I chuckle. “I don’t think you pretend that at all…and maybe you don’t even hate it. You don’t want it, and you don’t love it, but maybe you only hate it because of him.”
“Lies.” He grins, but I see the wheels turning in his head. “Get out of here. I’ll let you fuck me if you get over a hundred rushing yards.”
“What if I wantyouto fuckme?” I tease.
“Eh. If you’re lucky.” He winks.
I kiss him and head out.
I do, in fact, score over a hundred rushing yards.
And I do, in fact, want to fuck Lucas, which I do, late that night, thinking maybe this will all be okay. Maybe no one will give a fuck about us, and Abbie can get Blake Sr. to come around, for Lucas’s sake.
But when we go to sleep, I’m thinking about the game in two weeks, when Kansas City will play in LA, just before Christmas, and I’ll see Blake Sr. again for the first time since he found out about us.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Hunter
With each daythat passes, the upcoming game against Kansas City weighs heavier and heavier on us. I can tell Lucas feels it too, like we’re both waiting for something to go wrong, walking on eggshells around each other, not wanting to rock the boat or do anything to increase the stress, which only achieves the opposite effect.
Mom calls every day, always saying hi to Lucas, making sure we know she supports us. I can’t imagine what it’s like not to have a parent like her, which is what I’m thinking about as I hang up the phone, Lucas lying on top of me on the couch. I touch his hair, love the way the soft strands feel between my fingertips. “Do you think Abbie will be okay with us?” I ask, and he flinches.
He rests his chin on my chest and closes his eyes. “That’s a hard question to answer.” He looks at me again. “How does she go from thinking of you as being his to you being mine?”
“I’m not his. I’m yours.”
“Yes, you’re mine. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you. Remember that, unless you want to be locked in my basement.”
“You don’t have a basement.”
“I’ll get a house with one just for you. I’ll keep you tied up and do dirty things to you.”
My cock twitches. “Aren’t you supposed to be making this sound like a bad thing? It sounds fucking perfect to me. Now stop changing the subject. Abbie?”
Lucas sighs. “I think she’ll be confused and maybe a little sad because it will be a reminder in a different way that Ellis is gone, but she’ll accept it as far as she can without crossing my father. That’s how she’s always been with me. She tries, but she never pushes him.”
“You deserve better.” I press my lips to his forehead.
“I have better now…with you.”
Jesus, hearing that melts my heart. I wrap my arms tightly around Lucas, just holding him, breathing him in, letting him know I’m here and that I’ll always be here, but then…am I doing the same thing Abbie does with him? By keeping this a secret? By not sharing with the world how much I love him and who he is to me?
“I love you, Lucas.”
“I love you too.”
We roll together, trying to get comfortable while still clutching on to each other. When I scoot my ass over, it hits the remote, unmuting the television. We both tense when the interviewer addresses Blake Sr.
“It’s always an intense rivalry between Kansas City and the Pulse. I’m sure that comes with mixed emotions for you, considering it’s Hunter King’s team and he’s like a son to you—wanting to see him succeed but also wanting to beat them. He’s been on fire this season, even earned himself a new nickname. Does the Comeback King’s record stop this weekend?”
“He’s more like a son to me than people realize. Ellis has been gone a few years now, and Hunter has moved on to my other son, Lucas.” He looks at the camera while my heart stops beating. “And yeah, Hunter, you might be dating my boy, but we’re putting a stop to your game this Sunday. Sorry, son. I’ll make itup to you over a family dinner.”
“Motherfucker,” Lucas curses. “That fucking asshole.” He shoves to his feet, pacing the room. I sit up but can’t move, can’t even think.
He did that to get into my head, to fuck up my game. On the surface it sounds friendly, like an innocent family competition, but I know what that was. He outed us to hurt me, to show the power he has, and to do what he always needs to do—win.
“Oh, wow, keeping it in the family, huh?” the reporter jokes, clearly caught off guard.
