Page 83 of Craving the Player

He grips my shoulder in atight grip and squeezes, staring at me with alook so intense my eyes widen. “Tough shit, Son. Today, that’sexactly what you are.”

My heart pounds against my rib cage, adrenaline beginning to burn beneath my skin. “Look,” Isay guardedly. “About what Isaid before—”

“Don’tapologize,” he cuts me off, voice heavy with authority. “You should never have had to feel like that in the first place. I’msorry.”

“Iknow. It’sokay.” Ilet my lips lift somewhat before I’mpulled into arare hug. Iknow that the awkwardness Ifeel is shared between the two of us, but Itry to ignore it and enjoy the moment.

“Okay.” He clears his throat. “Now let me drive you to the airport so you can go get your girl.”

My smile grows into afull-fledged grin as Inod twice and straighten my back with anew-found sense of confidence. It feels like Ican breathe again, my head clear and body at the ready. There’saglimmer of hope in the horizon, one that Ican almost taste.

It won’tbe easy, Iknow that. But Ihave to hope that she’ll at least hear me out and understand where Iwas coming from. Istill can’tpromise her forever, or that I’ll be completely confident in handing her the reins and letting her lead me through the unknown, but she already owns me in away that terrifies me the shit out of me. Why not offer her my heart on asilver fucking platter while I’mat it?

Ilook at my dad, eager and buzzing and say, “Let’sgo.”

Car horns blare and police lights reflect off the glass windows of the building beside us. My legs shake, my hands balled into fists on my lap. Itry Sierra’scell phone again and get her voicemail. Ihang up without leaving amessage, not trusting myself not to blurt out that Ilove her. She’snot going to find out how Ifeel through avoicemail, that’sfor fucking sure.

“Can you not get around them?” Isnap at Dad, unable to keep my calm.

“No.” He’sfrustrated, like me. The four car pile up ahead has the entire highway backed up. We haven’tmoved in twenty minutes.

With the car in park and the knowledge that there’sno way of getting out of here anytime soon, Ipush open the passenger door and get out. Iface the car and slam my palms on the roof hard enough for the sound to echo through the street.

“Fuck!” Iscream, feeling the weight of the past week fall heavy on my shoulders, threatening to crush me like abug under aboot. Iwelcome the feeling, knowing that all of this is my fault, my doing.

If Ihad just let the past go and focused on the future Icould have had with Sierra, none of this would have ever fucking happened. We would be on that plane together right now, her head on my shoulder, my arm slung around her. Iwouldn’tbe here, in the middle of the highway, banging my fists on the roof of acar and shouting like amaniac.

She left thinking Ithought so little of her. Thinking that she was just some woman Ichose at abar to keep my bed warm until Ifound something better. But there is nobody better for me than my little fighter. The woman with all the answers all the time, awitty sense of humour that keeps my heart thumping and my dick hard, and adrive for success that has me wanting to do and be better.

She excites me, tortures me, and pisses me off like nobody I’ve ever met. We’re such opposites that to most people, we don’tlook like we would work. But we do. We really do. Our chemistry is beyond anything that I’ve felt with anyone else. We fit together like we were made to do so, and just the thought of never having her in my arms again has my chest feeling so tight that every breath Itake is like tiny razor blades tearing through my lungs.

Ifeel ahand on my back and flinch, tensing my body like I’mattempting to protect it from an outside invasion, as if the real monsters weren’talready inside.

“You should call Sophie,” Dad says behind me.

Inod, feeling too numb to do anything else. Sierra’sgone, her plane already boarded and getting ready for takeoff. Ionly had an hour to get to her, and we’ve been stuck here for too long.

My cellphone is placed in my hand and Icall Sierra’sbest friend. She answers after the first ring, alarm evident in her voice.

“Braden? What’swrong?”

“Iwas too late.”

The seconds pass slowly as she breathes heavily into the phone. When she finally speaks, Ialmost fall to my knees.

“No, you weren’t. I’mgoing to help you fix this.”

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