Page 75 of Forever Offsides

“What are you doing tonight?”

I arch a brow, and he laughs, throwing a hand up. His left hand with a wedding band on it. “Sorry. That came out wrong. We usually grab a drink or dinner with the opposing team’s medical staff after the teams’ walk-through, since most of you don’t have much to do tonight, and the players have a curfew. Beats staying in at the hotel.”

“Oh. Sure. That sounds fun.”

“Great. We’ll catch you after.” He waves and jogs back into the building. The team isn’t doing much right now other than walking the field, stretching a bit, and running very basic drills. They have a team meeting in an hour, dinner, and then curfew, so yeah, pretty boring night.

Just as I get back to the hotel to change to go out, Russel sends me a text and I sigh. I didn’t see much of Rhett on the plane ride over earlier this afternoon and I did my best to ignore his commanding presence and the occasional feel of his eyes on me today on the field. But it’s like crawling through quicksand. Any progress I make is futile and I’m still sinking no matter how hard I struggle.

Russel: Want to grab dinner with me?

Me: I’m having dinner with the medical staff.

Russel: What about after dinner? You could come to my room.

Me: No thanks.

Russel: Soon enough, babe. Soon enough, I’ll have you back where you belong.

I don’t bother replying. There’s no point. Instead, I spend a few hours out having drinks and delicious food at a local steakhouse. We talk about patients and medicine and not sports, and it’s fun. I also get friendlier with the training staff and other doctors who work for the Rebels.

By the time I get back, it’s almost ten, and I believe curfew starts about now.

I text Crew and Mason to let them know I’m back since they went out for an early dinner with a few other players, and head up to my room.

I lean against the elevator wall only to spring back up when it beeps and the doors open. With a yawn, I saunter off and head right toward my room, but before I can reach it, I come to a screeching halt. What the fuck?

Russel is in front of my door, but he’s not alone. He has a blonde whose face I can’t see pressed against it with his hands on her tits as he pushes up her ample cleavage to feed his mouth. I stagger back a step, then another, frantically searching around because why would he do that? Why would he bring a woman to my door?

It takes me a second before I realize I got off on the wrong floor. This is six and not seven, and Jesus fuck, his room is right beneath mine, which means I’ll likely hear him fucking this girl. So much for curfew. So much for his serious play for me.

The funny thing is, I’m not even hurt or mad. Just annoyed, mainly with myself, and totally disgusted with him. I feel as though I should have known, but I’m not sure how, when he never cheated on me before. At least not that I know of, though he’s not exactly cheating on me now, is he? He can fuck whomever he wants, and I’m glad I saw this. I’m glad I know the truth before I got stupid and caved.

Ugh.

She moans the way porn stars do—all breathy and exaggerated—and slinks her arm between to grab his dick.

“Fuck yeah,” he growls, and bile climbs up the back of my throat. Gross.

What did I ever see in this asshole?

All I know is I don’t want to be in my room until he’s done fucking her, and if she’s already this loud, Lord knows what I’d have to endure.

Not knowing what else to do, I get back on the elevator, grateful neither saw me in the hall, and instead of going one floor up to my room, I go back downstairs. There’s a bar off the lobby, and that’s where I head, wishing I had a book or something to kill the time. I’m tired, and I want to go to bed, but the hotel is sold out, and I can’t exactly crash with my brothers.

Great. This could be a long night.

I take a seat at the mostly empty bar. There are a few people lingering about that I don’t recognize, likely guests of the hotel and not part of the team. I’m surprised it’s not more crowded for a Saturday night.

“Good evening,” the bartender greets me. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a glass of pinot noir, please.”

“Sure. Coming up. Anything to eat?”

I shake my head. I’m still full from the big dinner I had.

The glass is placed in front of me, and I take a sip when I hear my name being called. I spin on my chair to find Rhett there, a worried look on his face.