#Player

by Cambria Hebert

  “I honestly believe you would have found your way to the girl you are right now no matter what,” I whispered.

  She leaned her head against my chest and groaned.

  “How do I forgive him for this?”

  Up until that point, I’d been rubbing her back, but her words made me pause. I knew she meant her father, and the truth was I wasn’t sure she could. Or should.

  “I don’t know,” I finally answered.

  I know I’d just met the man, but my dislike went all the way to my core. I knew he was sick, he had an addiction, but because I never dealt with anything like that before, I couldn’t understand it.

  How could a man go so far down the wrong path that it cost his wife her life?

  And even more, how then could he sweep the truth under the rug and not get her the justice she deserved?

  Yeah, it was done for the sake of love for Rimmel… but that just wasn’t a good enough excuse for me. Maybe because I was standing here right now holding her as her heart shattered over everything he’d done.

  Rimmel looked up, her eyes watery. “What if I can’t forgive him, Romeo?”

  Rimmel’s capacity for forgiveness and trust went beyond anyone I’d ever known. And I told her that.

  She snorted. “Are you kidding? I’ve been so suspicious of people my whole life I never let anyone in.”

  “Until me.” My chest swelled a little with pride.

  “I didn’t want to let you in either.”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “But you did. And then you let in Braeden. And Missy and Ivy. I even think some part of you has forgiven my mother.”

  She started to roll her eyes and make an excuse, but I caught her chin and shook my head. “You let us all in, and, baby, when you let people in, you do it all the way. You can’t help it. It’s just the way you are.”

  “But this is different.”

  “You’re right. It is. I don’t know if you will ever be able to forgive him, but I do know it’s nothing you need to worry about right now.”

  She pulled in a deep breath and stood back. “I love you.”

  Those three words never failed to pull at my chest. “I love you, too.”

  I watched her close herself in the bathroom with her bag full of toiletries, and only when I heard the spray of the shower did I blow out a frustrated breath.

  I was fucking pissed.

  Turns out my asshole moment at the front desk hadn’t help dispel any of my anger.

  Like at all.

  I felt like a pot of boiling water, bubbling and steaming so hard the lid was threatening to blow right off.

  I hadn’t expected all this when we boarded the plane. I expected her dad to own up to making some mistakes, to having a gambling problem, and launch into a whole thing about how he felt guilty for his wife’s death.

  I really didn’t expect him to actually be guilty.

  Sure, he wasn’t the one who physically killed her. But he might as well have.

  And Rimmel had to live with that. She had to live with the lies she’d been fed at such a young age. What totally blew my mind more than anything else was that her grandmother vowed they did everything to protect Rimmel, but in their attempt to protect her, they essentially left her floundering through life in the dark.

  So what did she do?

  She made some mistakes, some very costly mistakes.

  And then she retreated into herself. She retreated into a place where she just wanted to be invisible.

  But last semester, things changed for her. And they changed for me. She came out of her shell but stayed true to the person she wanted to be.

  And now here they are once again, throwing her back into the dark.

  I wouldn’t have it. Rimmel would not exist in a world of secrets and lies. Rimmel was light and truth. Her family hadn’t protected her.

  But I would.

  I stalked across the room and pulled out my cell and shot a quick text to Braeden.

  I MIGHT NEED U EARLY

  His reply was instant.

  JUST SAY THE WORD

  He didn’t even know everything that was going on, yet he would be here. That was family. That was what it was to be there for one another.

  After I ordered room service, I connected my laptop to the hotel Wi-Fi and searched around for a place to rent for spring break. It took a couple tries to find something that was available, and it ended up being a much bigger house than we needed, but I booked it anyway.

  We needed a vacation. A getaway from all the damn drama.

  The shower shut off, but Rimmel didn’t come out right away. I listened for any sounds of muffled crying but didn’t hear any, but it didn’t really make me less angry.

  Unable to sit any longer, I got up and prowled around the room. I watched the people out the window and turned on the TV in the sitting room to some old movie. When the bathroom door opened, I was in the other room, staring out at the palm trees.

  “Romeo?” Her voice was soft, almost like a whisper.

  She was standing in the doorway of the bedroom, with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body. Her hair was brushed out and fell down her back like a dark waterfall, making my fingers itch to run through its softness.

  “You’re angry,” she said. “I can feel it vibrating off you and filling up the room.”

  I felt bad that she knew how pissed I was, but energy didn’t lie, and I could only hold it in so long. “Yeah.” I acknowledged the truth.

  “Is it me you’re angry with?” The hesitation and the nerves that laced her words had me spinning around from the window.

  I closed the distance between us swiftly and took her by the shoulders. “Why would I be mad at you?”

  “For dragging you into this mess. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have greedy, dangerous bookies following you around, snooping around in your career and threatening to ruin everything you’ve had to work so hard for.”

  I threw back my head and laughed. “You think this is about my career?”

  “It’s already been almost ruined once because of me. If this got out, blackmail, gambling, and God knows what else, you’d be thrown out of the NFL.”

  “You’re right. I am pissed.” I paced away from her.

  I heard her swallow even from across the room.

  “I’m pissed that you are being threatened. I’m pissed that no one—not even your own father—had enough guts to stand up for you. To fight for you.”

  “But—” She began.

  “Don’t you get it yet?” I cut her off. My words came out more harshly than I intended. But the emotion was so clogged up inside me there was no other way to speak at that point. “You’re my once in a lifetime. Not football. Not the NFL. Not money. You. I could—I would—walk away from everything and anything. But not from you.”

  I surged across the room and took her face in my hands.

  “Never from you,” I whispered.

  “Romeo.”

  I fused our mouths together, never breaking contact for even a second, the friction of our lips creating electricity that skittered down my spine and tingled the balls of my feet. Rimmel surrendered to my touch and to the sensation throbbing between us, and her hands wrapped around my wrists, clinging to me.

  Suddenly, all that anger eating me up inside turned to stark, white-hot passion, the kind neither one of us could deny. Her skin was still supple and damp from the shower as my hands left her face and slipped over her shoulders.

  The towel around her was tied in a small knot just above her breasts. My fingers grasped it, desperate to pull it free.

  But I stopped.

  I tore my mouth away and looked into her eyes. “Tell me yes, baby.”

  “Yes.”

  I flung the towel onto the floor and tugged her hips to bring her up against my body. My cock was already so hard it hurt, and I pushed my hips into her as we kissed.

  Her hands were deft as they slid up beneath the hem of my T-shirt and care
ssed my stomach. I felt my muscles jerk in response because my skin was so sensitized in that moment I was afraid if she kept touching me, I’d cream in my jeans.

  I pulled back, and her heaving chest only drew my eyes down to her puckered nipples as they begged for my attention.

  I palmed the back of my T-shirt and ripped it over my head and let it join her towel. I managed to get the button on my jeans undone before she came at me, and I lifted her until her legs were wrapped around my waist. I spun and pinned her back against the wall. As if her body knew exactly what I would do next, she arched back and my mouth descended on one of her breasts.

  I sucked the silky flesh into my mouth as a groan vibrated my throat. Rimmel dug her hands in my hair and held my head at her breast while I kissed and sucked until she was rocking her core against my stomach.

  When she couldn’t take it anymore, Rimmel yanked my hair so my head came up, and her teeth caught my lower lip. I pulled away from the wall and carried her to the bed where I laid her across the middle.

  The little vixen didn’t stay where I put her, though, and she sprung back up and reached for the waistband of my jeans. I helped her pull them off, and she licked her lips when my rock-hard cock was finally free.

  I meant to push her back on the bed and take her deep and hard. But she had other ideas. Her hand gripped the length of my shaft and pumped it. Once. Twice. Then she lay out on her belly, propped up on her elbows, and took me deep into her mouth. The tip of my cock hit the back of her throat, and she purred. The vibration was sort of like a momentary trip to heaven, and I moaned.

  I glanced down as she began to work my rod, and all I could see was her luscious bare ass on full display. I admired the way her narrow waist tapered into softly curved hips and gave way to her small, rounded ass. There wasn’t a blemish on her creamy skin, and I started to reach out to palm one of those cheeks, but she did this thing with her tongue…

  My eyes rolled back in my head.

  She must have known I was about to come because she released my cock and pressed it up against my belly as she gently sucked and kissed my balls.

  I grabbed the back of her head and guided her around until she’d licked and kissed every inch. Just as she was about to take my throbbing length into her mouth again, I pulled back, denying her.

  She looked up at me, her face still dangerously close to my swollen head. Moving fast, I leapt on the bed, straddling her naked body, and let the underside of my hard length rub against her back as I massaged her shoulders.

  Her body went pliant under my touch, and I moved down so I was kneading her bare ass cheeks and parting her thighs so I could see her wet and ready center.

  Her bud was already swollen and glistening, calling out my name. I flicked a finger over it, and she shuddered. So I did it again and again. Reflexively, her thighs jumped apart farther with every tease until I was able to fit myself between them and dive in.

  She gasped when my mouth hit her from this angle. I’d never done this to her from behind. But judging by the way she raised her little ass up in the air and pushed it toward me, I would say she liked it.

  I tasted her and sucked her anxious clit until her knees were shaking and she couldn’t hold her hips up any farther. I pulled back and flipped her over. Rimmel’s cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen, and her hair fell over the end of the bed and trailed toward the floor.

  “Romeo, please,” she murmured and wiggled her hips.

  I plunged into her without warning, taking her hard and deep just as I craved. The total possession I felt in that moment was unparalleled to anything I’d ever known.

  I rested my weight on my good forearm and elbow and used my free hand to caress her cheek. We touched from chest to toe as I rocked myself into her again and again.

  I knew when she was close because her head tilted back and her chest arched into mine. I buried my face in her neck as I pounded in her one last time.

  We fell together. Both of us lost in the same world of sheer bliss. I don’t know how long it lasted, only that it was so complete time didn’t matter.

  My heart was still pounding when I forced myself off her so she would be able to breathe and collapsed on the mattress right beside her.

  “I needed that.” She sighed.

  I laughed. “That right there was some good shit.”

  “Amen,” she replied, and I laughed again.

  There was a loud knock at the door, and the person on the other side yelled, “Room service!”

  I’d forgotten about the food.

  “Hang on!” I yelled and jumped up to grab a pair of basketball shorts out of my bag and pull them on.

  Rimmel giggled and ran into the bathroom to hide.

  “Get your sexy, naked ass out here, woman!” I yelled when the waiter was gone.

  She came out wearing her glasses and one of my T-shirts. It wasn’t naked, but it sure as hell would do.

  “Dig in,” I told her, giving her a ride-by kiss on my way to wash up. When I was done, I inhaled my steak, potatoes, and salad. Then I ate some shrimp.

  Rimmel ate, but not as much as I wanted. But I kept my mouth shut, because me badgering her to eat wouldn’t make her feel any better.

  I discovered she ate more when I fed her peeled shrimp right from my fingers.

  She was spoiled.

  When she was finished eating, she went for the coffee maker in the kitchenette, and soon the bold scent of brewing coffee filled the room.

  “You feeling better?” I ran my fingers through her hair when she plopped into my lap.

  She nodded. “Are you?”

  “How could I not be?” I gave her one of my best smiles.

  “Can we just stay here the rest of the night? Coffee and TV in the bedroom?” Her voice was wistful.

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Neither of us moved. The coffee was still brewing, so there was no point in getting up until it was done and she could pour a cup.

  “I’m going to the police.”

  Her words were a bomb to the sex and steak-infused good mood I had going on. “You’re going to turn your father in?”

  “It’s the only way.” Her voice was sort of flat, so it was hard to know what she was feeling.

  “The only way for what?”

  She sat back and looked at me. “To make sure this doesn’t hurt you.”

  I swore. “I told you not to worry about me.”

  “Me not worrying about you is like you not worrying about me.”

  “Don’t you sass me, Smalls,” I warned.

  “If I go to the police and tell them everything, they can find the man who’s been following you and who threatened me. They can shut that whole ring of whatever it is down.”

  “And what about your dad?” I asked gently. “He isn’t innocent in all this.”

  Her teeth sank into her lower lip. “I know. He’s probably going to get in trouble. A lot of it. But maybe he’ll get some help too. Maybe finally owning up to all his mistakes will help him heal.”

  “And what about you?” I picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to the back.

  “What about me?”

  “How will you feel knowing you’re the reason your dad’s in prison?”

  “I’m not the reason. His actions are the reason. His consequence is me trying to set everything right.”

  I smiled. “You’re one smart cookie.”

  “No.” She sighed. “I’m not. I just don’t want anyone else getting hurt. Especially you.”

  Her fierce need to protect me never failed to surprise me, even though I felt the same about her. Being on the receiving end of that kind of love was something I never thought I’d experience. “As long as you’re okay, I will be too.”

  She dragged in a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll call them.” She started to get up, but I pulled her back down.

  “If you want to call the police, I won’t stop you. Hell, I personally think it’s a good idea.”

  “But?�
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  “But sleep on it first. You may feel differently in the morning.” And if you decide not to do it, I will understand. I won’t make you choose between your father and me.

  She tilted her head to the side and stared at me. “Okay. First thing in the morning.”

  “Good. Now go get your caffeine so I can get you in bed.”

  She smiled a lighter smile than I’d seen her wear for quite a while. “Just knowing there’s a solution to all of this, a light at the end of the tunnel, makes me feel a lot better. The police will know what to do. It’s their job.”

  I watched her bound into the kitchenette toward the coffee. I didn’t tell her I didn’t think it was going to be that easy. I let her have any small amount of peace she could.

  But me?

  I knew it was going to be a hell of a lot harder than she realized.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Rimmel

  The coffee didn’t keep me awake.

  The last thing I remembered was snuggling close to Romeo in the center of the king-sized bed, cradling the warm mug, and laying my cheek against him.

  He turned on a movie, but I couldn’t tell you the title. I was too lost in my own head, with my own thoughts, and the comfort I was drawing from the man so close beside me.

  In a strange way, his anger made me feel better.

  Not that I wanted him to be so twisted up inside, but because no one had ever been angry like that on my behalf.

  Not my father.

  Not my grandparents.

  My mother would be, but she wasn’t here.

  When his vivid blue eyes focused on me and I heard the ferocity with which he said he would fight for me and was angry for me, the life I thought was crumbling around my feet suddenly didn’t seem so desolate.

  I knew Romeo couldn’t be my crutch. I knew I needed to find other ways to get through all this than just by leaning on him. And I would. I was strong. Stronger than I ever realized. But it sure did help that I wasn’t alone.

  When I awoke, the room was dark, the TV was off, and there wasn’t a hint of light in the cracks beneath the curtain.

  The mug of coffee was gone, and I assumed Romeo took it before I could dump it everywhere, because the bed was dry and so were we.