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Fred POVMy phone has been ringing nonstop, and I am getting really annoyed. Jude is so drunk at this point that Richard takes him to the guest room and calls Bonnie to let her know he will sleep there. Obviously, she flipped the lid and was on her way here.Diego was already waiting for me downstairs with his daughter. As soon as I enter the car, the girl smiles at me and I offer her my hand. “Hi, I’m Fred,” I say, and she shyly accepts it, shaking it.“I’m Marta,” she says and I smile.“That’s a beautiful name. Your dad tells me you play hockey?” I ask, trying to make the girl feel a little more comfortable. I know how overwhelming it can be to meet your hero. She smiles and nods her head as she fiddles with her hands on her lap.“Yeah, I play right wing,” she says and I smile. “I started as a goalkeeper but the coach thought I was wasted there, so he moved me forward,”
Tatum POVMarta is the sweetest teenager I have ever met, that girl can make everyone smile with how caring and smart she is. I see a little of myself in her; I used to be like that, but unfortunately, some people got a hold of my innocence and kindness and destroyed it. I hope she can fight that off; I hope she can find someone who will treasure the way she is, someone who will lie down roses on the floor for her to walk on, someone who will treat her like a Queen.I can see movement in our direction and when I look it’s him, It’s Fred walking towards us, the way he walks with one hand in his pocket and the other on his side, the way his eyes scan my body makes me want to disappear into a hole and never come out. I look directly into his eyes and I can’t help but remember his eyes locked on mine while he was with his head between my legs. I stiffen as I bite my lower lip, closing my legs tighter together as I can feel the wetness.After some s
Tatum POVEverything seems to move in slow motion. I can’t believe what is happening here. I know Thunder thinks highly of himself and I never thought he would get so upset about this. I honestly thought women would bid on him, but I guess no woman wants to bid on a man who shows off like that, a man who did nothing to stop the women fighting for him and didn’t even acknowledge them. I guess he might learn a lesson with this. Or so I hope.“No, you’re not my captain anymore so you can’t come in here and start barking orders thinking we all have to bow to you, fuck you Moore, you are where you deserve to be,” he says, and before I even compute what was said a fist meets with Thunder’s nose making him take a couple of steps, back trying to keep his balance. His eyes go darker as he looks straight to find Fred without his jacket his sleeves pulled up to his elbows and his fists up in a fighting position.“Come at me,
Fred POV“Seven hundred thousand!” I hear someone in the back shout. I can’t really see who it is as the lights pointing toward the stage are kind of blinding me. I smile with my hands inside my pockets as they are starting to sweat. Put me in the middle of a rink with thousands of people watching me and I feel like no one is there, I feel normal, no pressure, but here, there’s only a couple hundred people and I feel like I am naked, exposed. I hate this feeling.“Seven hundred and fifty thousand,” I hear another woman shout. The value keeps going up and up to fifty thousand. I keep smiling, pretending this is perfectly okay. To be auctioned like a doll, like a prize.“One million,” I hear the hostess say, and I frown. When did it get to that amount? I look at her, smiling. “One million going once, one million going twice,” and without hesitation, I face her.“Two million dollars,” I
Fred POVTatum has been asleep for hours and I can’t bring myself to lie down next to her. I am sitting in the most uncomfortable armchair in the world. I don’t know what the interior designer was thinking when she bought this for my room. I make a mental note to get rid of this chair as soon as possible.Tatum moves on the bed, and my eyes dart to her immediately. She’s wearing one of my Nirvana t-shirts that cover her body all the way to the middle of her thighs. I watch as her lips part slightly and her eyes shut tighter as she moves on the bed. Her head darting from one side to the other and I realize she’s having a bad dream.Immediately, I fall on my knees on the floor next to the bed and hold her hand between both of mine while I whisper. “It’s okay baby, you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you, not while I am here,” I keep repeating until her body stills and her breathing goes back to normal. I move my hand, but hers squeezes mine, stopping me.“Stay with me,” she whispers as
Tatum POV I open my eyes to find Fred still asleep naked next to me on his bed. I can’t help but smile as his protective arm rests over my stomach. Fred has been great the last few days. I haven’t left his apartment, and he has refused to leave me alone. I know I have to leave today. He has practice and I have to go home to Grace. I can’t stay away from her like this. Obviously, Mara knows what happened, and she is okay to look after Grace, but she is my daughter and I need her hug to help me heal. I need her to be with me; I need her to help me go back to being the woman I was, not a victim. I am a fighter, and I will never allow myself to see myself any differently. What happened to me was not my fault, and was not a reflection of anything I did, it was all on him; he made the decision to force himself on me. I can feel the tears threatening to spill but I close my eyes, taking a deep breath to force myself to stop. I feel Fred moving. His arm disappears and I open my eyes to see
Tatum POV“Where the fuck have you been? Why isn’t anyone telling me where you are, a bunch of useless dicks,” Thatcher says as soon as he answers the phone without even saying hello, and I close my eyes shut. I can’t believe I ever liked him, he is so obscure. What did I see on him? I guess I was just young, stupid, and naïve.“No one is telling you anything because it’s none of their business, or yours by the way,” I say and he takes a deep breath and I know he is pissed. I know he is about to lose his shit. I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but I am tired of being the good girl. I am tired of being the one used and abused. I am tired of everyone doing whatever they want and I am the one suffering the consequences. Enough is enough.“Look, whatever it is you want it’s gonna have to wait, I will be at the game later,” I say and I can hear him throwing something, maybe a glass against a wall maybe, because I can hear the shattering of glass in the background.“You’re annoying me, Tatum,
Fred POV Leaving Tatum was the hardest thing I had to do in my life, especially after what she went through. I still can’t believe Thunder did that. I never really thought he was my friend, but I saw him as a half-decent guy. Julien called me today as the girl from my case was being interrogated again today. Apparently, her lies keep surfacing and things are getting bad for her. A witness came through with some footage from the party, and there it’s visible that I was pushing her away from me, and that I was way too intoxicated. Julien is trying to spin things around. He is going to go after her for sexual harassment to me. He says he has enough evidence now that she lied and manipulated a situation, not to mention what Thunder said in front of three witnesses. Tatum is really a very strong woman, not everyone would be able to move on the way she has, I know that she hasn’t really faced the world yet, but the way she behaved in the hospital while they collected the evidence from he
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