Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
RHETT
"Hey, are you going to be okay, man?" JP clapped me on the back hard enough to almost make me spill my beer.
I adjusted my collar for what felt like the hundredth time. "I hope so."
"You look tense, so you might want to loosen up a bit."
I glanced around. Beau's mansion was filled with the sound of my teammates chatting and laughing. Everyone was stoked for a break and looking forward to leaving the pressure behind for a few months. I, however, was too nervous to enjoy myself.
"What the hell am I supposed to say to her when I see her?" I whispered, hoping no one was in earshot.
After I talked to my agent, I called JP to get his advice. He was the only friend I trusted to keep his mouth shut.
“Probably should have thought about that before you married her.”
My eyes widened when Morris started heading our way. "Can you keep it down a bit?" I asked, feeling really on edge. I had no clue how I was going to keep up the act and engage in conversation when I was this distracted .
"Why does this feel like a total sausage fest?" Morris asked, with a broad grin on his face. He took a gulp of his beer, looking relaxed as always.
“Because all the guys left their wives and girlfriends at home,” I answered, taking a gulp of my own, hoping it would calm my nerves.
“Which is why I’m headed out soon. I have an early morning meeting with my financial advisor. You know, to talk about what I’m going to do with all my millions now that I’m retired.” JP glanced at me with a smirk.
He was so full of shit.
I pointed my beer at him and called him out. “Stop acting like you’re not itching to get out of here so you can go home to Rylee.”
He smiled, not even denying it. “What can I say? When things are good, they’re good.”
Morris clapped me on the shoulder. “Are you going out later, Rhett? Or did you do enough damage last week?”
He was referring to my shenanigans at the team’s after-party the night of the Super Bowl. I suffered a bit of backlash after images of my drunken behavior surfaced online. I could only imagine the heat I would get if the media found out about my impromptu nuptials.
“I think I’m going to stay in tonight,” I said, scanning the room for a particular blonde.
Morris nudged JP playfully. “Do you think the party boy is slowing down?”
They were just teasing me in good fun, but I was too wound up tonight to participate. I rolled my eyes and found my mind drifting away from my friends.
I looked toward the front of the room and spotted her as she descended the staircase. My eyes tracked her every movement. I licked my lips and swallowed hard, hoping I wasn’t being too obvious .
Man, I thought I remembered how gorgeous she was. After looking at her now, I couldn’t seem to pull my eyes away from her. A warm feeling spread across my chest, but I quickly shoved it away. I shouldn’t be thinking those thoughts while standing two feet away from her uncle. Not unless I planned on digging a grave for myself in his backyard.
“Boys.” Big B stepped in front of us. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to handle this, so I stuffed my hands in my pockets without saying a word. Staying quiet was the only way to ensure that I didn’t do or say something stupid.
“Have you guys met my niece, Natalie? She’s going to be working in the PR department, so you better treat her well, but not too well.” He pointed his finger at us in warning, or maybe it was just me.
“Hello, Rhett. It’s good to see you again.” She held her hand out for me to shake like we were casual acquaintances instead of two people who spent the night together and woke up married.
A handshake? Really? I wanted to laugh, but nothing about this was funny.
“Uh, yeah, you too.” I sounded like a damn idiot and was making things ten times more awkward. “How is your first week of work going?” I stepped back and tried to put some distance between us. I didn’t have the first clue about what I was doing, but knowing my track record, I would probably fuck it all up somehow.
“It’s just orientation and getting caught up to speed, but so far, it’s been great.”
Beau kept his attention on me, and I swear to God, I felt a bead of sweat start to form on my upper lip. “So, have you two met? I hope Rhett was a perfect gentleman.”
Kill me now. If he knew half of the things I did to his niece when we were in the hotel room, he’d probably pluck my eyeballs out with a pair of tweezers. The same ones he kept in the top drawer of his desk. The pair he used to pull out his nose hair when he thought people weren’t looking.
“Of course.” She kept her face completely composed. I, on the other hand, felt like I was shitting bricks.
I thought I could handle seeing her. Living in the same city seemed like fun. Yet, here I was, stumbling over words and trying not to stare at her chest. I could barely breathe around the woman.
Beau threw an arm around her shoulder. “Rhett had a little too much fun at the after-parties last week. He’s a wild one, but I’m sure you can come up with a few creative ideas on how to keep him on his best behavior.”
This was bad. So damn bad. I could feel my heart beating like a set of bongos at a Bob Marley concert. Unfortunately, when I got nervous, I had a bad habit of rambling like an idiot.
“Don’t worry, Big B. It was just a little celebration fun. I was just practicing my touchdown dance when I fell into the fountain. Gotta keep those skills sharp, right?”
I could feel the glares from my teammates drilling holes in the side of my head. I was just trying to make light of the situation, not sound like a moron.
Thankfully, Beau laughed, although he was probably tempted to call the team doctor and have me tested for a concussion. “That’s a good one. You guys keep me young. If you will excuse me, I need to do some socializing.” He patted Natalie’s arms and gave us a nod before making his way across the room.
Natalie finally looked up at me. “Can I talk to you for a second, please? Outside.”
My buddies gave each other a quick look, but luckily, nobody spoke.
Natalie didn't wait for my response. Without looking back, she strutted toward the terrace, the click-clack of her strappy heels resonating through the air with each step. I trailed behind her, admiring her long silver dress. It hugged her curves in all the right places. Curves I had my hands on last weekend, and skin I’d love to touch again. When I noticed her right shoulder and arm were bare, I wanted to slip my coat over her entire body and cover it up to avoid letting my teammates get a look at her.
When she whipped around to face me, it was clear she didn’t bring me here for a quick romp on Beau’s patio.
“Have you talked to your attorney yet?”
I raked a hand through my hair. “Yes. He’s working on it.”
She looked over her shoulder and then back to me, like she was terrified that someone might overhear us. “Have you told anyone that we…”
I shoved my hands in my pocket instead of reaching out and pulling her into me like I wanted to. “The only people who know are my agent, attorney, and my friend, JP.”
She didn’t look happy with that last one.
“Can you trust him?”
I nodded my head in reassurance, noticing she looked like a bundle of nerves ready to pop at any second. “With my life, and the only reason why he knows is because I was freaking out and needed to talk to someone. I called him after you left.”
“No one else.” She pointed at me in warning. “Especially after my conversation with Beau. He made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want me involved with anyone on the team.”
I could see the fear in her eyes, so I stepped forward when her lip started trembling. “Natalie, don’t panic.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a shaky exhale. “He said there was a situation a few years back involving a physical therapist and one of the players.”
I threw my head back and looked up at the night sky. Fucking Della.
“Yeah, she caused a giant shitshow, and things were ugly for a while. It dominated the tabloids for weeks. She was sleeping with a couple of guys on the team.”
Her face pinched tight. “He obviously doesn’t want history to repeat itself.”
“Listen.” I scrubbed a hand across my face. “Nowhere in my contract does it dictate who I can or cannot date.”
“He’ll trade you.”
I blinked, feeling sick to my stomach. “He said that?”
“He implied it.”
What a complete clusterfuck.
She looked over her shoulder and tried to keep her voice down. “We are both going to be in deep shit if he finds out about this. But your shit will be deeper than mine. You could lose your spot on the team. We can’t let him find out. We really need to handle this as soon as possible. We can't afford any delays.”
This sucked balls. I finally found a girl I liked and had to give her up. I would fight for her if I thought she wanted it. But she was right. I miscalculated and messed up big time. Now, I had to make sure I fixed it.
I said my goodbyes and waited until I got inside my car to call my lawyer.
“Vince Bradly speaking.”
I shook my head because the guy had caller ID and knew it was me.
“Vince, it’s Rhett. I need an update. Did you start the paperwork for the divorce or the annulment or whatever the hell it’s called? ”
There was a long stretch of silence before he finally spoke. “I just spoke with Tony and was about to call you.”
My eyebrows crinkled. “This doesn’t sound good.”
He coughed into the phone. “There is a bit of a holdup.”
“What’s the issue?”
“The judge overseeing the annulment is a guy I went to law school with, and he’s not my biggest fan. He is using your case as leverage to fuck with me.”
My hands tightened around the phone. “Vince, I swear to God. My career is on the line. You need to clean this shit up and get it sorted.”
I was mentally kicking myself for being so reckless. I was going to pay the price for this in more ways than one.
He sighed. “I’m doing what I can, but maybe you can use this to your advantage.”
“I’m not following,” I said, staring through the windshield of my truck, wondering what the fuck he was getting at.
“You really like this girl. Maybe use the time to get to know her. See if there’s something there.”
I scratched my head. There was no denying that I wanted to take my time and see if this connection turned into something. But that wasn’t an option, right? I couldn’t force her to stay married to me, but I could take advantage of this little delay.
Maybe use the time to get to know her. See if there’s something there.
Perhaps Vince was onto something.