Page 84 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

Chapter thirty-one

Colton

Colton shifted in his bed, looking for some relief for his aching left leg. The tape around his ankle had only been able to stop the swelling so much. His entire body felt like it’d been put through a meat grinder, and yet he hadn’t stopped smiling all evening.

Most would have assumed that was because of the win. He’d held his breath until the last second ticked off the clock, but beating the Vipers out of the playoffs had been the second-best reward for playing through his pain.

The real reason he couldn’t stop smiling was because of the woman who was curled beside him in his bed like she was his missing puzzle piece, brown hair tossed across the pillow on her side. They had a lot they needed to work through, but they’d agreed to set it aside for the night, too exhausted to try to talk through everything.

He needed a little more of an explanation from her, but the moment the game was won, he’d known he wanted her to stay the night. The win had been exhilarating, but it was nothing if he couldn’t celebrate it with her. Winning didn’t matter if Lucia wasn’t a part of it.

Before her, that certainly wouldn’t have been true. He’d never needed anyone besides his teammates to celebrate with, but clearly, things had changed. Lucia had changed everything for him.

He’d spent his entire life believing that winning was the only way for people to love and respect him, but Lucia didn’t care about any of that. She’d told him countless times that he mattered regardless. That he was important whether he quit the NFL right now or waited years to retire.

So while he knew there would be a lot to talk through in the morning, words couldn’t express his happiness at having her in his bed beside him, clothed in his t-shirt and sweatpants.

His movements must’ve woken her because she groaned. “Is it time to get up?”

He chuckled. “Nope. Go back to sleep, pretty girl.”

A second later, her breathing evened out again. His phone lighting up on his nightstand reminded him of what he needed to be looking out for before their talk.

After the game, Colton had hobbled over to Clark and had told him in no uncertain terms that if he didn’t apologize publicly and ensure The Richmond Herald retracted the story in the next twelve hours, news would spread about the woman he’d impregnated and swept under the rug only months before he’d started dating Lucia in college. He had his agent and the Sabertooths’ PR team to thank for that tidbit of information. The girl had been trying to get in contact with Max for years, only thinking of approaching the media once Colton’s team had asked about her willingness. Max had paled at the threat, the sneer on his face disappearing instantaneously.

Scrolling through all of Max’s social media profiles and The Richmond Herald’s website, Colton found that neither had been done. He set his phone back down, making a note to himself to check again in the morning. He wanted to make sure he could show it to her when they talked.

Colton rolled over, slinging an arm over Lucia and closing his eyes, hoping his body would relax enough to let him sleep.

Colton woke to the smell of pancakes and bacon, his stomach growling. He was thankful he didn’t have to be at the facility until the afternoon, especially since sleep didn’t appear to have helped his body’s healing at all.

He walked into his kitchen, the sight of Lucia whisking something in a bowl making him wish he could wake up to this every day.

“What are you doing?” he asked, unable to keep the smile from his face.

“I’m terrified by the number of pizza boxes in your fridge. I genuinely don’t know how you look as hot as you do when you eat like this.”

“But you don’t need to cook. I could’ve ordered us something.”

“What, breakfast pizza?” She laughed at her own joke. “I like cooking for you. Plus, think of it as a part of my apology.” Her smile tipped down at the corners.

He wouldn’t tell her because he wanted to hear what she had to say, but she was already practically forgiven in his eyes.

“Do you need any help?”

“Nope. You can just sit and watch. You don’t really look like you should be moving around anyway.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she took in the way his body was overcompensating for his many injuries.

“I’ll be fine. I’m always a little beat up after games.”

Lucia turned around, her back facing him as she cut up some potatoes. She was going all out for this apology breakfast.

“I know I could’ve sent it to you, but I wanted to be here with you when you watched the video of the call. My phone’s on the counter if you want to pull it up. Password is zero-eight-two-three.”

Colton’s stomach turned at the thought of having to listen to her talk to Max, but he brought the phone closer to him, typed in the password, and opened the app. He played the video, turning up the volume.

His heart ached at the shakiness of her voice as she spoke to Max. He cringed at the mention of her having sex on the beach with him, pushing the image out of his head as fast as it had entered. His jaw clenched as he heard Max slam something after she’d told him she wasn’t in love with him and clenched harder at the insinuation that Lucia couldn’t have gotten her job with the Sabers on merit alone. He bristled at Max’s mention of him.

By the end, all he felt was pride. He was so proud of her for holding her own against Max and finally telling him what needed to be said. When the video ended, Lucia turned to look at him, her bottom lip tucked under her teeth.

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