Worth the Chance (Worth #3)

Prologue

KASON

Upon walking into my New York City apartment, I drop my gym bag and scan the area. A sense of accomplishment runs through me as my eyes take in the expansive living space with floor-to-ceiling windows and a panoramic view of Central Park. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today in the career I’ve always dreamed of, and everything I’ve ever wanted is finally falling into place as I’ve always hoped.

After signing with the New York Cougars in the first round of the NFL draft, I purchased this high-rise apartment two weeks ago once I knew what city I would be living in. Although my signing bonus was substantial, I didn’t need it to buy this place.

I’m the grandson of Theodore Knight who founded Knight Industries over fifty years ago with hotels and casinos all over the world. Although my Uncle Connor is the current CEO, Grandpa Theo left me more than enough money—more than I could ever spend in my lifetime—when he passed, and this penthouse is my first big splurge.

My girlfriend Meegan, who I’ve been with since our senior year of high school, fell in love with it as soon as she saw it, and I eventually agreed to her moving in when she convinced me it was the next step in our relationship. She’s never lived somewhere so extravagant. I wanted to get her away from the horrible home life she has complained about to me for years and give her a better life.

Lately, though, I’ve wondered if living together was the right decision. I’m twenty-three and I already feel tied down and overwhelmed with the responsibility of keeping her happy. Regardless of that though, I won’t desert her because she needs and relies on me alone.

Earlier, my trainer had a family emergency, cutting our session short right after it started, so I’m home early. I’ll change, call Meegan to find out where she is, and take her to a nice dinner. She’s been vocal lately that I don’t take her out enough. She complains often that my attention is always on my career and I don't give her enough of it. No matter how hard I try, nothing seems to satisfy her. Plan in place, I take out my phone and make a reservation at a restaurant she loves. She enjoys watching the who’s who of New York and this restaurant is known for celebrity sightings.

I head down the hallway to our primary suite to change my clothes, but when I place my hand on the doorknob, I freeze at the sound of moans and grunts coming from the other side of my door.

She wouldn’t, would she?

She's the only other person who has access to my apartment, so I brace myself for what I’m about to find in my bedroom. Feeling my blood start to boil in my veins—it burns throughout my body from the inside out—I take a deep breath and slowly open the door. My fist tightens on the knob, and I might have been stunned it doesn’t snap off from the pressure of my grip if I wasn’t dumbfounded taking in the disgusting scene playing out in front of me.

Even hearing what I heard before opening the door couldn’t prepare me. I seethe and glare as a man’s bare ass jack rabbits into Meegan’s willing body in my own goddamn bed. Not just any man, but the sports agent I just signed with recently, Alex Matthews.

What the fuck!

For years, I’ve given this girl all of me, given her anything her heart desired to make her happy, and she’s in my bed fucking another guy. All the time I had been there for her, and this is how she repays me?

Storming over to them, I wrap my arm around his traitorous neck from behind and yank him off her. I watch as he lands on the floor with a hard thud. Spinning back toward the bed, I focus my anger on Meegan. She gasps and her hand flies over her mouth, worry evident in her expression.

“I want you out of my apartment, right fucking now!” I yell with my finger in her face.

She immediately starts crying, but I can’t hear a word of her blubbering through the loud noise buzzing through my head. There was a time I would have given her anything to make her feel better when she cried. Now, those tears don’t mean shit to me and never will again.

Shifting on my feet, I charge to the end of the bed where Alex has stood up and his eyes widen in fear when he meets my glare. Pulling my arm back, I swing with all the fury inside of me, my fist connecting with his face. His body crashes over the side of the bed, bare-ass naked with his fading erection wobbling through the air.

Screaming has me turning back in Meegan’s direction. She’s climbed out of my bed, trying to cover her naked body with a sheet as tears flow from her frightened eyes.

Good, she should be scared. She’s about to be homeless and penniless .

Turning back to Alex, he’s on the floor with a bloody hand covering his nose shrieking like the fucking bitch he is.

As much as I’d love to throttle him again, I know I have to rein my anger in before I do much worse. Taking a fortifying breath, I bend down and pick up his pants and shirt, grab him by the elbow, and drag him to the door before throwing him and his clothes out into the hallway. “Get the hell out of here before I break more than your fucking nose!”

A hand gripping my arm has me shifting my glare back to a sobbing Meegan, who is now standing beside me with panic on her face.

“It’s not what you think!” she pleads.

How the hell could it be anything else?

Sick to my stomach by her touch, I shove her hand off of me and back away. “You need to pack your shit and get out of here,” I holler, and she shrinks back, covering her heart with her hand, looking frightened. I’ve never raised my voice at her.

“H-he made me do it. Said he would make sure you get endorsements,” she cries, trying to justify her actions.

Like I need the money from endorsements. She knows I don’t. Football is about me doing what I love, not about the money that comes with it.

“You have one hour to get your shit and disappear!” I turn toward the bedroom door and stalk through it, slamming it shut behind me.

It shouldn’t take her longer than one hour, she only has clothes here; everything else is mine. Well, other than the jewelry I bought her, but she can keep that shit because I don’t need any reminders of her. Of course, I don’t need to tell her that because I already know she won’t be leaving anything expensive behind. Storming through the apartment, I find my agent, Alex, was smart enough to leave the scene, but when I get to my apartment door, Meegan is following me, telling me how sorry she is, begging me not to leave, and to talk to her .

Grabbing my keys off the counter, I turn to confront her tear-stricken face, but her waterworks don’t affect me, not anymore. “Leave the key on the counter when you go. I mean it, Meegan. I want you out. If you’re still here when I get back, I’ll have security drag your ‘poor me’ ass out of here!” I turn and leave the apartment, vowing to never see her again if I can help it.

I know Meegan well enough to conclude I’ll be hearing from her. Except this time, I won’t fall for her act. I won’t allow myself to be manipulated by her ever again, and that is a vow I intend to keep.

SIERRA

Entering my best friend, Ky’s house, I stop in the kitchen to greet Manda. Manda is Ky’s grandmother. She’s always good for a laugh, and I love her to pieces.

Sneaking up behind her as she’s washing dishes, I wrap my arms around her waist intending to scare the crap out of her.

She jumps and turns, placing her hand on her heart. “Oh my Lord in Heaven!” she exclaims. “Has no one ever taught you not to sneak up on an old woman? You could have sent me to an early grave with a heart attack.” She scolds, but the side of her mouth lifts in a small smile reassuring me she’s not actually upset with me.

“I’m sorry,” I pout and give her puppy dog eyes. She shakes her head and wraps her arms around me, holding me close.

I smile and all is forgiven .

“Just so you know, if I had died, I would have haunted your skinny ass from the grave for the rest of your life. Don’t think I wouldn’t, young lady,” she whispers in my ear. Manda is scary when she needs to be, and I pity anyone who gets on her bad side.

Leaning back, I look at her in feigned shock. She places a bony hand under my chin, closes my hanging jaw, and pats my cheeks. “Don’t worry, I have a bunch of people on my shit list I plan to haunt before you,” she says with a smile, but I know there’s a hint of truth about the people on her shit list. A few moments pass of us staring and assessing each other before I laugh, and this time, Manda snickers with me.

We speak for a few minutes about how my summer has been since coming home from college before I leave her and climb the stairs to Ky’s room. Ky, short for Kylie, has been my bestie since we were eight. She lost her father around the same time my mother passed, we bonded and have been like sisters ever since. My Uncle Tony and Ky’s mom own a successful real estate company, and our families are close. Although we don’t share DNA, we’re family.

Opening Ky’s door, I see she’s lying in her bed. I hurry over and plop down on it, and she quickly sits up.

“What’s up?” she asks as she pats down her long blonde wavy hair.

We couldn’t look more different. Her blonde hair to my brunette.

“I broke up with David today over the phone. Does that make me an awful person not to do it face to face?” I blurt out. Not that we broke up but that I did it over the phone. I knew I made the right choice in ending the relationship.

I met David about three months ago at college, and although he’s a perfectly decent guy, he’s not the guy for me. None of the guys before him were right for me either. I can’t bring myself to get attached to any man. Ky and I have spoken often about this but no matter how hard I try, there’s no man I can see myself with long-term .

“I’m the last person to ask for relationship advice. I’ve dated one guy seriously and stayed with him even after rumors of him cheating. Trust me, I suck at relationships.” She’s right. She’s as bad as me when it comes to men. “But can I ask why?”

“He kept saying he wanted to visit me and to meet my uncles. He was more serious about us than I was, and I don’t see us working out in the long run, you know?” I’ve been home for summer break and haven’t seen him in weeks, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” she asks. “You were into him before you came home from college.”

I had hoped I was into him is more like it. It was my way of, once again, trying to force something I don’t feel. Ky often jokes I leave a trail of broken hearts in my wake, and although it maybe true, it’s never my intention.

“I should be missing him terribly and thinking about him every hour of the day. Hell, I would have forgotten he existed if he hadn’t texted me. So yes, I’m sure this is what I want.”

She nods in understanding; she knows I won’t be reconsidering my choice, but I don’t want to talk about my lack of a love life. I’d rather talk about hers. “Have you heard from Leo?” I ask.

Leo is a guy Ky recently hooked up with. He’s hot, and other than the guy she dated for three years, he’s the only man Ky has ever been with. Their strong attraction is clear as day, but Ky has baggage from her last relationship and is a bit gun-shy.

After talking about her concerns about Leo for a bit, we do what any girl with sense these days would do to find out information on a guy…we stalk him on the internet. We don’t find much to our dismay because this guy must take his privacy seriously.

Leaving her room after our girl talk, I bump into Manda at the top of the stairs. She gives me a soft smile and takes my hands into hers. “I heard you and Kylie talking earlier. Don’t you worry, sweetheart. Your one is out there waiting for you, and I promise you, when you meet him, you’ll know,” she reassures me with understanding eyes and sweeps me into her warm embrace once more.

I don’t know if I believe that.

I wonder if I’ll ever meet a man who will have me throwing away my inhibitions where love is concerned. My mom deeply loved a man once, and in the end that love was her demise, both mentally and physically. I don’t know that there is a man strong enough to break down the walls I have built from watching her slowly crumble.

I don’t think I’m destined for ‘my one’ as Manda believes.