How happy she looks.
How happy we are together.
The only question now is whether she likes it enough to take the next step.
Chapter 29
Victoria
I’m just leaving for work on Saturday morning when my father stomps into the kitchen. He looks annoyed and holds out a newspaper.
“What is this, Victoria?”
I glance down and see a picture on the front page of the sports section. Me, Juliet, and Hana, at the children’s hospital, with our arms around each other. The headline reads, “Knights Offer Sweet Treats to Children in Hospital.” The caption beneath our picture says “Juliet Elliott, Hana Barbeau, and Victoria Denali, partners of players on the team, serve gourmet cookies and cupcakes during the event.”
“So?” I ask with a frown. “It was a charity function. What’s wrong?”
He grunts. “It calls you the partner of someone on the team. Do you know how that makes you look?”
I cock my head. “No?”
He sighs, putting down the newspaper with a thumb. “You’re not his wife—you’re just his current plaything. You really think he’s going to marry you? Come on, you know how these guys are. Even the married ones cheat. Is that who you want to be? The whole world now knows you’re some kind of puck bunny.”
“He loves me,” I protest angrily. “And I am not a puck bunny!”
Dad rolls his eyes. “He’ll tell you whatever he wants to hear to get you into bed.”
“He could get anyone he wants into bed. He doesn’t need to lie to me.”
“That’s my point—he can and will fuck anything that moves. You’re just a place warmer.”
“For what?”
“Victoria, stop being naïve. You think you’re special? You’re cute enough, but guys like him date movie stars, supermodels, other athletes. Not average-looking middle class girls studying accounting.”
I blink.
Average-looking girls studying accounting? Is that all I am? Not to mention nothing more than merely someone for guys to fuck. That pisses me off.
“No one is going to want you if you continue down this path.”
“I don’t want to see you get hurt again,” he continues. “He broke your heart four years ago and he’s going to do it again. That boy doesn’t deserve you.”
Ugh. My father can be blunt to the point of rudeness. And he’s the only person trying to break my heart at the moment.
“You’re being really mean right now,” I say quietly. “And I have to go to work.” I grab my bag and stalk out the door to my car.
I’m so angry my hands are shaking as I grip the steering wheel.
Average-looking? My own father thinks I’m average-looking? I mean, I’m certainly not a supermodel but Jordan has always told me he thinks I’m gorgeous. I don’t believe he’s only with me for sex, but I do know that cheating is rampant among professional athletes. As is divorce.
Am I setting myself up for heartbreak?
Because I don’t know if I’d recover from losing Jordan a second time. I was so devastated the first time. I couldn’t eat or sleep or focus on anything. It’s a damn good thing I was a straight-A student who got an exam exemption. I probably would have failed all of them if I’d had to take them. I couldn’t even bring myself to go to prom with my girlfriends. My parents wanted to throw me a graduation party, and I declined. I was a wreck.
And now that I’m thinking back, the reason for all of that was my father. He’s the one who caused my heartbreak with his threats and manipulations.
It took the whole summer for me to get to a place where I could leave the house and think about school again. At that point, I threw myself into my studies and did everything in my power to forget Jordan Palmer ever existed.
