1. CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1
KASON
FIVE YEARS LATER
Waking up, the smell of roses hits my nostrils, and I scrunch my nose at the putrid scent.
Knowing full well who that smell belongs to, I have to wonder if this was the stupidest thing I have done to date. I’ve done some stupid shit in my life, but this has to take the cake.
After having too many drinks last night, I made a choice I recognize I would never have made sober.
I hooked up with my cheating ex-girlfriend, Meegan.
Already knowing who I’m going to see, I turn my head to the right and open my eyes. Sure enough, there Meegan lies with her long, dark red hair covering her naked back. I find no appeal in the sight.
For years I have had to put up with her and my agent, Alex, turning up everywhere I am. I haven’t missed her, and if I’m being honest with myself, I felt a weight off my shoulders once she was gone. Now she’s like an annoying gnat that keeps flying around me no matter how many times I swat it away.
Alex had threatened to sue for damages from breaking his nose and have me arrested for assault if I tried to break the contract I signed right before I caught them together, so I had no other option but to keep him as my agent. I didn’t want the negative press at the beginning of my NFL career and didn’t want to fork over any more money than I was already obligated to pay him through our contract with a lawsuit, so I’ve had to tolerate both Meegan and him for these past five years.
That changes today.
Meegan, for her part, begged me over the years for another chance, especially with my NFL career taking off, but I always turned her down. Been there, done that. Unable to survive without living off some other schmuck, she and Alex became an item, but that never hindered her sexual advances toward me.
Up until last night, I rejected her repeatedly, until I remembered what I had in store for my agent this morning, and my drunken mind had the idea of hitting two birds with one huge fucking boulder was a good one.
Karma is most certainly a bitch.
Alex thinks I’m signing a new contract with him this morning, but as of today, he’s no longer my agent. I led him to believe I would sign with him and that the past was water under the bridge.
It isn’t, and like the dumb prick he is, he believed me.
Glancing at the clock on my nightstand, I notice there’s half an hour until my guest of honor arrives. I’m unable to escape another whiff of Meegan’s perfume, and the smell makes me sick to my stomach. Without waking her up, I climb out of bed and dash to the safety of my bathroom.
Walking to the counter, I look in the mirror and my eyes bug out when they land on the hickey on the left side of my chest. I don’t remember her giving it to me. The bitch tried to brand me. I examine the hickey and though I’m disgusted at the sight, a thought hits me, and I smile. This is the sweet icing on the cake.
Looks like I’m meeting my former agent shirtless.
I shower quickly, and when I’m finished, I wrap a towel around my waist before heading back into my bedroom.
Meegan’s still asleep as I walk into my closet and pull on my athletic shorts. I pick up Meegan’s dress and panties then stride into my kitchen, place her clothes on the counter, and start to brew my morning coffee. No sooner does it start to percolate than I hear a knock on my door.
Let the fun begin.
Rushing back to my bedroom, I open the door wide then slam it closed, hoping the loud noise wakes Meegan’s ass up. I need her awake for this. I hurry back to the entry door of my penthouse and open it.
Standing on the other side is a grinning Alex, excited to see me as if we’re old buddies. He’s arrogant and thinks he’s getting the deal of his life signing with me again; he has no idea what awaits him or that I signed with someone else yesterday. Fuck with me, and I don’t forget. For years he kept me under his thumb. That shit ends today.
His assessing eyes lower to my chest, and he smirks with a raise of his eyebrow. “I see someone had a good time last night.”
I smirk back and with a wave of my arm, I welcome him into my apartment. “I wouldn’t call it good, but the morning is about to get better.”
“I agree. I drew up a good deal for you as we discussed. I just came back from California on your behalf. We’ve got a sneaker deal that will be making you more money than you could ever dream of.”
The unassuming idiot smiles proudly as if his stupid contracts and negotiations are the reason my day will be better.
Alex strolls into my apartment with an air of confidence, steps up to the kitchen counter, opens his briefcase, and begins laying out the paperwork. He looks at the women’s clothes on the counter but makes no remark. He must not realize they belong to Meegan.
Ignorant prick.
“I’m glad we’re able to put the past behind us, Kason,” he says and turns his head to look at me.
I look toward the hallway when I hear the sound of Meegan’s footsteps. Glancing back to Alex, I smirk. “The past always has a way of creeping back up on us.”
He furrows his brows and tilts his head to the side. His curious gaze analyzes me from across the counter as I lean against the archway to the living room.
Just then, a naked Meegan walks down the hallway and smiles seductively at me. With the wall between Alex and Meegan, they can’t see each other…yet. Only a few more steps to go.
Sauntering up to me, she tries her best to tempt me with her body. My dick doesn’t even twitch. She wraps her arm around my waist as her bare breasts squish up against my side. “Hey baby. Last night was amazing.” Standing on her tiptoes, she tries to kiss my lips, but I turn my face away at the last minute, causing her lips to land on my cheek instead.
“What the fuck Meegan!” Alex bellows.
Meegan quickly jumps back from me, her head snapping in his direction as her eyes grow big. Alex stands there fuming with his hands on his hips.
Unable to help it, I chuckle thinking about the situation we find ourselves in. This time Alex and Meegan are on the receiving end of the betrayal. After five years of the shit I had to put up with from them, I’m enjoying every minute of this.
I should feel like an asshole right now, but I don’t.
“A-Alex, what are you doing here?” Meegan stammers.
“Me?” Alex screams. “What the hell are you doing here…” he waves an arm up and down her body, “and naked is the better question! ”
When I chuckle again, amused by the sight of Meegan’s mouth opening and closing like a fish, they both look in my direction.
“Oh, c’mon. You have to see the irony in all this.” I signal between the three of us.
Neither utter a word in response. I let out an exasperated breath and walk up to the kitchen counter, pick up Meegan’s clothes, and toss them to her. She catches them and clutches them to her chest as if she’s going for modesty.
Too late for that.
Strolling to my door, I open it. “Time to go,” I announce as I lift my chin in the direction of the hall outside my apartment, signaling them to leave.
Meegan quickly starts to dress while Alex holds the contracts he’s picked up off my counter in a death grip. “I’ll leave as soon as this agent contract is signed,” he grits out through clenched teeth.
Even with the knowledge that I had sex with his fiancée last night, he‘s still all about the money.
“I won’t be signing your contract, dickhead,” I inform the money-hungry moron. “I signed with Braxton Kinsley yesterday. Now get the fuck out of my apartment.” It doesn’t escape my memory that they are pretty much the same words I said to them years ago.
His jaw drops momentarily before his face grows red with anger. “You’re an asshole, Kason.”
I understand this situation doesn’t make me look good, and so I don’t disagree with the sentiment. After nodding, I wink at him. “I know.”
Alex shoves the contract back into his briefcase and slams it closed. He walks over to Meegan, who is now dressed, and roughly grabs her elbow, escorting her to the door. As they pass me, she yanks her arm out of his grasp and turns to me.
“I thought we could start over?” she pleads.
Not in this lifetime .
“Just because I fucked you, Meegan, doesn’t mean I have any plans to resume what we had years ago.”
She frowns, and for a brief moment, I feel guilty. Then I think of the hell I went through for five damn years because of them and that feeling quickly vanishes. For years I had to be around them and bite my tongue, pretending what they did to me didn’t matter. I’m not angry because they’re together, I’m angry because they screwed me over.
Alex grabs Meegan by the elbow once again, and she follows him without resistance this time. Once they cross the threshold, I slam the door behind them, hoping it hits them where the lord split them on their way out. I inhale deeply and then exhale a sigh of relief that those two leeches are finally gone and out of my life for good. There’s no reason I’ll ever need to speak either one of them again.
Walking back to my bedroom, I hear my phone ringing and when I pick it up from my bedside table, I roll my eyes at the name on the screen.
“Another person I wish I could exorcise from my life,” I grumble to myself. I take a much-needed calming breath before I answer. “What do you want, Simon?” I ask in a huff.
“Don’t take that tone with me, Son, and I’m Dad to you. You’re not too big that I can’t put you right,” he threatens.
Actually, I am, but I don’t say that. He’ll just take it out on my mom, and she hates it when we fight.
My dad is a narcissistic prick. Always has been and always will be. What my mom ever saw in him, I’ll never know. She deserved better than an emotionally abusive, philandering husband. I have no idea why she stays with him and puts up with his shit; she doesn’t need him or his money. My mother was born a Knight and if it weren’t for her family’s money we wouldn’t have lived the privileged lifestyle we did. My father would be nothing without her.
I pinch the bridge of my nose to calm myself before I speak again. “What do you need? ”
I notice Meegan’s heels, and not wanting the memory of what I did with her in this room last night, I roughly kick them under my bed. Out of sight, out of mind.
“Did you sign with Alex again?” Simon barks.
I rarely agree with him, but he told me I shouldn’t have signed with Alex years ago; he said he was an untrustworthy bastard. Guess it really does take one to know one. I signed with him anyway as a fuck you to my dad, and it was the one time I regret not listening to him because it bit me in the ass.
“No.”
“Good. Maybe next time you’ll listen to your father when he gives you advice.”
Maybe next time I’ll shove my foot up your ass when I see you. The prick is so proud of himself for being right. “Doubtful.”
He growls, “I don’t know why I even bother trying to help you because you don’t appreciate it.”
I couldn’t agree more. Never wanted or needed his help. “You’re right. You can stop trying now,” I say and hang up on him.
I’ve spoken to him for longer than he deserved already.
Sitting in the restaurant where I plan to meet my cousin Leo, I’m reviewing the lunch menu when I feel a thwack to the back of my head. I quickly look up as I reach to rub it, and there he stands with his hands on his hips, shaking his head at me in disappointment.
“What the hell were you thinking leaving the club with the she-witch last night? I thought you learned your lesson where she’s concerned long ago. ”
I chuckle at his nickname for Meegan. He didn’t like her from the start and made his thoughts of her manipulation of me quite clear. Damn though if he wasn’t right about her.
“It’s not what you think?” He raises an eyebrow in question, and I point to the seat across from me. “Sit. I’ll explain.”
Leo slumps in the chair, and our server takes our drink orders. I rehash everything that happened this morning and watch understanding cross his face as he smiles, shaking his head.
“Wow, and people think I’m the asshole. I would have loved to be there to see their faces,” he laughs.
“I hope to never see their faces or hear from either one of them again.” Even though I hope that, I realize the chance of avoiding them completely is unlikely because of the events we both attend.
Nodding, he says, “Don’t let yourself get caught in that situation ever again with any woman. Women are trouble, and it’s always the man who is accused of being disloyal, but women are just as guilty.” His face grows serious and his hand on the table clenches into a fist.
Leo wasn’t always so cynical. He met a girl one summer years ago. He had never been in a committed relationship prior to meeting her, but she became his everything. He never expected to fall in love with her, and she crushed his heart when she cheated on him, causing him to sink into the lowest of lows. He tried to self-medicate with alcohol, although he eventually gave up the daily booze, but her betrayal cut him deep. He handled that breakup far worse than I did catching Meegan and Alex screwing in front of my own eyes, in my own bed.
Our server stops at our table with our drinks and we order our lunch. Once he leaves, Leo takes a drink of his coffee before saying, “I hope you wrapped it up, I wouldn’t put it past her to try and tie you down with a child.”
My eyes bug out at the thought. I can’t imagine having her in my life, and more importantly in my pocket, for another eighteen years .
I shudder at the thought, and Leo laughs at my reaction.
“I can assure you, my dick was covered,” I inform him as I shake my head, ridding my mind of the disturbing thoughts of a child with Meegan.
It’s not that I don’t want children. I do someday. But never with someone like Meegan.
“I’ll have children in the future, but not anytime soon. What about you? Any thoughts of settling down one day and having kids?”
Leo thinks for a moment, rubbing his pointer finger on his chin then answers, “I imagine one day. Problem is, I don’t see myself ever getting married, and with the kids comes the wife, and god knows, I don’t want one of those.”
For a moment, something like sadness crosses his features as he frowns. He tries to hide it and gives a small smile. It’s times like this when I recognize he’s recalling memories of her. I often wonder how he deals with thinking about her daily for years, although he’d never admit it. He hardly ever talks about the girl who broke his heart; he even refuses to utter her name out loud to me.
It also makes me wonder if I ever actually loved Meegan the way my cousin loved this girl. I know I cared about her and wanted to take care of her, but I don’t think it was ever love. Sure, Meegan’s betrayal hurt me, but it didn’t crush me like it did him.
The thought of any woman having that much power over me? Never going to happen.