Tatum POVI look at my reflection in the mirror, and my messy hair does nothing for me. I haven’t left the house since Christmas and now it’s time to go back to work. The first few days of the year are the worst, I have so much damage control to do that I can’t even think about it.The rogue players who went partying and allowed their dates to post on their own social media are making everything harder for me. Why can’t they just behave? Or stop people from putting them in situations that they can’t control?The team I hired to take control of the players’ social media let me down. They had a breach of security and some of our players’ social media accounts got hacked. This is my worst nightmare and I have to go deal with it. Because it wasn’t enough of all the fires, I already had to put off.It’s really not great to wake up to this news. Good thing I am taking care of Fred’s account myself. At least his is safe. The last thing we need is someone posting things on his account that wi
Fred POV“I will call you with the plan of action. Now if you don’t mind, I am in the middle of something,” Tatum says and I smirk. She is jealous. Good. That’s how I want her, bothered.“Sorry, it was a pleasure meeting you, Mara. Tatum will get you some tickets to come and watch us this weekend,” I say, and Mara smiles as she looks at me. I can see in her eyes, it’s all about me. She’s tangled in my web, but I don’t want anything to do with her. I want her friend, the woman that looks at me like a piece of meat. The woman who kicked me out of her bed. The woman that I want in my bed day and night.I leave the room with a smile on my face. I walk down the corridor and the c coach stops me. “Fred, a minute please,” he says.“Sure,” I say as I watch some of my teammates walking past us to go home.“You did great today. Could you take the newbie under your wing?” he says and I take a deep breath as I nod.“I don’t know if it’s the best decision, coach. I am getting back on track and I d
Tatum POVI have been avoiding Fred for the last two days. And it seems like he has been avoiding me as well because he hasn’t come knocking on the door. Thank God for that, because I don’t know how I would look at him after what happened in the garage. I really don’t know what is wrong with me.“Tatum,” I hear my name being called and I look up to find my boss standing with his arms crossed in front of my desk.“Hey Mark,” I say and he nods slightly as he pulls the chair and sits in front of me. He looks like he is about to explode and I know I am about to get hit with shit from every side. “Do you need help with anything?” I say, and he nods slightly.“You’re fired,” he says and my eyes widen as I look at him. I blink several times, trying to get my brain to process the words that just came out of his mouth, but it’s not working.“I’m sorry. Can you repeat what you just said?” I say, and he nods slightly as he crosses his arms again in front of his chest. His eyes glued to mine.“Yo
Tatum POV“Shit, how are you going to pay for the school?” Mara asks and I take a deep breath as I shrug my shoulders. It’s past one in the morning and we are still sitting in the living room drinking a bottle of wine.“I don’t know, I might have to ask Thatcher for money,” I say, but as soon as the words come out of my mouth, I regret saying them. “No, I won’t, I don’t know,” I let out before I brought the glass to my lips and emptied the small amount of wine I still had in the glass.“I can help,” she says and I shake my head.“No, you already do a lot for us. I can’t have you spending your money on us,” I say and she waves me off as she empties her glass.“Nonsense, you’re my sister,” she tells me and I nod slightly. Yes, we might not be blood-related, but we sure are sisters. We are the only constant thing in each other’s lives.
Fred POV“You can’t do that. She was the best thing that happened to this team. She made us look good again. She is making us look like a fucking family,” I say as everyone looks at me. All my teammates stay silent as I am standing in the middle of the locker room shouting at the bosses for getting rid of Tatum.“She was the best thing that happened to you. Maybe she broke her contract. She knew she couldn’t get involved with players Ashford,” the coach says and I shake my head as I throw my stick against my locker.“That’s bullshit and you know it,” I shout and this time Thomas places one hand on my shoulder, stopping me from making things worse.“In my office now,” the coach shouts back at me and I shake my head as I keep throwing my equipment around.“You’re not going to get anything by throwing a tantrum,” Thomas says, but I ignore him before I walk out of the l
Tatum POVGrace is coming back tomorrow and I am nowhere near to having the money I need for school, so I decide I need to talk to Thatcher. I know I promised myself I would do it alone, but this is not for me, this is for Grace. That is the best school for her. I take a deep breath and press his name on my phone.The phone rings several times, and it goes to voice mail. I close my eyes as I take a deep breath hearing his message, “Hey, this is Thatcher, leave a message and I will get back to you, beep,” I hear.“Thatcher, it’s Tatum, I need you to call me, please. It’s about Grace.” I say and then press the red button on my phone, ending the call. I don’t want to leave too many details on the voicemail.Today I have my first shift at the hotel I will be working. I will be working at a housekeeping. At least I will stay in the background and no one will see me, not while the press is still trying to find out what
Tatum POV“Grace, come on baby, put your shoes on,” I shout from the living room while I put my apron on top of the black dress I wear for work. I look at my reflection in the mirror and shake my head. I hate my job. My boss is a prick, and he keeps trying to get on with me.“I’m ready,” Grace says and I smile as I watch her walk into the living room in her uniform. Fred got Grace the scholarship and I finally don’t have to worry about paying for school. It was like God finally looked at me and blessed me.“Come on, we’re going to be late,” I say as I wrap my jacket around my body and rush Grace out of the house. Tomorrow Thatcher will be in New York and he wants to take Grace to watch his game. I still don’t know how I feel about that because he will be playing against Fred.After dropping Grace at school, I rush to work, and when I arrive, my boss is already waiting for me in the changing rooms
Tatum POVThe game is today, and I am not working. I asked for the day off and it was a nightmare to get it. I had to lie that I had a doctor’s appointment and that I needed to take my daughter to have some vaccines after. Obviously, the filthy and disgusting man who manages the housekeepers didn’t believe me, so I had to go to hotel management.I know he won’t be happy that I did this, but he left me with no other choice. The man is disgusting and he won’t allow us any breaks or time off. I can’t let Grace go alone with Thatcher because I don’t want her sitting alone in the middle of an enraged man watching hockey with their beers and cursing in front of a child.I look at my reflection in the mirror and I can’t help but smile. I am wearing Thatcher’s jersey, but underneath, I have a smaller version of Fred’s. It’s hidden, and only the two of us know I am wearing it. The doorbell makes me jump and I ru
Fred POVBeing home with Tatum and Grace is the best feeling in the world. The last couple of months after Tatum went to Mara have been absolutely insane. You see, when you think things happen for a reason; you think always good things, now I think of bad things as well. I never thought I would say the words I am about to say, but I admire Thatcher Hill. The man was a hero and no one will ever know. He died to save his family.After Tatum asked me to distract the police officers during that day, Thatcher came to me and told me the most insane plan. He was so nervous that I actually felt bad for the guy. He told me about Mara’s plan to kill Tatum and how he pretended to be on her side. How he pretended to be in love with Mara so he could find out what she was doing. He figured out a while ago that Mara was losing her shit. So he started playing a part with her. I have to say; the guy was a genius, and I feel bad that Grace lost her father because a woman was obses
Tatum POV“Sit,” Mara says, pointing at the armchair next to me. I look at the chair and then at my daughter, who is so scared. I wish I could just run to her and give her a hug, but Mara is not okay, and she has a gun. I don’t want her to use that. I have nothing to defend myself and I am not stupid enough to do it without a gun.“You see Tatum, you always got everything that I wanted, you always got everyone’s attention while we were growing up, and then in college, all the boys wanted you, and I always thought I was invisible,” she says and I shake my head.“What are you talking about? I was bullied when we were kids. They all made fun of me, and you were always defending me. You know everyone hated me,” I say, and she laughs out loud as she goes back to brushing Grace’s hair.“No. They loved you, and the only way they had to get your attention was by doing that, and I kept them away. You alwa
Tatum POV “I am not letting you leave this apartment on your own,” Fred says, and I cross my arms as I stare directly into his eyes. “Get out of my way Fred, I am being serious, this is about my daughter, and if you don’t understand I have to go alone that’s not my problem, you don’t have kids, you don’t understand, I would do anything for my kid, now move out of my way,” I say and Fred shakes his head. I can see the fear in his eyes, but I honestly don’t care right now. “Grace needs me. If you don’t move right now, I will end our relationship. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t understand my need to save my daughter,” I say, and now he is angry. I can see is in his posture as his entire body stiffens. “Are you for real right now? I just want to go with you. That woman is crazy and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you,” Fred says, and I take one step toward him. “Are you going to forgive yourself if anything happens to Grace because you are being stubborn and
Fred POV“Fuck, I didn’t want you to find out like this,” I let out through greeted teeth. I bet Thatcher released that information. My management team said they wouldn’t release the information, and they requested the other team to maintain silence about the offer for the contract.“Find out what? That you’re moving to a different country? Or find out that you’re hiding contract offers from me?” Tatum asks me, I can hear the pain in her voice and I know I should’ve told her about what Thatcher is doing, but I was trying to find another way, and then this happened and… Fuck.“I am not going,” I say as I look directly at Thatcher and he shakes his head slightly, watching me. His eyes blazing with anger as Tatum covers her face with her hands. She leans forward and I touch her back, but she moves away from my touch.“You can’t,” she lets out. If I wasn’t paying
Tatum POVI still can’t believe what is happening. Thatcher is going crazy as he walks around the house, pacing, taking deep breaths, and punching walls. He is controlling his anger, even though now would be a good moment to let go and explode, because that’s how I feel and that’s exactly what I want to do. Explode.Everything Thatcher told me about Mara seems so weird to me, I never thought she would be interested in him, she always seemed so annoyed by him, and now it kind of makes sense, if he turned her down for me… No guy turns her down for me. She is amazingly beautiful, bubbly, and the life of the party. I was always bullied and made fun of, shy, and she always took me under her wing.I bet it didn’t feel good for her to be rejected because of her best friend. If I had known, I probably wouldn’t have gotten involved with Thatcher, but then I wouldn’t have Grace. I think Mara would never hurt Grace. She wouldn&rsq
Tatum POVToday has been a day from hell, and I am exhausted. I have been dealing with a girl claiming she is pregnant by one of our guys. He swears he has never seen the girl in his life and this is becoming absolutely stupid. Obviously, DNA test will be done. Why can’t these guys keep it in their pants? Is it that difficult?I am picking up Grace today, Thatcher had a meeting with his management team and I know he can’t tell them he can’t just show up, they are all in negotiations for the new season, who’s staying on the team, who gets transferred. It’s always a very stressful time for everyone involved.I know Fred hasn’t received any transfer offers and I have to say I am happy about that. I don’t know how I would feel if he left New York. I know it’s not impossible, but it would be difficult to maintain a long-distance relationship especially because they travel a lot during the season. Obviously, at some point, he would come to New York and the team would go to wherever he is, b
Fred POVLetting Tatum leave my side is the worst thing I have to do every day. We’re still hiding our relationship from the press and from the public and I am enjoying this time just the two of us, without people knowing, without people making up stories about us.I have to say the most surprising thing that has happened since Tatum and I got together was Thatcher calling me and asking to meet for a chat. And that’s why I am getting ready now. I am going to be face to face with my team captain who hates my guts and loves the woman I love. He thinks he has some stupid claim over her because they have a child together.Even though Tatum says he has been great, not standing in the way and keeping up the appearances she needs, he is not really talking to her. He has been avoiding her like the plague for the last week. I put my watch on before I grab everything else I need before I leave the house.We agreed to meet at the stadium, as it would be the most private place we could be without
Tatum POV“Come, I want you to meet my mother and my brothers officially,” Fred says, and I look at him with horror plastered all over my face. We have been fucking for hours on end inside this room and I bet they know that and he expects me to meet them right after a full-on sex session?“Are you sure now is the best time for us to do this? This room smells of sex, and so do we. We haven’t even showered. I have dry cum down my legs and you expect me to meet your mother?” I say and he chuckles as he lightens up a little. He doesn’t look as sad as he was, but he doesn’t look like his old self as well.I know what happened took a big toll on his life, and I know he will never be the same person he was before. Events like these tend to change a person, and the way it happened is bound to leave a mark on him. Fred will always be associated with Caroline’s suicide. He decided to keep her letter private. He prefers to be seen as the bad guy than to expose her. He is a brave man, a good man,
Tatum POV Julien sent me the address to Fred’s mother’s house. That’s where I am supposed to meet him. The coast is clear there because she is with him and the press won’t be around the house, not when they are not there. His family has been through the scrutiny eye of the press and everyone around them. The amount of scandals they have been going through is unbelievable. Their father is one of the biggest fuck ups in their lives, and I can’t even imagine how they all feel about him, what I read about the man he is a piece of shit and he uses their name and money for many fucked up things. Fred never really talks about him, and when he does, I can hear the hatred in his voice. The man is terrible. The Uber stops at the gate and presses the button, and I lean forward to speak. “How can I help you?’ I hear someone say. “Tea Time,” I say as the code word that Julien told me to say. The gates open and the Uber driver takes me to the front door. The house is gigantic, and I never thought