Page 55 of One Last Chance

She cocks her head to the side. “Are you sure, Chlo?”

“I’m sure.”

“Promise me you’ll call me when you get back to the lodge.”

Hugging me, I pull back, saying, “Of course. I promise. Now go… before you miss the kick-off. Say bye to Tracker for me.”

Grabbing her tray of food, I place it in her arms. “You better go, it’s starting....” The music has begun, and I don’t want her to miss it.

Sophia kisses me on the cheek, smiles, then says bye before she turns and heads back to our seats.

As Chloe walks away, my eyes catch a glimpse of Cassandra, who’s now on the field standing beside Coach and her father, Timothy Miles.

The team runs onto the field as the sound around the stadium plays their victory song with the number thirty flashing on the board—the number of years the team has been together. Cheerleaders do their thing, and the crowd goes wild. Whistles sound and cheers abound as the team waves to the crowd along with Cassandra and Mr. Miles.

It’s hard not to notice Domenic, his tall frame standing out from the other players. When they make their way back to the sidelines, Mr. Miles and Cassandra give one more wave to the fans, then turn around to walk out, but not before Cassandra kisses Domenic as she passes him.

That’s my undoing.

Feeling sorry for myself, I run.

I run so fast that when I exit the venue, I’m panting and trying to regain my breath. Wiping away my tears with the back of my sleeve, I enter one of the cabs, giving the details of where I want to go.

The lodge.

DOMENIC

Present

Where is she? I can’t see her in the seats. Tracker’s there, and Sophia has just taken a seat next to him. Before I can look around, arms are wrapping around me, and lips fall on mine, distracting me from looking for Chloe.

Cassandra has her arms linked around my neck, and her lips are devouring mine.

Grabbing her by her arms, I pull her back, angry that she’s doing this in front of everyone. I just hope that wherever Chloe is, she does not see this. I was a jerk to her today when she called me this morning. I’m a full-blown coward. I didn’t know how to tell her that Cassandra won’t give up on us, and that she’s using her father against me. I need to have a word with Coach after the game and tell him my situation. I know he’s going to be furious that I’m playing with my future by breaking up with Timothy Miles’ daughter since he warned me before I started dating her that it’s not advisable to date the owner’s daughter. I now wish I had listened to him. It sounds ridiculous, but his daughter always gets what she wants when it comes to her father and is spoiled rotten.

Why am I only just realizing that fact now?

Cassandra smiles. “Good luck, baby.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I reply, looking away from her, and to the crowd again where Sophia and Tracker are sitting.

Tracker spots me and waves over to me, followed by Sophia. I point to the empty seat beside her, and Sophia places her fingers to her head, obviously trying to tell me that Chloe has a headache. I guess Chloe’s avoiding me, and she didn’t want to be here because she knows something’s wrong.

I basically blew Chloe off this morning when she called. I knew she was fishing for details on my chat with Cassandra, but I didn’t know how to tell her that Cassandra won’t take no for an answer. Let alone the influence she has on her father—would Mr. Miles really mess up my career when I’m the reason why the team has gotten this far this season?

Once I have a chat with Coach after the game, I’m going to tell Cassandra it’s over for good, and then head to the lodge. It’s about time I start looking after my happiness, and that’s simply to be with Chloe.

Mr. Miles can do what he wants. If he’s going to give up his star quarterback player for his daughter, then I’m on the wrong team.

“Great game, boys. Kurt, that touchdown was exactly what we spoke about this morning. That’s how you win a game and get to the playoffs,” Coach yells, revving up the team.

Cheers sound around the locker room, and we pat each other on the back. We won by ten points, and although my mind was elsewhere, I still played well on the field.”

“Domenic. Great leadership, son. This is why you’re our quarterback.”

My team taps my back once again and congratulates me, and I thank them not liking that I’m receiving all the attention—this is a team sport.

Once our after-game meeting is over and we finished celebrating our win, I head to the showers and quickly change, so I can head to Coach’s office.

---