Digging around until I find it, I look at the screen and see fifteen missed calls from Holden. I can’t deal with him. I don’t want to deal with him. He played me, made a fool of me. So, instead of talking to him like a mature, responsible adult, I do the only other thing I can think of at that moment and turn my phone off.
“Tell me what you need. What do you want to do?”
“Can you just take me back to the hotel?” I ask her.
“Sure thing.” She puts the car in drive.
I cry silent tears all the way there, and thankfully, I’m able to sneak in the back entrance of the hotel. The last thing I need is my red blotchy tear-streaked face to be splashed all over social media. It’s bad enough once the breakup is out. That’s going to happen anyway.
I have no one to blame but myself. I knew better. I knew he was too good to be true. I opened my heart to him and gave him all of me. He was my everything, and to him, I was just a bet.
I was wrong. I’m not the one to blame. Holden is.
CHAPTER 27
Peyton
My best friend Karina and I are sitting out by the pool, just soaking up the glorious Florida sunshine, when my cell phone rings. Assuming it’s my dad, and knowing that if I don’t answer, he’ll send in the National Guard, I don’t bother to look at the screen when I answer.
“Hello?”
“Peyton,” a panicked voice asks.
I pull the phone away from my ear to make sure I’m not hearing things, and sure enough, it’s Holden, and worry sets in. “What’s wrong? Where’s Parker?”
“Where are you staying?” he asks instead of answering me.
“Holden!” I shout. “What in the hell happened? Where is Parker?”
“I didn’t do it, Peyton. I love her. Fuck me. I love that girl more than anything. I would never bet on her.”
“What are you talking about?” I sit up straighter in my lounge chair. Karina does the same, sensing something is off. “Start at the beginning.” He launches into the story and ends with a break in his voice.
“Peyton, I love her. Please, you have to help me.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“My friends, they were there. The guy who recorded us was sitting behind us. He didn’t hear the entire conversation. That clip he played, that was after I told them I wouldn’t take that bet. I told them she deserved better than that. Fuck, Peyton, I didn’t know it then, but I was already half in love with her. I would never do that to her. Please, you have to help me. I can’t lose her.”
I bite down on my bottom lip, and I consider my options. I know Parker was concerned about his reputation from the very beginning, and I know my sister. Hearing that clip crushed her. I also know that when she’s not paying attention, he looks at her as if she’s his entire world.
If I hadn’t grown up watching my dad look at my mom that way, I might not have noticed. Nah, that’s not true either. I recognized it when Cameron looked at Paisley, and I was just a kid then. I know he loves her.
“Don’t make me regret this,” I tell him.
“We’ll name our firstborn after you,” he offers.
I throw my head back in laughter. “Let’s start with her forgiving you before you talk about knocking her up,” I advise.
“I’ll win her back, Peyton. There is no other option. She owns every piece of me.”
“I’ll text you the hotel and the room number.”
“Thanks, little sister. I won’t forget this,” he says, ending the call.
“What’s going on?” Karina asks.
“That was Holden. He was looking for Parker. I guess they had a spat.” I love my best friend and roommate, but this is personal, and growing up, you never know who’s listening or watching. Case in point is the mess Holden is currently in. “I’ll tell you in the room.” Better safe than sorry.
Grabbing our things, we head to the room so I can fill her in and I can check on my sister.
CHAPTER 28
Holden
I knock softly on the door, which goes against my every instinct. I want to pound it off the fucking hinges. Whatever it takes to get to her. I have to talk to her, and if she thinks it’s me at the door, I know I’ll be standing out here in this hallway all night long. The fucked-up part is that I would do it.
For her.
The door opens, and there she stands. Her hair is piled in a knot on top of her head. Her face is red and blotchy, and there are fresh tears in her eyes. “Baby.” My voice cracks. I reach for her, but she backs away. “P-Please, can I come in?”
Autumn appears next to her. “I’m going to go take a walk. You two should talk.” Autumn gives me a warning glare, but something tells me that she might be on my side.
“Thank you,” I tell her. She nods and pats my shoulder, and that gives me hope.
Parker steps back and allows me to walk into the room, closing the door behind me. “P-Parker.” I swallow hard. “Please, can I explain?”
She gives me a small nod.
“Never. You were never a bet to me. The guys tried to make it a bet when they knew I wanted you. I told them that you deserved better than that, and you do.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“I know.” I pace across her room, pulling my hat off my head and running my fingers through my hair. “The guy behind us, Rogers, he was eavesdropping, and he only recorded a part of the conversation. He wasn’t even in on it. I had no idea he even recorded it until today.”
“You played me, Holden. I gave you all of me, and in return, you played me.” Her voice cracks, and so does my heart.
So many emotions are rolling through me. I’m frustrated because I want to just shake her to make her understand that she’s the love of my life. I didn’t bet on her, but I should have bet on us.
I’m pissed off at Rogers for recording our conversation, one that he wasn’t a part of. If I lose her over this, teammate or not, I’m kicking his ass. Career be damned.
I’m so in love with her. She’s all that I can see. Nothing matters to me but making her see what she means to me. I’d walk away from it all if it meant she would always be mine.
“You played me,” she says again, dropping down to sit on the bed. Tears are still coating her cheeks, and it cracks my soul wide open. “I heard what you said.”
“Dammit, Parker. Yes, that was me on that recording. I said those things, but you have to know that this is different. What we have is beyond the play. It might have started with the play and the thrill of the chase, but baby, I’m not playing. Not with you.”
She closes her eyes as her tears continue to fall, and I feel her slipping away from me. Short of calling the guys, I don’t know what I can do or say to make her understand, so that’s what I do. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dial Wade.
“Hey, man, it’s Holden. I’m going to text you a room number. I need you, Tucker, and Sonny to come here. And if you can track down the pencil dick Rogers, he needs to be here too.”
“Done,” he says, ending the call, and I shoot him off a quick text.