AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Casey shook her head. “The universe had other plans.” She held up her bandaged index finger. “I cut my finger while trying to make myself dinner and it hurts to type. The restaurant was overstaffed so Jason took the night off so he could take me out instead.”
“That’s great. I hope you two have a great night—”
“Do you want to join us?” Dee offered unexpectedly. Jason and Casey immediately agreed. I forced down a wave of displeasure. I loved my friend. I loved his fiancée. They were family, but the last thing I wanted was them joining us. I wanted more time alone with Dee. I wanted to get to know the woman sitting across from me better. Just us, one on one. And now I doubted that would happen seeing that our friends were joining us. Before I had a chance to object, the manager brought over two more chairs and the deal was done. Jason and Casey were staying. Seeing no other choice but to enjoy myself, I let it go.
The four of us made small talk while Jason and Casey placed their orders. Our friends decided to forgo an appetizer and went straight for entrees. Once our server left, we split a bottle of Barolo wine the manager sent over with his compliments.
“What were you two talking about when we walked up?” Casey asked as she stole a small sip of Jason’s wine before turning back to her sparkling water. “You both looked so serious.”
“I was telling Dee about Amie.” I glanced at my best friend and his soon-to-be wife before looking back at Dee. In the short bit since our friends had joined us, that faraway, wounded look in her eye had only gotten stronger. I had a feeling it was from her idiot ex-boyfriend. The dick.
What kind of man wouldeverchoose someone else over Dee? The guy was either completely stupid or a clueless dickbag. I’d been shocked when I first heard the rumors at work. Even Marcy had tried to get me to comment, but I told her I didn’t meddle in peoples’ personal lives and it wouldn’t hurt for her to do the same. I tried from that point to not listen whenever someone mentioned it, but I couldn’t. All it did was pique my curiosity and piss me off. I won’t lie that I was thrilled he’d cut her loose. That meant she was free, but I didn’t like hearing how depressed she'd been. It nearly killed me to learn that she’d been so consumed with grief that she let everything in her life slip away. It also left me in a weird position. One where I was thankful to this asshole for what he did, but hated him for what he’d put her through.
“Amie’s so adorable,” Casey beamed. I realized I’d missed a good chunk of conversation but pretended to follow along like I hadn’t zoned out for a minute. “I hope you get to meet her. She’s just a doll. She’s got the cutest curls and the longest lashes. Oh, and she’s got the sweetest disposition. Amie’s an absolute angel with a little bit of sass.” Casey got a faraway look in her eye as she gazed at her husband-to-be. “I can only hope that one day if we have a baby, he or she will be just as adorable.”
“There’s no way they won’t,” Jason said softly as he looked at his wife with such tenderness it was almost palpable. Tenderness that I wanted from the woman sitting across from me. “After all, you’d be their mother. There’s no way he or she won’t be beautiful.” My best friend followed up his sweet words with a gentle kiss to the back of his wife’s hand. Witnessing their affection left me pining to have that with the woman sitting across from me.
Once upon a time, I thought I had it all. A prestigious career, a beautiful baby girl, a loving, supportive family, and a woman who I thought loved me more than anything in this world. How did I not see the lie hidden beneath it all? How was I to know that the woman I married was not the one I thought I knew. Instead of a devoted partner, I was with someone who valued the limelight, the fame, and the money that came with me being a part of the NFL more than she did me or our daughter. I’d learned too late that Tami had never loved me.
After my divorce, I’d given up all hope of ever finding love again. During the divorce proceedings, I’d realized that mydarlingwife was truly a monster. A monster who had neglected our daughter by dumping her at some cut-rate day care so she could spend her day shopping. All paid for on my tab.
All the ugly details came to light after my lawyer had hired a private investigator. The man quickly learned of my daughter’s neglect, but had also discovered that Tami had been cheating on me all throughout our entire marriage. Multiple times with multiple men. The investigator brought to light that all the vacations she went on were getaways with her party friends where she spent her time getting sloshed at bars and hooking up with a series of randos. The so-called sweet college girl I gave my heart to turned out to be a self-absorbed serial cheater with an unfettered lust for money and fame.
Disgusted and bearing a few more cracks in my already broken heart, the first thing I did after finding out about the truth was to get tested. Knowing my wife was giving it up to every Tom, Dick, Shane, Mark, and Harry left my skin crawling with the thought of having contracted a venereal disease. Fortunately, I tested clean and had during each subsequent physical. I was brimming with hatred at that point. The end of my marriage left me bitter, angry, and feeling betrayed in the worst way. The biggest slap in the face came shortly after I signed my name on that decree. Tami moved in with a former teammate I’d considered to be my friend. They lasted two weeks before he dumped her for an Austrian cover model. The cover model dumped him a week later for a billionaire tech genius. It was karma doing me a solid.
Meanwhile, I started my life over, doing my best to shield Amie from all the negativity. I’d gone to law school while playing in the NFL (Hard, I know, but I wanted something to fall back on) and after my career was over, I’d studied my ass off and passed the bar on the first try.
After retiring, I took some time off. Amie and I traveled, along with my parents. We explored the mainland states in an RV, visiting places like the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. I made it a point to take her to Disneyland in California, which prompted her desire to visit Walt Disney World in Florida. I purchased our penthouse before we left and at the end of those few weeks on the road, we returned home, Amie went back to school, and I started applying for every job I could find. I needed income, afterall. I didn’t want to rely on my considerable savings. That money was for Amie when she was older. College, a gap-year—there would be money for her to do whatever she wanted to do.
Finding a job wasn't as easy as I had thought. Months of endless applications ultimately proved to be fruitful after I’d had dinner with Jason and Casey and learned that Jason’s fiancée was Russell Harrison’s daughter. Russell Harrison, as in the owner of the prestigious Harrison Group. Who also just happened to be hiring. With my friends’ encouragement, I took a chance and struck gold. For a kid who’d struggled a lot in many ways, I’d been afraid my vein of good luck had run dry. Fortunately for me, it hadn’t. Especially when I met Dee.
Jesus, the first time I saw her, I stopped dead in my tracks. I’d just exited the elevator, on my way to meet with Russell officially as a newly-minted employee. Dee had been standing outside his office talking with him as I’d approached. My goddess stood in sensible kitten heels, wearing a cream chiffon blouse and a tight pencil skirt that made her ass look like a juicy apple I wanted to sink my teeth into. When Russell saw me, he’d briefly introduced us. Although slightly cold, Dee had been professional and welcomed me aboard before walking away. I stood there staring after her like a lovestruck fool. With a hearty chuckle, Russell clapped me on the shoulder before inviting me in for our onboarding interview.
I’d spent the next hour obsessing over the extraordinary woman I’d just met instead of focusing on the man who hired me. When he announced that he had a lunch date with his daughter and welcomed me aboard, I knew I was well and truly fucked. In the span of sixty minutes, I’d gone from completely swearing off women to a man who wanted be Dee’s everything.
That was how I found myself here, studying her in the low, romantic light, dreaming of things that might never be. Not if she didn’t get over whatever it was she had against me. I’d hoped that having dinner would help thaw the ice she’d packed around her heart, but so far, it hadn’t. While slightly less combative, her walls were still firmly in place, effectively shutting me out. And as much as I liked being around my best friend, I was aching to be alone with Dee. To prove that I was nothing like that dickhead who’d broken her heart. That I was the guy who’d protect it, even if it came at the cost of my own.
“You know, I feel like we interrupted something,” Casey said knowingly as she stole a bite from Jason’s Shrimp Fra Diavolo.
“No, you didn't interrupt anything.” Dee laughed awkwardly. “This was a work dinner, that's all. It wasn't anything like that. Travis and I were discussing a few things from work and he was telling me about Amie.”
Oh yes, they fucking did! I wanted to scream, but held my tongue. This wasn’t nothing! It was supposed to be the first step!
“Okay then,” Casey added, but from her tone, she didn’t truly believe what Dee had said.
The rest of our evening passed with fantastic food, excellent wine, and conversation that flowed freely. By the time we were done, I’d been able to put my feelings aside and focus on spending time with my best friend, his fiancée, and her best friend, the current woman of my dreams. The four of us separated at the door. Dee and I shared an Uber that dropped me off first, before taking her onward to her place. From the moment I left the rideshare, I’d started mentally beating myself up. What kind of man didn’t see a woman home? I felt like the world’s biggest jerk by not seeing her safely to her door, and I should have been the one to pay. But being who she was, Dee demanded she handle it all and I’d quickly learned that battling Dee was often an act in futility. So, I relented and was now making myself suffer for it. I mean, how could I refuse? Dee was so independent. I was more than happy to stand back and watch as she left a blazing trail behind her. I went to bed that night with Dee on my mind. My body was tight and I was anxious, filled with the fear that I’d never get her to look at me the way I so wanted her to.
“You just have to keep doing what you’re doing and wait and see where it goes,” I said to myself before I rolled over and closed my eyes only to dream of Dee naked and writhing under me. Let’s just say, it was a long,hardnight. One of many that were to come.
seven
Dee
Amonthhadpassedsince Travis and I began working on the breach of contract suit with Mad Media. To my surprise, everything had gone smoothly up to this point. Our work environment was relaxed, professional, and no issues had popped up. Yet, I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before one did. Choosing not to focus on that, I remained focused on my work.
In my previous experience, cases like this could take months, if not years to settle. So far, Mad Media’s lawyers had been cooperative and we were on the verge of settling out of court. They knew we had them by the balls and had accepted it was better to work with us rather than fight us.
The team and I had stayed late tonight to iron out the final details so we could send them over to Mad Media’s legal team in the morning. Both Leah and Glen had been assets to Travis and I. They’d done everything we’d asked, followed our leads, and weren’t afraid to learn from their mistakes. Yet despite how great things were going, one thing was really pissing me off. And it had everything to do with Leah and her not-so-subtle pursuit of Travis.
