Page 112 of The Penalty

“Glad I could be here to remind you.” His smile grew wider. “To answer your question, I’m hoping to fly over to see you during my international break next month.”

“Next month? How will I survive?”

“You’ll manage.”

I rested my hand on his chest, standing on my toes to kiss him. “Thank you for Paris. And for today.” I pressed another light kiss to his lips. “Thank you for opening up the way you did about your dad. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Xavier released the crossbar and wrapped his arms around me.

“Everything is easier with you.” The rawness in his voice twisted around my heart like a vine. Butterflies flitted through my stomach when he cupped his hand behind my neck, massaging it with his fingers. “The luckiest day of my life was seeing you on the side of that road. I feel like,” he swallowed hard. “I feel like I could tell you everything and you’d still love me. You’d let me stay in your light and stop me from spiraling.”

I hurt someone.

Tears burned my eyes recalling what he’d started to tell me all those weeks ago at the ring ceremony. “Everyone deals with trauma in their own time. When you’re ready to confront it, I’ll be here to listen.”

His heartbeat thundered beneath my hand. A tumultuous storm swirled in the depths of his sapphire eyes. Confessing the hurt over what happened with his dad was only a small piece of a much more textured past. I sensed it from the way he held me.

He confirmed it when he kissed me like he was drowning, and I was the only thing keeping him alive.

I melted into him, letting myself get swept away. The love we shared was so powerful it nearly extinguished the nagging, persistent voice in my mind always whispering you don’t deserve any of this.

Victoria

Reality slapped me in the face.

Hard.

Two weeks ago I’d been blissfully holed up with Xavier in Paris and London.

Now? Life in Manhattan imploded.

Tre Gideon bruised his knee in practice. Dante Milano failed a PED test and was promptly suspended four games. Oh, and Noah Tate thought it would be hilarious to go skateboarding for a stupid social media post and sprained his finger.

The silver lining was the finger happened to be on Noah’s non-throwing hand. Little victories.

All of this happened as the final preseason game inched closer.

“Is your season ruined now?” Killian propped his feet up on the coffee table.

We were lounging in his living room after returning from Sunday brunch. We’d met up with Noah and Tracey to finalize some of the marketing and financial plans for Charlotte’s foundation. Most of the discussion revolved around the inaugural event, which Killian nearly hijacked and turned into a masquerade ball.

Thank goodness Max stepped in as the voice of reason.

“I don’t know.” I rubbed my temples, trying to ignore the muted pain throbbing behind my eyes.

Aside from the player injuries, preparing for the home opener has been insane. The Legends were kicking off the regular season with a primetime game. My days were filled with media requests, pre-interviews, player and coach availabilities, digging myself out of a never-ending string of emails, and putting the final touches on the media plan for the entire season.

I haven’t even had a chance to see the boys until today. And Xavier? Let’s just say our communication has been minimal at best now that his new season was in full swing.

“I’m the best sports-baller fill in if you need one.” Killian clasped his hands together. “Or you could ask Hotty McBodyguard to be the new quarterback. What’s the deal with him anyway?”

I flopped back against the couch with an audible sigh. “His name is Marcus Hanson and he works for the Caldwells. That’s all I know.”

Xavier and I did manage to work out the whole babysitter situation. I really didn’t like how frantic he’d become the night my car was vandalized. If having someone shadow me meant peace of mind for him, I’d be willing to bend. I agreed to have Marcus be my security detail only if he didn’t interfere with every little thing in my life.

So far, so good.

“Baby girl, I don’t need names. I need vital stats. Single?”

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