Page 98 of Trade Deadline

I take the phone from him, and that uneasy feeling is replaced with dread, then anger, as I begin to scroll through a few of the endless messages.

Don’t get too comfy. He’s only with u to clean up his image. He’ll soon get bored of u and come crawling back to my *kitten emoji* soon enough.

Do u realize he’s only with u because ur shiny and new? He will soon get bored of u

I don’t understand why he’s with u. He’s a ten and ur a two at best.

U do realize he’s using u, right? Who am I kidding, ur probs too stupid to know that ur not enough for him.

Tell Blaine I said hi, I’ll be here waiting when he gets tired of u.

LOL imagine being the reason Blaine’s career is going downhill. He’s been underperforming these last few games because of u. If u actually cared about him, u would leave him because he’s a better player when he’s not dating u.

How does it feel to be a prop in his image clean-up so he doesn’t get traded? As soon as the trade deadline has passed, he’ll dump ur ass quicker than u can ask him to stay.

I feelsick to my stomach.

“You know none of this is true, right?” I look at Alex, pleading that he believes me and not this bullshit. My voice shakes with panic. “Yeah, when we met, I was in the shit and was told I had to clean up my image, but I’m not using you, I promise. You’ve made me wanna be a better person, you mean everything to me.”

“I do.” He nods, and my heart cracks when tears begin to fill his eyes, “I do believe you, it’s just… it’s horrible. It’s constant, too. They send something almost every day and it’s getting to the point where I don’t know what to do. I block them, but they make another account… I don’t know what they’re expecting to achieve apart from breaking us up. I just don’t understand how people can be so cruel.”

Anger riles up inside of me, bubbling like a volcano ready to erupt. How fucking dare these people—so calledfans—think they can try to interfere with my private life?

And coming after Alex? Completely un—fucking—acceptable. Part of me wants to message these people and give them a piece of my mind, but I know I’d have Hayden and Colleen on my ass quicker than I could retract my messages. How can I just sit by and let it happen, though?

“Is everything okay?”

I glance over my shoulder to see Ethan, worry laced in his eyes.

If there’s one person who might be able to help, it’ll be Ethan.

“You know that photo I posted at Christmas? Well, Alex has been receiving some pretty shitty messages.”

He frowns. “What do you mean by shitty messages?”

I turn back to Alex, asking without words whether Ethan can read them. He gives a small nod and hands over his phone. Ethan’s silent as he reads, the crease on his forehead deepening.

“Fucking assholes,” he mutters as he hands the phone back to Alex.

“Any idea what we could do?” I ask.

Ethan rubs a hand over his face. “We could ask Kendrick if Maria still receives anything like it. I know she used to as it’s not unusual for this shit to happen out of jealousy over someone else getting what they want.”

Shit, I didn’t even think about asking Kendrick.

Ethan spins on his heels and heads back down the hallway to where Kendrick is sitting watching the game. We follow closely behind, and I take Alex’s hand in mine, lacing our fingers together and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I don’t want this to carry on, I just gotta find the right way of dealing with it… If I do what I want to do, I’ll end up in big trouble.” I stop and take his face into my hands, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. “Please don’t let anything they’ve said get to you. I know it’s easier said than done, but I fucking adore you, okay? I promise you, I’m not using you. I’d rather take out my eye with a broken stick than use you, even for a second.”

He smiles, but it’s still tinged with sadness. “I know, thank you.”

We take a seat back on the couch and I open my arm up so he can curl into me. Ethan talks quietly to Kendrick, trying not to interrupt Zach’s zone as the defense are out on the field.

Kendrick leans over and says, “Come over one night this week for dinner, ‘kay? Maria will help you out.” He gives Alex’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Thank you.” Alex smiles.

I kiss the top of his head, holding him protectively to my body.

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