I’ve been on it ever since.
I went along with whatever he wanted, too broken inside to function on my own. I was on autopilot, his puppet with strings. Until Lara, my stepmother, shook me from my self-imposed daze.
It was over dinner. Lara invited me over, and she was so hopeful, I couldn’t say no. The entire meal was tense, but not for a lack of conversation. David was all too eager to tell us about his deal with Vista and how she had cut ties with him. He mocked her ability to make it without his money and connections. Just the way he spoke about her, with that same condescending tone that he uses on me, pinched a nerve.
I knew Vista. She was one of the smartest people I’d ever met, and if anyone could be a success, it was her. Hell, she showed more courage throwing his money to the curb and venturing off on her own than I have my whole life. I couldn’t be more fucking proud of her. He thought she couldn’t make it? I decided right then and there to prove his smug ass wrong.
That night, while on a plane to Florida for my next game, I started pulling together a plan. I knew I couldn’t keep doing this. I needed to cut the bullshit, stop following my father’s edict, and extract myself from this life, to put distance between me and the man behind the wheel.
I’ve walked onto every field since then with my head held high and the knowledge that I was on my way toward an independent future—one free of David Black—driving me.
We haven’t lost a single game yet. Despite the rocky start, they’re calling it my best season and I have more endorsement offers and press coverage than I know what to do with, but I’m finding that I love it. Every damn minute of it. At one time I told Vista that I wasn’t sure I wanted to play anymore. I’d lost my passion for the game, but now I know that it wasn’t the game that was the problem. It was my father and his need to control every aspect of it. He’d set the bar so high that no man could reach it, and it’d sucked the fun right out of it.
Now, knowing that I’m working toward my freedom, I feel empowered. Now, I’m playing for me. I’m playing for the woman I love. And I’m playing for the little person who will one day look up to me.
With my plan in place, and with my buddy Vincent’s help, I figured out where Vista was. Not that she was hiding or anything. Since she’d never taken to using my father’s name and refused his money and business contacts, I knew she’d need help and David Black isn’t the only one who has connections. Then, by some stroke of luck, I heard that she was looking for someone to partner up with, giving me the in I needed. I saw my opportunity and, like any good businessman, capitalized on it.
Through a friend, I ponied up the money and ensured that she had the help of a private investor, providing her with a silent partner—me, in a roundabout way. I’ve always found her drive and determination impressive, but this venture has made her shine. She’s pushed through any and every obstacle that’s stood in her way. Sure, I may have greased the wheels a bit, but all the hard work was hers. I don’t know a lot about business, but I’ve never heard of a person accomplishing what she has in as little time as she’s done it in. That said, she’d have my balls if she knew I was behind it.
So why am I here? Arriving to that answer hasn’t been easy. I wasn’t lying when I told her that I was in the area, but Ohio is a big place, and the hotel I’m supposed to be staying at with the rest of my team is miles away. That didn’t keep me from hopping on my bike and driving through the better half of the day to see her though.
I questioned myself a dozen times on the way. But now that I’m standing here, with the question staring me in the face, I know I can’t outrun the truth any longer. I’m here because...
I love her.
I knew it the second she walked out the door. Three little words. They’re so simple, yet so unbelievably terrifying. I always told myself I’d never say those words. That I’d never let a woman get that close. But here I am, looking at the one woman who was always going to be the one. I knew it four years ago, and I know it now. The reason I held that part of myself away from the world was because it already belonged to her.
Vista Marquis stole a piece of my heart and soul that night in her bedroom and kept it prisoner all these years.
So I guess I am freaking out, as she put it. Just not in the manner she meant it. “I’m not sure how to react to all of this,” I confess to her, holding my head in my hands as I try to process everything. “I came here to...” I stall out, stumbling over the words in my head that I want to say. I settle with, “I just didn’t expect this.”
“Are you mad at me? Is that it?” she asks me, her voice small but hard, like she’s gathering her strength. “Because it takes two to tango, you know.”
I chuckle under my breath. She’s got a way with words that makes me smile. “You’ve had some time to get used to this. Give me a little time to get caught up, okay?”
She’s silent a moment, and then she nods her head in agreement. So reasonable. I gaze around at the rows of machines, all neat and tidy and ready for tomorrow. I can tell she takes pride in what she’s accomplishing, as she should. I’m proud just to be sitting here. This place is going to make a killing. But that’s not really what’s running through my head. It’s just a distraction for what’s going on beneath the surface, because there’s a question that I need to ask, and I don’t know if I want the answer.
Taking a deep breath, I decide to just spit it out. “When did you plan to tell me about the baby?”
From the corner of my eye, I see her shoulders stiffen. It’s an answer same as any other, but I want to hear it from her. So I wait. And wait.
Finally, when the silence has gone on long enough to make me want to scream, she speaks. “I wasn’t going to say anything. Ever.”
I’m instantly enraged. Red hot anger boils my blood. I ball my fists and knot my arms around my raised knees so I don’t lose my shit and destroy everything in the room. I need something to release my aggression on, and that’s usually a soccer ball, but they’re hard to come by at this hour.
“It wasn’t anything against you,” she says quietly. “I just wanted distance from all of it. You’re a big time soccer player and the cameras are always on you, following you around. If they found out about me or the baby, it would destroy everything. You, me, this baby, my mother, your father. I didn’t want that for any of us.”
Fuck my father. I couldn’t care less if the media sharks rip his whole world apart, but I can understand her reasoning. That doesn’t mean it makes me feel any better. She was ready to cut me out without even asking me how I felt about it.
“I can appreciate you trying to protect our kid, but that’s our kid. That means I get some kind of say in its life.”
“You’re absolutely right,” she agrees, and for some reason, that pisses me off, too.
“You’re damn right I am. Where the hell do you get off keeping this from me?” Unable to sit still any longer, I jump to my feet and start pacing. “So what if I’m famous? So what if people follow me around? So fucking what! Do you think I’d ever let anything happen to my kid? No. Hell no.”
Years of pent up anger and frustration come rushing to the surface and the faster I pace, the more I feel it. “You’re just like the rest of them. You think I’m some irresponsible, worthless shit who’s only capable of kicking a ball into a net. Well, here’s a newsflash for you. I’m made of tougher stock than that! I went to college, I got my degree. I might be rich, but that doesn’t make me dumb!” I shout, throwing my arms out to my sides.
Vista’s eyes are wide, and I can tell that she isn’t certain how to respond. I know I’m going off the rails, but I can’t seem to help myself. It’s like the floodgates have opened, and I can’t stop the water from rushing through.