Turning on my heel, I looked up into Jasper’s cruel, smug face. What a fucking idiot I’d been to think that he would ever do the right thing and let me go.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I glared daggers at him. “He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.”
He didn’t bite back; Jasper just continued to stare down the driveway with a vacant look. “It’s an odd bromance that one, I’ve always thought so.”
“They’re brothers, you asshole,” I shot back, shooting him a look of annoyance which he returned tenfold.
“I know. And if anything were to happen to Reed, I imagine Phoenix would be affected. It would be like killing two birds with one stone.” I had known that Jasper didn’t like Nix. Saw him as a bastard, that horrible old-fashioned name when your parents weren’t married. Phoenix had also intervened a couple of times when Jasper criticized my appearance.
I turned with a warning. “Believe me, you don’t want to get into the ring with Phoenix. He acts first and thinks later. They’d never find your body.”
Jasper skimmed his perfectly smooth fingers down my face. “It’s just an observation, Stormy. No need to get upset.” I turned my head away. I’d never flinched from his touch, but enough was enough.
Straightening my spine, I walked back to my car with my head held high and retrieved my gym bag. As I slammed the boot and moved back past Jasper, my parting words were.
“I'll be ready in thirty minutes. Please ask Jacob to bring the limo around. I want to talk about my future.” I didn’t say our future on purpose. “You clearly want something from me, and so I suggest you don’t piss me off by keeping me waiting, Jasper.”
“Whatever you say, my sweet.”
“And please, change your shirt. You look like a fool.”
And she was back. I wasn’t sure for how long, but Queen Bee Storm had been reborn.
I would no longer go down in silence when I saw the marks on Reed’s face and Jasper’s satisfied reaction to them. I knew the game was on.
But there would only be one winner. I refused to let the man ruin every good thing in my life.
They say that your heart can only break once, but that’s bullshit; mine shattered several times over the day Reed left. I used to think that my insides were too scarred ever to be whole again. I was wrong. Over the last four years, I had been broken,and I knew I needed to fight for the person who could fix me. I decided at that moment to make a vow not to waste any more time.
I was never going to get over Reed, and I didn’t want to.
Fight for your man, repeated on a loop in my head as I made my way up to my room.
I felt tears welling up, but I blinked them away. The motivational canvas on my wall, which my mom bought me, reminded me of that message.
She remembered who she was
And the game changed.
My earlier anxiety started to dissipate: I was so done with feeling powerless. The bitch was back.
FIFTEEN
REED
The memory of how my girl stiffened when Jasper placed his arm around her shoulders stayed with me for the entire car journey. I was confronted by a deep, primitive desire to protect.
As my eyes had roamed over her figure in those tight yoga pants and top that fit her body like Saran Wrap, I could see she’d lost weight. Her shoulder blades and collar bone were more pronounced. Storm’s fragility had unsettled me, and that searing look she gave me as I reversed the car was unnerving.
I loved the fact that she’d been jealous, stewing over whether I’d taken anyone back to my hotel after our win. Players generally steered clear of sex pre-game; unspent sexual energy and tension were useful on the field. Post-game was an entirely different story, with teammates panting for a rough, no-holes-barred victory fuck. I’d strung her along on purpose, reveling in that way she’d stuck her nose in the air, all puffed up like an indignant chicken.
I had forgotten how good it felt winding her up. Some of the best sex we’d shared had been the making-up kind. I particularly remembered that one time when I’d bent her over her Daddy’s desk and nailed her from behind, how sweet her pert ass had looked with my handprints all over it. I wasn’t into the kinky shit as much as Nix was, but I enjoyed spanking my girl and how she got off taking it.
When I’d left the car, I couldn’t stop staring at her tits, because let's face it, where my girl’s rack was concerned, I wasthatguy.
My dick twitched against the zipper of my jeans, and I knew I had to brush those erotic thoughts away. Otherwise, there was a good chance I would be sitting beside my brother with a huge boner.
“So, how come you stood Storm up? Bold move,” Phoenix’s voice cut through the fog, sharp and annoying. “She looked ready to tear your head off.”
