Page 54 of Teasing the Winger

“Holy shit,” Rio replies with a toothy grin. “That’s amazing, baby. You deserve it. You are an amazing man, and you’re going to be an even better lawyer.”

“I love you,” I reply, leaning over the console for a quick kiss.

“I love you too. Now let me get you home so you can rest,” he says, but I shoot him my best ‘are you serious?’ look.

“I don’t have time to rest. I have to get my shit packed so we don’t miss the bus that leaves in less than thirty minutes,” I tell him.

“You’re still coming to the game?” he asks, and I roll my eyes as I nod.

“Did you lose some brain cells last night? Of course I’m coming to the game. I’m the team's good luck charm. I can’t let them down.”

“I think they would understand due to the circumstances of what just happened to you,” he replies, but I give my head a firm shake.

“I don’t care. I’m going. Yes, I could have died last night, but I didn’t. Lux is gone, and I can finally move on with my life. He no longer has a hold on me, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Staying at home makes no sense to me. It’s time to live and appreciate everything the universe has given to me.”

Rio gives me a passionate kiss before whispering against my lips, “You are so fucking amazing.”

The past twenty-four hours have been horrible and amazing at the same time. I’m finally free of the dark shadow that has been haunting me for the last seven years. Never again can Lux Vanderbilt hurt me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

RIO

Coach Rudder is glaring at Sasha and me when we arrive at the bus five minutes late.

“Sorry, Coach, it’s my fault we were late,” Sasha tells him. “My crazy ex showed up last night and held me at gunpoint. I was able to catch him off guard and knock him to the ground, but I guess when I was punching him, I went too hard, and he ended up dying. The officer who was on the scene last night pulled me in for more questioning this morning, and I think he was trying to arrest me for murder. Thankfully, I’m a smart law student and brought a lawyer along, and no charges were laid, but it caused me to get behind on my packing, so that’s why we’re late.” The words tumble out of Sasha’s lips so quickly I’m positive Coach doesn’t have time to process them as he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. “I promise it won’t happen again,” Sasha assures him.

Coach blinks a few times, clearly trying to process everything Sasha just said, but eventually shrugs. “You’re probably going to have to tell the whole story to Evangeline and a couple of other people, but we don’t have time for that right now, so get on the bus,” he instructs, and he quickly does as we’re told.

“Look who finally decided to grace us with their presence,” BooBoo says as we grab our seats in the row across from him and Hailey.

“I almost got arrested I think that grants me a five-minute pardon,” Sasha sasses him, causing his brows to shoot up.

“Spill the tea,” Hailey says, leaning over with a glint in her eye.

“Later,” Sasha replies. “I’m tired and need a nap.”

“You’re no fun,” the cheerleader says, then sticks her tongue out at Sasha.

“Love you too,” he tells her with a wink.

“You know you don’t owe anyone the story if you don’t want to tell it,” I whisper to Sasha as he leans his head on my shoulder.

He offers me the sweetest smile in return. “I know, but now that Lux is gone, it’s like this weight I didn’t even know I was carrying is lifted off my shoulders. I’m free. Telling people about how I stuck up for myself isn’t going to be hard at all.”

I kiss his forehead, loving just how resilient he is.

When we arrive at the hotel, it’s shortly after eight, and everyone heads directly to their rooms. There’s an earlier curfew tonight since we need our rest for the game tomorrow, but we still have about an hour before we’re stuck in our rooms for the night, so once BooBoo and I have dropped our bags off, we make our way to Hailey and Sasha’s room.

We considered BooBoo and Sasha switching rooms for the night, but Coach made it mighty clear that he will be doing room checks tonight, and we all better be in the right places. I guess that’s what happens when there are two couples on the team.

“Okay, are you finally going to tell us what the hell happened last night,” Hailey says once we’re all sitting on the beds.

“Lux showed up,” Sasha starts, and Hailey gasps.

He nods and then tells our friends the entire story. When he finally finishes, Hailey has tears in her eyes and jumps forward to give Sasha a big hug.

“I’m sorry that happened, but I’m glad you’re finally free,” she tells him.

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