Page 59 of QB Keeper
I congratulate my guys, laughing and joking with them, until I hear a familiar voice yelling behind me.
“You stupid motherfucker!” Riggs shouts, jumping from the first row of seats, over the railing and onto the field. My eyes widen, first of all, because I haven’t seen him in a while, and secondly, because of the look in his eyes as he approaches me. His face is red and the veins in his neck and forehead are visibly pulsing as he runs up on me with no sign of slowing down.
Dalton notices what’s happening and goes to step in front of me as a line of defense, but I put my hand on his chest, giving him a tight nod as if to saylet him. I deserve whatever happens, and he deserves to give it to me.
I put my hands behind my back, raising my chin as he takes the final few steps to close the distance. Even though I’m ready for it, I’m knocked back at the first slam of his fist against my face. Pain explodes behind my eye, but I stay upright, not moving as I prepare to eat another. My teammates rush over to help, but Dalton holds them all back, watching as Riggs punches me again, this time taking me to the ground. He follows, delivering more strikes as he finally speaks.
“My fuckingsister?” he grits out, spit flying from his lips as he lands a shot to my side. “She was a shell of a person for months! There were nights when she’d lock the bathroom door and sob until she puked because of you, but she refused to tell any of us why!” He punches me again and this time, I push back because I can feel the skin around my eye beginning to swell shut. He stops, scowling at me and shaking his head in disgust.
“Not only did you leave her to put herself back together, but you leftus all,” he says, chest heaving while he clutches the collar of my jersey. “You’re chickenshit, Lake. And you’ll never be good enough for Grace. We’re done.”
He shoves his fist into my chest as he stands, walking backward a few steps before bumping into two large security guards that are just now arriving to the scene. They grab him by the arms, hauling him off down the tunnel while fans behind us cheer in the stands. I sit up slowly, wiping the blood from my lip and taking Blaze’s outstretched hand that he’s offering from above. I wince as he pulls me up, grabbing the towel Dalton is holding out to clean my face with. Everything is numb, and I’m pretty sure he broke my orbital, but the pain of his words hurts way worse than any of the physical damage he did.
When I left Hope Harbor, my only concern was doing the right thing for Grace. I wanted her to be safe and happy, able to live her dreams the way she had always planned. But things changed for us both that summer. What was important to us before we fell for each other shifted, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for not acknowledging it back then. I’d give anything to go back and do it differently because after that, things snowballed, and I got to a point where I couldn’t return for my own selfish reasons. I knew she’d eventually move on. I was terrified of having to bear witness to her being loved by another man when it should’ve been me all along.
My biggest regret in life is all the time I wasted beingscared, and now that I have her back, I’m never letting her go again. I’ll give Riggs some time to cool off, then I’ll reach out to apologize for all the hurt I caused. I’ll earn his trust back the same way I did hers. By loving her so loudly, he’ll see that nobody on this earth will cherish her the way I do. Because I know what it’s like to live without Grace Valentine, and there’s no way I’m doing that again.
“Tan!” Grace says, running onto the field and throwing her arms around my waist. “Are you okay? What the fuck was that?” She pulls back, taking my face in her hands, her expression twisting like she’s the one in pain as she sees her brother’s handiwork. But now that she’s here, nothing really hurts anymore.
“How’d you get down here?” I ask. They’re pretty strict about letting people on the field without credentials, but when she reaches down and lifts the press pass around her neck, I realize Mads must be behind this. They don’t even look remotely alike, but I’m assuming Grace was running so fast, security couldn’t get a look at the photo anyway.
I chuckle. “You girls are going to be trouble together, aren’t you?”
“Probably,” she replies. “Think I can get them to jump my brother in the parking lot with me? What the fuck was he even doing here?”
I blow out of breath. “My guess is that he talked to one of your parents and they told him everything.” Now that I know our moms knew what happened between us that summer, I’m not surprised that he would have gotten the information from them. I was gone for too long for there not to be questions about why I came back.
“I hate him,” she mumbles.
I put my arms around her waist, bringing her into my body and kissing the top of her head. “No, you don’t. He missed a playoff game to come beat the shit out of me becauseI broke your heart. He’s a good brother and he loves you. Besides, I had that shit coming.”
She purses her lips in thought. “Yeah, you kinda did. Didn’t you?”
Such a little brat.
I huff a laugh, poking her in the side and making her giggle. “Come on, Bunny. Let’s go home so you can make me feel better.”
FORTY-TWO
GRACE
“Yeah,thanks Twyla. I’m sticking with my initial statement. I don’t want the fans to be mad at Riggs. I deserved everything that happened,” Tanner says to the head of the PR company he signed with this week. After everything that went down with my brother, he needed some extra help, and Maverick swore Twyla was just the bulldog he needed to make all of this drama go away.
It probably wouldn’t have been nearly as bad if it weren’t for all the videos that were posted to social media. Fans captured the fight from every angle, but with all the noise in the stadium, nobody heard the things Riggs was saying about why he was angry. I’m not justifying his actions because I’m still disgusted with my brother, but the media is making it look like he just randomly attacked Tanner for no reason. And although he made a statement saying he was in the wrong, the court of public opinion has already made Riggs the bad guy.
I continue listening to his conversation because nosiness will always be my most dominant personality trait.
“No, I don’t think we’ll be able to pull off a joint press conference. Like I said, I understand the reasoning behindeverything, but we’re not at a point where you’d be able to get us in the same room, agreeing on a common ground. I need more time to make that happen.”
He pauses while she speaks for a minute.
“Okay. That sounds good. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks.” He ends the call, tossing the phone down on the table before dragging his hands down his face.
“What a fucking mess,” he says on an annoyed exhale. “Everyone thinks I’m a perfect angel and that Riggs is just a shitty person for attacking me. Short of me renting a billboard that says‘Hey, Valentine. Sorry I fucked your sister.’, they’re going to continue making him out to be the villain.”
I laugh, moving to sit on his lap. “Are you sorry you fucked his sister though?”
“No,” he says, gripping my cheeks in one hand and smacking a kiss to my lips. “And I’ll do it again.” He reaches up, pinching my nipple through his Harvard hoodie, making me moan in the back of my throat.
