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Hannah
“Hey, babe,” Edwin whispered in her ear, “I have to go.”
She yanked on the covers, pulling them tighter around her. “Then why are you waking me up?” They might have taken a quick power nap after their first round of sex but then they’d stayed up most of the night not just having more sex but also talking, eating, and enjoying being with each other.
He laughed. “Because I wanted to kiss you one more time before I left.” His lips trailed from her ear to her lips.
She might be tired, but she’d never be too tired to kiss Edwin. Reaching her arms up, she twined them around his neck and pulled him closer.
Chuckling against her lips, he pulled back. “None of that. I really do have to go.”
She pretended to pout. “You’re no fun.”
“Now, now. There’s no need to be mean.” He kissed her again, his lips gentle and sweet against hers. “When I get back, we’ll have more fun than you know what to do with.”
She rolled onto her side and watched as he grabbed his bag from the floor. He was dressed in gym shorts and a tank, with his arms bare, his lean muscles looking sexy and strong. After they’d woken from their short nap the night before, he’d made a quick trip to his room to get all the things he’d need while he was with her.
“Get some more sleep,” he said, giving her one last lingering look before heading out the door.
She immediately fell right back to sleep and stayed that way for almost two hours. When she woke up, she took a long leisurely shower and took her time getting ready. They weren’t going anywhere, but it felt good to be clean after all the sex they’d had the night before.
Condomless sex.
Whew, that had been crazy. She’d been on the pill since high school so pregnancy wasn’t really an issue. Once in college, a guy had asked to go without condoms after they’d been dating for a couple of months but she’d said no. And it was a good thing because weeks later, he’d broken up with her and immediately started dating someone else. After that, she’d never even considered going without a condom.
Until Edwin.
She knew that he was the man she loved. She might not have come to a decision about her job or what she was going to do, but she knew the moment she’d told him she was coming to see him from his reaction, that he was part of her future.
When she’d suggested they go without a condom, it hadn’t been a whim. She knew he'd never do anything to put her in harm's way. She trusted him completely and wanted to show him that she felt the same.
After ordering room service, she sat on the bed and scrolled through her phone. A text from Zara popped up but before she could open it, one from Allana came through. And then another one from Ruby.
What was going on? She clicked on the one from Zara and gasped when she saw the picture of her and Edwin outside the cabin.
“What the fuck!” she shouted.
Before she could look at anything else in the message, her phone was ringing in her hand. It was Zara.
“What’s happening?” she asked, completely panicked.
“It’s not good,” Zara said. “Did you look at what I sent you?”
She immediately put her phone on speaker and clicked the link Zara had sent her. “I just got it.” The article was from a gossip magazine and the title read, Soccer Star Edwin Boyle Gets Personal Care From His Agent with several more pictures attached. One of her getting into his car at Zara’s house and one of her getting off the plane in Florida. “How did they get these? Who would do this?”
“I think you know who did this,” Zara said.
“You think Top Athlete did this?” She could tell from Zara’s tone that’s what she thought.
“Who else? They suspend you and then these show up in a gossip magazine. There’s no way it wasn’t them.”
“I just don’t understand. Did they have someone following me?” That thought gave her the creeps.
“It looks like it.”
Several loud knocks sounded on her door. When she checked the peephole, she saw Allana, Mae, and Ruby standing there. She pulled open the door and they all came rushing in.
“Are you okay?” Ruby was the first to speak, concern in her voice.
“Who’s that?” Zara asked over the speaker.
“I have no idea what I am,” she answered first. “It’s Allana, Mae, and Ruby,” she told Zara.
“Is that Zara?” Allana asked and took the phone from Hannah’s hand. “What the hell is going on?”
“If I knew, I’d have stopped it,” Zara said.
“Shane is pissed and wants answers.” Allana looked at Hannah. “Edwin is on his way back here. Shane pulled him out of training.”
Hannah dropped down onto the bed. “Edwin.” Her heart ached for what this would do to him. “This article looks bad for him.” She covered her face with her hands.
“Hey,” Mae sat down next to her. “You know none of what they wrote in there is true. Edwin knows it too.”
She hadn’t read the whole thing, only the title and the first few sentences. But the way they portrayed them as sneaking around this entire time made them both look horrible. She didn’t care about herself. She only cared about Edwin.
“What I want to know is how they got these pictures,” Ruby said. “I’m no expert, but isn’t something like this illegal?”
“Probably not, “ Zara said through the phone. “At least, not my house or the cabin. The airport may be a different story. The team uses a private airstrip, right?”
“Yes, we do.” An angry male voice said. They all turned to find Shane standing in the doorway. But Hannah’s vision was blurred by Edwin pushing his way into the room until he was in front of her, dropping down next to the bed.
“Hannah, look at me.” His hand cupped her face. “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.” Just hearing him say that made it all better.
“Why would they do this? Do they hate me that much?”
“If I may,” Shane spoke up. “I made a few inquiries in the last hour and found out a few interesting things. First, this was definitely Top Athlete. I called the CEO myself, and James admitted it, although he claims no-fault since it was a lower-level employee.”
“What do you mean by lower level?” Edwin asked, still clutching her hand in his.
Shane paused and took a breath. “Do you know Julliette Reilly?”
“Julliette?” Hannah asked, confused. “Yeah, she’s on my team.”
“Apparently, she was sleeping with your boss, who in turn told her about your suspension and why it happened.” Shane shook his head. “James doesn’t know why she took the pictures or sent the story to the tabloids, but they’re investigating.”
Hannah uncontrollably laughed. “I’m not surprised to hear that she and Ray are sleeping together. She was always a little too touchy-feely around him for my taste.”
“I’m filing a suit with the magazine and working on getting the story and the pictures down,” Shane said.
“Why would you do that? I’m nothing to you.” Nothing made sense at the moment.
Edwin’s face went straight and he opened his mouth to speak, but Shane beat him to it. “Edwin is on my team and you’re with Edwin. The Strikers are a family and we take care of our family.”
“Come on, everyone,” Allana said. “Let’s leave these two alone for a little bit.” She handed Hannah her phone back after saying goodbye to Zara. “Let us know what you need. We’re here.”
When the door shut behind them, Edwin pulled her up and into his arms, hugging her so tightly she thought she might break. But she hugged him back just as hard because sometimes, a hug was just what you needed.
“One damn day,” he murmured into her hair.
She separated from him enough to look at him. “What does that mean?” She studied him and saw how wound up he looked.
He sighed. “About an hour ago, I dropped TA as my agency.”
She took a step back, stunned. “What? Why?”
“Because I realized that I could do something to make this less of an issue for you. If I’m not a client of TA, then there’s no issue with us being together.” He said it as if it was so simple.
She shook her head several times. “No, you love being with TA. You’ve told me that.”
He smiled, tilting his head to the side. “I loved having you as my agent. The company didn’t matter.” He moved closer, resting his hand on her upper arms. “I only ever stayed there for you.”
She was speechless. Literally. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She shut it again and stared wide-eyed at him. Part of the reason she was having a hard time talking was because he’d said he loved her. Technically, he’d said he’d loved her as his agent, but it was pretty close to the real thing.
“I signed with Zara and Sports World. If not for this stupid article and those pictures, everything would be perfect.”
She was frozen in place at his words. He was wrong. So wrong. Everything was perfect. She laughed at him, her lips finding his and kissing him hard. His hands gripped her arms and held her against him as his mouth caught up with hers.
“Everything is perfect,” she said, pressing her forehead against his. “You’re perfect and that you did this for me, for us, is so fucking amazing.” She kissed him again.
“Don’t you know,” he said softly, his eyes filled with emotion, “I’d do anything for you.” He kissed her lightly, his lips lingering on hers. “I love you, Hannah.”
The words were said so lightly that she would have missed them if she hadn’t been paying attention. “You do?” It was a silly question if she thought about it. After everything they’d said and done together, of course, he loved her.
“So fucking much.” A smile spread over his whole face. “It’s been you for five years and it’ll always be you.”
Warmth spread through her whole body. “I love you too. I think I probably have since we met. I was just too stupid to notice.”
He brushed the hair off her face, his fingers like feathers on her cheek. “You’ll get no argument from me on that.”
She laughed, throwing back her head. One of the things she loved most about him was his humor. “Agreeing with me that I’m stupid is not a great way to start this relationship.”
He leaned down, nuzzling her neck. “Baby, this is not the start of our relationship. It started five years ago and now we're just revising the rules.”
She groaned when his tongue licked her skin. “Oh god, don’t stop.”
He chuckled against her skin. “Always so hungry for more.” But he did stop, standing up straight. “Maybe we should do some more talking before getting too caught up in stripping each other naked.”
“The naked part sounds a lot more fun than the talking.” She sighed and moved back a few steps to sit on the bed. “But you’re right.”
He joined her, sitting down beside her. “Tell me what you want to do.”
“I want to punch Julliette in the nose but that’s not going to happen.”
“Bloodthirsty,” he said and winked. “I like it.”
“I’m just so mad that they did this to you. I don’t care about myself. Truth be told, I was this close,” she held her thumb and index finger together until they were almost touching, “to deciding to leave. Now they decided for me by hurting the person I love.”
“You were going to leave?” He seemed a little shocked.
“Of course I was. Do you think you’re the only one who can make the grand gesture?” She sighed. “It was less about leaving TA and more about disappointing my dad. But we talked and I realized that he doesn’t care what company I work for as long as I’m happy.” She entwined her fingers with his hand that was on her leg. “They want to meet you, by the way.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You told your parents about me?”
“Somebody—I’m sure we now know who—sent my dad the picture of us kissing in the lobby.”
He cringed. “Oh god, I can’t meet your parents after they’ve seen that.”
“They’re going to love you because I do.” She turned her whole body to face him, tucking her feet under her butt. “I still can’t believe you left TA for me.”
He caressed her cheek in his palm. “I was so focused on you making a decision that would work for us that I totally lost sight of the fact that I had the power to do something. That if I loved you how I knew I loved you, I’d be willing to do anything to have you in my life.” He shook his head. “I think I was so caught up in the fact that my mom didn’t fight for my dad or me and chose to leave when she could have chosen to stay. I wanted you to choose me, but that was selfish.”
“Not selfish.” She leaned into his palm, loving how it felt against her skin. “She hurt you and you didn’t want to feel that pain again. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren’t important.”
“That’s just the thing, you didn’t. You were honest, which is more than I can say about my mom. You told me from the beginning what you could and couldn't handle.”
She laughed. “That was all to protect my own heart. I was already in love with you and I thought you wanted a quick fling.” It felt good to tell him all the things she’d been holding inside.
He smiled, that gorgeous, sexy smile she loved so much. “And I was trying to ease you into having me in your life without pushing you away.”
She raised her eyebrows, trying not to laugh. “I wasn’t going anywhere.”
“Neither was I.”
They just sat there on the bed for long minutes, staring at each other, smiling like lunatics.
“So what now?” he finally said.
She tilted her head. “I have to officially quit my job at TA, beg Zara for a job, find a place to live in Valley Falls, and pack up my life and move there. But all of that can come after.”
“I have a suggestion for one of those things but tell me,” he raised a curious eyebrow, “what does it come after?”
She climbed onto his lap, straddling his waist and wrapping her arms around his neck. “After we make love until we pass out.”
He pulled her tighter against his body. “I think I can handle that.”
His lips came crashing down on hers in a kiss that was filled with all the love both of them had to give. She might not have known that she loved Edwin the day she met him but she knew she’d love him every day for the rest of her life.
Something she was very much looking forward to.