Sidelined: A Wilde Players Dirty Romance by A.M. Hargrove, Terri E. Laine Read Free Book Online

but she turns her cheek.
    “Don’t do this, Cass. You and I … we’re meant to be. You have to feel this.” Her legs are still wrapped around me, and when she tries to move, I keep a tight grip on them.
    “Fletcher, please.”
    “You can’t run and hide from this.”
    “I’m not hiding. I’m protecting myself.”
    “From what?” I ask.
    “From having my heart torn to pieces. I can’t go through that again.”
    “Who says you will? And who says my heart came out of that unscathed? You act like it didn’t affect me at all. I was devastated by what happened. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had to concentrate so hard on my career, I’m not sure how I would’ve gotten through it.”
    Her dubious expression lets me know she’s not buying it.
    “What?” I ask.
    “I saw all the pictures.”
    “What pictures?”
    “Of you with all those girls. They were everywhere. Hanging all over you and you soaking it up like a king,” she says. The wounded look in her eyes and the way her shoulders instantly droop tell me all I need to know. Those damn pictures they forced me to take and the places they told me I had to go must’ve made a terrible impression on her.
    “Cass, it was all fake, all for show. That wasn’t the real me. If you would’ve given me a chance to explain—” My hand slashes through the air. It still pisses me off that I let them have so much control over me back in the early days. It had cost me a great deal.
    “Okay, but what about your other options here?”
    “My other options?”
    “It’s not like you owe me an explanation,” she says.
    “Explanation?” What the hell is she talking about?
    “I saw the text,” she says. My perplexed expression must show her I need more than this, so she goes on to say, “The cheerleader for the Panthers who texted you?”
    “Cheerleader?” I am completely lost now. I don’t even know any Panthers’ cheerleaders.
    Her penetrating gaze is filled with doubt, but then it suddenly hits me. The text I got from Mark. She must’ve seen it, and I have him in my phone as M.
    “Are you talking about Mark?” I watch her bite her lip, realizing she’s caught. “Checking my phone, Cass? That’s a new low even for you.”
    “I didn’t—”
    “Um, yeah, I think you did. How else would you have come to this conclusion, which couldn’t be further from the truth?”
    She glances at the clock on the wall. “It was an accident. I shouldn’t have—“ She shakes her head more to herself. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. It’s almost time for my next appointment, and I need to pull myself together.”
    She unwinds her legs from my hips. She’s pulling away from me and not just physically. “Sure. But this isn’t over between us. Tell me you realize that.” She’s unwilling to meet my gaze, which doesn’t bode well for me. However, I’m not going to accept this. I lightly grab her chin between my thumb and forefinger and tip her head back, forcing her to look me square in the eye. “Cass, please. Give us a chance. There is no one, no cheerleader, no fan club. I swear.”
    “Fletch, I have to think, but I can’t right now. I have a job to do. And I have to work on you for a little while.”
    “Fair enough.” I reach for the gown, and she gets dressed.
    She has me lie back, and she does some stretching movements with both my knee and shoulder, and then moves into massage therapy.
    When she’s about ready to wrap things up, she says, “Sorry this was so abbreviated.”
    “I’m not. In fact, I’d go so far to say I’d like all sessions to be this way.” It’s impossible to keep the grin off my face. I quickly get dressed.
    Before we exit the room, I notice how disheveled she looks so I say, “Hang on.” I straighten her hair and wipe the smudge of lipstick off her mouth. “Much better.”
    She gives me a lopsided grin. “Thanks.”
    “Do I need to come in tomorrow since I didn’t get a full session in today?”
    “Yep, I guess