Page 106 of Play of Love
The Road Trip
Chapter 1
Abi
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Look at him posing with his entourage of women.
Look at all the admiring fans and football groupies.
Standing by the grand marble steps that led to the hotel’s entrance, he straightened with pride and displayed his admirable athletic physique. He was an exhibition chiseled to perfection, all sleek with the kind of hard muscle you’d expect to see on only the most serious of athletes. With the inherent strength in his ruggedly handsome face and the bright morning sunlight bouncing off his spiky black hair, he looked like he’d just stepped out of a fantasy, powerful and godlike.
I rolled my eyes at the sight and pressed my hands against the cool metal rail that ran along the balcony. It overlooked the main entrance to the hotel, allowing me to see all the guests arriving.
I shouldn’t watch him. It wasn’t healthy, but I told myself I was just doing it out of mere curiosity. Curiosity to see how I’d feel when I saw him again. Curiosity to see if anything had changed for the renowned and cherished LA Gladiators wide receiver, Scott Emmerson.
From where I stood, I couldn’t see any changes for the better. He seemed to love attention just as much as ever, and the host of women worshipping him only fueled that. Irritated by his cool and self-absorbed manner, I frowned.
How on earth did they know he would be in San Francisco?
He was here for Margo’s wedding. Margo was his little sister and my very best friend. Margo was like a sister to me, too, and I knew that Margo wanted her wedding to be a private affair and not some publicity opportunity.
Scott’s PR company must have purposely announced his presence. With the new football season only months away, this was the time when the main players did all their media and magazine appearances. Part of it was to build up the hype for the onset of the season, but it was also done to attract more fans, women fans, specifically. Why else would a guy have to pose shirtless or in his boxers on the beach for Calvin Klein?
It made women want them, and it made men want to be just like them. And this guy below was one of the most self-centered attention grabbers I had ever known; he loved any opportunity to be in the public’s eye.
How did I know all this? Well, I had the unfortunate privilege of dating him for seven years.Unfortunate privilege.Those words didn’t make sense together, and probably wouldn’t make sense to anyone if I said them aloud, but they did make sense to me. I was unfortunate because my relationship with him drained me.
Scott was my first love. I had met him in my freshman year of college, just after I had become friends with Margo. I was nineteen, and everything had changed for me in a dramatic way.
My grandmother had died a few months before I started college, leaving me completely alone in the world.
So, not wanting me to be by myself for the holidays, Margo invited me to her family’s Thanksgiving feast. I had been completely charmed by her parents and the kindness they showed, but when I met Scott – Margo’s completely gorgeous, hot older brother – I could have sworn the world had literally stopped.
It was what I called the heart-stopping, mind-numbing syndrome that stayed with me for years. He was five years older than me, and having a guy like that show interest in you at that age was one of those memorable moments a girl always remembers. I thought it was a dream when we got together, and I had loved him fiercely.
Scott was one of those guys who oozed confidence – and quite rightly so because he had the personality and the looks to go with it. He was one of those guys who could hook you – hookme.I was sure that most of the women he’d been with could relate. Scott had captured me with one look that controlled me like I was a mindless puppet.
Things were amazing initially, and everything had moved so fast. I’d liked his charm, and he charmed me into believing that he loved me too. Maybe he did at one point; I’d never know. What I did know was that things were wonderful until he got signed to the Gladiators and got a taste of fame. We had several beautiful years together before he joined.
With his talents and skills, he progressed very quickly. Everyone loved him, and things changed between us. With fame came a host of admiring women, and Scott soon he grew bored of me.
After that, when he was with me, he was with me in body, but not in mind –like an empty shell. And, what was worse was I could tell he wanted to be with other women and most likely stayed with me only because I was Margo’s best friend.
My love for him controlled me, made me think with my heart and never my brain. It made me give my all, but, in the end, I came to the devastating realization that it was just me who was making all the efforts in our relationship.
Leaving him broke the spell and released my mind from the thrall he had over me. It was difficult at first to get my head around it, but I did, and I pushed him out of my mind. It was all made easier by my move from LA to New York. I made an effort to see Margo when I could and spoke to her practically every night.
I missed Margo, but being so far away from Scott had been good.
It set my life back on track. I was thirty-two now and hadn’t seen him for almost six years.
The privilege of being with Scott was that it taught me to never give my heart away to anyone like him, someone who took advantage and couldn’t commit.
I blamed it on my youth. I was young when I first got with Scott. I was inexperienced in life and in dealing with men. My grandmother was very prudish and never spoke about relationships, and my mother and father had died in an accident when I was five. There was really no one to guide me. But when I left Scott, I found my way, and, now, before I even considered going on a date, the lucky guy would have to prove he was worth my time. I was single at the moment and had been for a while, but that worked for me. It did get lonely sometimes, but only sometimes. I was busy enough at work and certainly had no time for the dramas of having a relationship.
Seeing him now was weird.
