laid me down on the bed, holding himself above me. “You have to promise I can fly you out, because I’m going to be traveling a lot. During season, it’s nuts. I won’t get here that often.”

  I framed his face. “You’re so cute, acting like I’m not a basketball groupie.”

  A twisted laugh ripped from him, but his eyes were back to darkening. “You are definitely not a groupie.” His hand moved down my side, slipping under my shirt and smoothing up to cup my breast. His thumb rubbed over my nipple. “I know you like to joke about that stuff, but do me a favor? Stop with the bad talk. Stop calling yourself a stalker, groupie, and whatever else you think is funny but is just a put-down. Only I can use those as endearments. Got it?”