Page 43 of The Coach

I pull away from him and prop myself up on one arm, so I can see him. His warm brown eyes have nothing but comfort and reassurance for me. I should be able to talk to him about my past. He's told me about what happened with his wife, and really, that was so much worse. "The person I trusted the most in this world let me down. I was totally blindsided by the whole thing. I don't want to go through that again."

"Who was it?" He reaches for my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, kissing the back of my hand.

I let out a big sigh, not really wanting to talk in detail about it, but it's not like I need to hide it from him either. "He was my best friend throughout school. He lived on our street just a couple of houses down, so we spent all our spare time together. We were inseparable. The last year of high school, we took it further than friendship. That was probably the first mistake."

"He was your first?"

"Yep, he was. We were really good together. I know it's silly, because I was young, we both were. But I honestly thought we would graduate college and get married. I thought he was it for me."

"So what happened then?"

I raise a brow. "You can probably already see where this is going."

"I think I can, but why don't you tell me anyway. I want to understand you better."

"Fine. We went to different colleges. I had my scholarship to UCLA, and he went to college locally. I thought I could trust him. It was only an hour-and-a-half trip so we saw each other as much as we could, and we talked every day. It all seemed like it was going well. Least, that's what I thought. Then one weekend I wanted to surprise him and took a trip home, arrived at his house all excited, only to walk in on him with some bitch from our high school." I can feel my muscles tense even just reliving the scene in my head. "At the time, it was devastating, life-altering. But now I see it for what it was—a life lesson I had to learn."

He looks at me like he finally gets me and why I am the way I am. "That's why you hate cheaters so much."

"Well, I could just hate all men and be done with it, but you know I like sex too much so that was never an option." I laugh to try and lighten the mood that has become too heavy. I hate talking about real shit. But the way Brad looks at me, like he needs this to understand me better, I decide I'd better answer his question properly. "But yeah. I hate that anyone could lie to someone they are supposed to care about. He was my friend my whole life and I couldn't even trust him. That's when I decided I didn't need that shit in my life. I do what I want, when I want, with whoever I want, no strings attached, and that has worked really well for me ever since."

He tilts his head to the side, assessing me. And I wish he would just come out and say what he's really thinking right now. Because he's giving me nothing, just asking about my past, but I know there's a reason behind all of this and I want to know what it is. "Cause you can't get hurt again," he says finally.

I nod my head. "Damn straight! This way I'm in control of my life." And I mean that, it's not just some shit I say.

"But you don't ever really get to share anything special with anyone, anything real."

I'm a little surprised by his comment. He wants something real? "Don't tell me you want that after what you went through with your wife. I thought you would feel the same as me."

He sits a bit farther up in bed, his back against the headboard, and I look up at him. He's like a different person tonight, all deep and broody. What is going on with him?

"Yeah, but I don't. It makes me want the real thing even more. See, I don't think everyone is like my ex or yours. I know there is something real out there waiting for me, and when I'm ready, I hope I find it." His eyes gaze longingly at me, and I know what he's saying. He thinks something real is happening here between us, and maybe it is. But if that's the case, it's a whole other level of fucked up that I just can't deal with, because we literally can't be together. Not at this point in time, anyway.

"I'm surprised, Brad. I wouldn't have pegged you for a hopeless romantic." I smile cheekily, trying to make a bit of a joke about it. This conversation has become too serious too quickly, and it makes me uncomfortable.

"I'm not so sure I'm that, but I know I don't want to be alone forever. Do you?"

"I don't know what I want for the future yet. I'm twenty-four. All I know is I have plenty of time to work it out. Right now, I'm concentrating on my career while I can. You understand that, right?" I plead with my eyes for him to agree with me because I don't want this all to end. I'm having fun here, but I can't give him anything else. That's why I thought this arrangement was so perfect.

He nods and offers me his charming smile. "Yeah, better than most. And that's what you should do as well. You're a great player. You have the chance to be one of the best."

"Thank you, I hope so. Speaking of, I need to get to bed. I need my beauty sleep for tomorrow if I'm going to kick ass out there." I slip out of bed and search the floor for the clothing I came in wearing, finding my bra and panties and pulling them on, then throwing the large coat over the top. I can feel his eyes on me as I dress. I go back to where he's sitting. "I'll let myself out. Thank you for a fun night. See you in the morning, Mr. Swift." I put emphasis on his name.

I reach down to kiss him, and he pulls me into him, kissing me passionately. It's so good I don't want to let go. I want so badly to stay here with him and continue, but as I said to him, my career is the most important thing, and I need to go back to my room tonight. I need sleep if I'm going to be the best, and if I stay here, there will be no sleep. I pull back from him. "See you tomorrow."

"Night, pretty girl."

I smirk at him. I have no idea why he calls me that, but he has since the first night when we hooked up, and I secretly love it.

Chapter Fourteen

Andy

I walkthrough the front door with Luna and Darcy in total silence. We haven't said a word to each other in half an hour. I dump my bag in my room and go in search of Nala. I missed her and need some squishy puppy cuddles. I don't have to look for long; she comes bounding up the hall. I drop to my knees, and she jumps into my lap, cuddling in. Jasmine follows close behind her.

"What's with the faces? The other two walked straight past me and went into their rooms." Her eyes are wide with concern.

"Yeah, we lost our game. For some reason, Darcy is blaming me. We nearly got into it on the cab ride home, but Luna stopped us. Now Luna's pissed because she feels like she's always in the middle and just wants everyone to get along." I throw my hands up dramatically.

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