Chapter 3 #3
“You broke his nose.” I pointed out with a wry look.
“He had it coming.”
“Did you not feel guilty afterwards?” I rasped.
“Not even in the fucking slightest.”
Our conversation was suddenly like a verbal tennis match.
“Hey, I did the dude a service. Pretty boys don’t get the girls, and he’s certainly not that anymore with the new beak I gave him.”
Moving my hands from the keys, I leaned back in my seat. “I must say, I thought out of all the Sawyer brothers, you were the calmest. Hudson was always the most irrational.”
He sniffed, watching me with a cold expression. “Things change.”
I broke that connection by taking the mouse and clicking save on his file. “Indeed. So, in a nutshell, you’re suddenly having difficulty controlling your temper?”
“Only on the field. Anywhere else, I’m a pussy cat. Like now, for instance. Under the circumstances, I’m quite calm.” His mouth started to do that tight-lipped thing, like he was mentally listing all the bad things I had done to him when we were together.
I lowered the laptop screen with a curious eye. “The circumstances?”
Reed shuffled in his seat and then rolled his shoulders.
“Stop repeating me, it’s as annoying as fuck.
Yes, the circumstances, after what you did to me.
Surely right now, after all these years, you’d think I’d want payback.
Maybe the chance to wring your pretty little neck?
” By the end of his sentence, he sat taller in his seat again.
I found his words intriguing, my professional head pushing to the front. “And you don’t want that?”
He took a minute to answer, weighing up the situation. I knew he could tell I was taking our discussion seriously and like a professional. From the glint in his eyes, I could read that he was about to strip it back to basics again.
“No. Not entirely. I do want something, though.” I should have backed down, but I needed to know more about the look he was giving me. It was determination and something else, hunger? I yearned for that expression to continue, as it suddenly felt so much better than the emptiness.
My voice dropped an octave as I swallowed. “What do you want?”
That glint in his eye made my skin prickle. “Maybe I want another taste, Storm?” It was impossible to ignore the possessive stamp of those words.
My pulse kicked into overdrive as I raised my laptop screen again. “Surely your latest girlfriend wouldn’t like that?” I questioned, glancing away. I then alternated my focus between him and my keyboard. Eye contact with Reed was giving me butterflies.
“I don’t have a girlfriend. Girlfriends are like fishing: a time-consuming and boring hobby,” he announced.
Cutting him a look, my eyes dropped to his lips. They were so sinful, I wanted to bite them, maybe make him bleed. Thoughts of Reed with other women were killing me inside. “But I’ve seen you in the tabloids with plenty of women.”
Reed’s eyes creased as he grinned. “You been checking up on me?”
I gave him a sharp look. “No. You’re the golden boy of the NFL. You can’t scroll through social media without seeing your face.”
“They’re not my girlfriends. They’re just women I screw. Why are you so interested?”
“Reed,” I warned.
“Storm,” he parroted, his face full of sinful intentions.
“You need to stop.” This boy was my poison.
“Why? Teasing you is still so much fun,” he chuckled. I felt that laugh in my sex.
I raised my perfectly tweezed brows. “If you can’t take direction from me, I can’t help you.”
Another stare off ensued, and I felt frazzled. “Look, maybe you should go? Come back another time.”
“I don’t think so, we’re not done.” His tone became firm. It was a blatant reminder of his assertive side. Reed Prescott could be a bossy fucker when he wanted to be.
“What if I want you to go?”
He shook his head. “I would say you’re lying, and I could easily prove that to you.”
Clamping my thighs together, my throat became dry. “You’re delusional,” I husked.
Reed tilted his head to the side and watched me with a knowing expression. “No, I’m a realist. We both know what will happen if I touch you, Teacup.” I could feel that dark energy of his reaching across the table.
Slamming the laptop closed, I barked. “Stop, Reed, I mean it.”
He held up his hands. “Yes, ma’am. Don’t get your panties in a twist. Look, I apologize, OK.”
“Thank you.”
“See, I can take direction.”
My legs were shaking beneath the desk as I stated. “I won’t accept you as a client if you’re going to act… inappropriately.”
“It depends on what you define as inappropriate: am I at least allowed to ask what you’re wearing under that shirt?” Reed was the master of the wind-up, and I knew he was joking to lighten the mood.
“I would certainly define that as inappropriate, and I know you’re just doing it to get a rise out of me.”
“Is it working?” he asked with a squint.
“No. The days of falling for the Prescott charm are over, as is this meeting. I have some papers for you to read. Some of them will need your signature.” I tugged the manila folder on the corner of the desk towards me and leafed through it.
Reed glanced down at the table. “Do I need to run them by my lawyer?”
“No. They’re standard documents that will permit me to access your medical history. If I’m going to be your counselor, I will need to know more about your background.”
Reed washed an uneasy hand down his face. “Oh, you don’t want to know about that. It’s rather grim.”
“I can’t imagine it’s worse than some of the stuff I’ve read.”
“You’d be surprised, Doc.”
“Well, I’ll need to see it anyway. It will help me be more effective in suggesting suitable treatments. You do realize that I am to produce a report each week on your progress to your coach.”
Reed’s neck became corded, and I could see he was annoyed, though he tried to hide it. “So, you’re going to spy on me?
“No, I will assess you and share my professional opinion.” The logical side of my brain started to work again, thank fuck, but Reed wasn’t having it.
“Something recent must have happened for your behaviour to change so radically. If you don’t know what that is, I’m here to help you find out.
You used to be guarded about parts of your past. Without realizing it, maybe you have experienced a trigger recently; something which has unleashed this angry part of yourself? ”
I took note that he looked shocked as he took a deep swallow, but he hid his reaction to my words quickly. “You really are Miss Serious now. So professional.”
“Where my career is concerned, yes, I am.”
“When’s the last time you smiled?” he asked, his gaze digging into the side of my face.
“I smile all the time, thank you,” I replied, smoothing down my skirt over my knees, feeling agitated.
“Does that dipshit even make you laugh?”
“I assume you’re talking about Jasper,” I said tartly.
His expression darkened, and he clenched his jaw before replying.
“Yeah, pencil-dick, but don’t ever say his name to me again.
” I knew I needed to tread carefully. Most of the time, Reed was calm and collected, but for some reason, he was now quick to temper.
And don’t get me wrong. He did get mad in the old days, but it took a lot to get him to that stage.
I remembered that day he’d unleashed hell when I’d pushed Molly in the pool at school.
I hadn’t known she couldn’t swim at the time, and she could have drowned.
That slight tremor of anger I saw made my underwear heat up. “Fine, and yes, of course, he makes me laugh.”
“Whatever. I bet he’s the type of douche that thinks golfing fails on TikTok are peak humor.”
“There’s nothing wrong with our relationship, Reed. That may be hard for you to hear, but it’s the truth.”
“You’re lying.” Reed’s eyes were hooded as he watched me, taking in the flush of my cheeks.
His next words made my panties damp. “I bet he’s never made you come as hard as I did.”
That comment made me confused and flustered, and Reed must have read that look as he accurately started to say, “Or, are you two not yet…” His foot was back on the floor, and he was on the edge of his seat, motioning with his hand. “… surely, in four years you’ve…”
“Reed,” I said, my voice rough. My face was on fire.
“So, you haven’t fucked him? That’s probably for the best. I bet he’s the type of pussy that weeps in the bathroom after sex.”
“You’re wrong, he’s not like that at all.”
“Tell me if you’ve slept together, Storm,” Reed demanded in his bossy voice.
“I can’t see why that’s any of your business,” I shot out, feeling like a broken record.
His eyes narrowed. “So, that’s a no. What’s wrong, don’t you enjoy it when he tells you what to do?”
“He doesn’t get to tell me what to do. It’s a partnership.”
“Really? How bland. I remember one time you did everything I told you to.” His words conjured up images of Reed giving me orders.
My parents were at work one day, and we’d skipped school. Reed had taken his cock out of his school pants and fisted his length, ordering me to my knees.
“I want you to take me in your mouth, Storm. And then you’re going to swallow everything I give you.
” My lips parted, and my nipples pebbled against my bra as I remembered how I’d obeyed him, dropping to the floor before taking his huge dick between my lips.
He’d held me tightly by my ponytail while he’d fucked my mouth, and I’d loved it.
We were wild together that second semester of our senior year in high school.
“I can see that you remember,” Reed suddenly announced with a desirous look. “Do you still have my letterman jacket. I remember how you’d wear it without anything else on underneath and how you’d drive me wild.”
The way my body came to life, I knew there and then that my addiction to this boy was never really cured. If anything, the distance had only made me want him more.
“Do you still touch yourself when you think of me?” Tension zapped in the air between us like static electricity.
“I said enough, Reed!” I shouted, pushing the paperwork across the desk towards him with shaking fingers. “Take the papers, read through them, and I’ll be in touch.”
“You’re still a little coward. Things were starting to get interesting.”
“No, Reed. They weren’t.”
“If you say so. OK. So, I will ask you one more question?” he asserted, pushing to his feet and staring down at me.
“What?” I made no move to stand. Usually, I would walk my clients to the door.
His voice dropped to a low hum. “Did you miss me?”
Fuck! How could I lie? You must! You must!
I wondered what Reed would say if I told him that Jasper had threatened him, and that’s the only reason I had let him go. He’d probably be offended, learning that I had ended things with us to protect him. Boys from Newport were macho like that.
Clearing my throat, I replied. “No. I’ve been too busy focusing on my career.” As we shared a look, I tacked on without even thinking. “Did you miss me?”
There was a brief pause before he said. “Every second of every day.” His tone suggested he was dead serious. Pain shot through my chest as he grabbed the papers.
Reed Prescott was back, and he was still the trip wire that would make my heart detonate all over again. I should have hated him for making me so weak, but I couldn’t.
“Here,” he began, withdrawing his wallet from his jeans pocket. I watched as Reed flipped it open and pulled out a card. I chose to pretend I didn’t see the condoms in there.
I took it from him and glanced down. “My private number’s on there.”
Lowering the card, my mouth dropped open as a torrent of emotions crashed through me. “Reed…” I stammered, but he turned his back and went to the exit. His shoulders were stiff as he walked away.
“I’ll be seeing you, Doc,” he shot over his shoulder, repocketing his wallet.
I wanted to run after him, force him to face me, and scream at him.
His cavalier reply to confirm he had missed me wasn’t enough.
I wanted Reed to show me how much he’d missed me.
Maybe even for him to get mad and lose his temper.
But no, as usual, he was calm and collected with only a hint of the beast I now knew still lurked beneath that surface.
And why the hell did I want any of those things from him?
Because you are still an obsessed fool.
Reed was part of my past, and no matter how painful, I had to come to terms with that fact. Yes, he had made it in the NFL, but I did not doubt that Jasper still had the power to bring him to his knees.
And I couldn’t let that happen, especially as Reed’s career had been muddied recently due to his behavior on the field. But why? What the fuck had happened to make him so angry?
The NFL did not tolerate difficult players for long.
And that’s where I came in. I would help Reed and ensure he kept his position at the top; God knew he’d fought hard enough to get there. I wouldn’t let him blow it due to pent-up aggression brought on by who knew what.
After the way I had treated him in the past, I owed him that much and more.