Page 24 of Rushing Her: Seattle, Westerners
My phone rings, and I don’t look, I just answer, “Alexandra.” My heart is in my throat, worried about her.
“Nope, guess again,” her father’s voice breaks through the line.
“Sir, it wasn’t me.”
“You broke her again. I thought this time you were going to be good, but you just couldn’t keep it in your pants, could you?”
“It’s not me; I swear. I walked away and went to my room. I have witnesses.”
“Well, if it’s not, you’d better figure this out. She’s safe. That’s the only reason I’m contacting you. She’d be pissed if she knew I called.”
“Please tell me where she is.” I’m not above begging right now.
“No. Give her some time.”
“What about the danger?”
“That’s part of this. Think about what she’s going through. She had to find a new doctor after already establishing a relationship with another one.”
“Okay. Twenty-four hours.” I’m pissed now. I grip the phone, angry that I have to give in to him on this. He’s protecting his daughter.
“Brayden, I don’t take orders from you. Think about what you did right after she broke up with you the first time. Stop!” He anticipates my interruption. “She was supposed to be the love of your life; you were going to propose. You came to me and promised never to hurt her. When you slept with one of her sorority sisters less than a week after you broke up, you destroyed her. Now give her a chance to breathe.”
He hangs up, and again I want to throw my phone. I need to calm down but can’t. He’s right, I wrecked us worse than she did. I’ve blamed it on alcohol in the past, but it doesn’t make it right. Nothing will ever make that right.
Taking several deep, calming breaths, I focus on the busy downtown Seattle traffic before appearing for another meeting I hadn’t planned on today. Walking into the towering building where my attorney’s office is located, I’m even more upset than before. Dealing with all of this is exhausting, but the team owner called me in to strategize before I make any major spur-of-the-moment decisions.
Chapter 11
Brayden
It’s been two days since I last heard from Alexandra. Forty-eight hours, I’ve paced around and worked out. My coaches are upset at my lack of focus, but I can’t get Mark’s words out of my head. He was right, and I try not to wonder if my girl has found someone else to work out her sorrows with, like I did.
Making it worse, that woman went back to the gossip rags and told them that that night wasn’t the first time we’d slept together. That we’d been together for almost a year, and she was pregnant. She reports that she is coming out because I told her I wanted nothing to do with her or the baby she claims to be carrying. Honestly, if this woman had confronted me personally, saying she was pregnant, Iwould havetold her that because I know I haven’t slept with any woman but Alexandra in over three years.
The owner has benched me until we figure out what to do. I’m pissed because our first home opener is Thursday.
I’m also in Portland because Mildred Winters called to tell me that Coach took a turn for the worse. I’m here, but I don’t like it, yet I find myself walking up to the front door that Ientered a couple of weeks ago, before everything I thought was true became a lie. The man whom I looked at as a second father destroyed my relationship with the woman I love.
My phone pings, and I look down to see the text from my brother.
Brent
Yo kid thought you had a plan and a woman to impress. This isn’t how you do it.
Me
I didn’t do it. They are all lies. I was a born-again virgin when I got with Alex a couple weeks ago. Been over three years since I was with another woman.
Brent
Fix this or you’ll lose her.
Me
Duh asshole. How are the parents?
Brent
