Game For Love: Gridiron Heartbreaker (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Gridiron Bad Boys Book 2) (10 page)
Read Game For Love: Gridiron Heartbreaker (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Gridiron Bad Boys Book 2) Online
Authors: Melissa Blue
But Blaine hadn't deeply considered from every angle the idea of how overwhelming his life could be. He did now.
He'd given her warnings about the media, and living on the road. She'd experienced what it was like to see him hurt and she hadn't been able to do anything. He'd put her on a private jet to spend a few hours with him. They spent an incredible night together. The paps had swarmed them as he took her back to the plane.
Then gave her about four point five seconds to adjust and make a life-changing decision.
How was that reasonable? Or fair to her? It wasn't and for the first time in, hell, ever he'd opened himself up to a woman. She hadn't responded the way he'd needed. He'd shut her out. He literally put her on a plane to put distance between them.
Maybe Alyssa did feel the same about him, but he hadn't let her wade through that before ending them. He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“So...” Adam said and stood. “If you're going into the kitchen, and from the expression on your face, you are. Start with, 'I love you and I'm stupid.'” He clapped his hands. “All right. I'm ready to get married.”
“I love you?” Blaine's head spun a little. “The stupid part, I understand.”
Adam threw back his head and laughed, “How long have I known you?”
“Many years,” Blaine answered.
Kent said, “And I met you about a month ago, but heard about you for a while. You don't seem like the type to settle down. Or worry about a break up.”
Adam shook his head. “You do not. Did you tell your mother about her?”
Blaine had to laugh. “Yeah.”
“You told your mother about a woman you're dating. And I know your mom. You wouldn't have said something unless that woman was special to you.” Adam shook his head again. “You're holding up my wedding with your relationship issues. You can let that sink in during the ceremony. We have five minutes to get down to the beach.”
Blaine rubbed at his mouth again. Love. Could he see Alyssa at his side for the rest of his life?
No. The better question was did he want to spend the next ten minutes without her in his life? Had he ever felt that way about any woman? Shit. Had he ever spent this much time thinking about a woman and not about how to get her naked? A time or two but never like this.
He'd never simply thought about a woman and that alone took his breath away, made his hands damp with nerves.
Never had he wanted to change his life for a woman.
Love.
He loved Alyssa and the thought didn't need much time to settle for the emotion to feel right. He grinned.
Kent spread his hands. “He gets it. We're going to be late, and I have my camera ready for when Adam sees Charlotte in her dress. He's going to cry.”
Adam blushed, and that's how Blaine knew, for damn sure, he was suffering from the same damn problem. He completely understood Adam's reaction.
Love. Blaine was in love.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The moment Alyssa could, she escaped to the kitchen. Blaine had kept looking at her and because she'd been looking at him, their gazes kept clashing. Every time her heart would climb into her throat and ache like a son of a bitch. Thankfully, everyone else was sniffling so she didn't stand out.
The staff moved the hell out of her way and she was grateful to be left alone. She could focus on dinner since the appetizers were ready to go the moment people came up from the ceremony.
Chicken with Portobello mushrooms were to be served over artichokes. The timing was everything. The artichokes couldn't be too soft and the chicken too tough. She could concentrate on that instead of how handsome Blaine had looked in his tuxedo. The wind whipped his hair into shaggy waves, and his gray-blue eyes had seemed so dark.
He was breathtaking and not hers anymore. She was working and he was here as a friend for a wedding. No matter how much she wanted to make things right between them, she'd have to wait. It wasn't the time or the place.
Someone plopped onto the seat right next to the prepping area. “You can't be...
Oh
.” The words drifted when her gaze clashed with Blaine's. There wasn't a smile, and she missed it. Missed him.
But she hadn't prepared to see him, and words failed her.
“You were saying?” he prompted.
She swallowed down the initial happiness. He was flirting, not saying the words she wished to hear. Maybe he was bored again. “What are you doing here? You're a groomsman.”
“Left early.”
She blinked. “You walked out during the ceremony? Are you crazy?”
The tux shifted wonderfully over his broad shoulders as he shrugged. “More important things came up.”
Her heart, as always, fluttered. “Than standing beside your friend giving his vows?”
“Yes.”
She glanced at the food in her hands then brought all her focus to him. “What could have possibly been more important?” she whispered.
“You.” His gaze went to the plate in her hands.
She had a death grip on the glass but he managed to pry it away. “Charlotte's going to kill me.” Her throat felt tight with emotion.
He said, “First she's going to kill Adam. We have time to make a getaway.”
The staff milled about, trying not to look in their direction. They weren't star struck, not at this point anymore—they were nosy. Her co-workers had probably figured out Blaine was the reason for her crappy mood.
Blaine added, “But it is all Adam's fault.”
“Why?”
“He told me I should say, 'I love you and I'm stupid.'”
She held her breath then cupped his face. “You love me? I get the stupid part.”
Blaine laughed. “We're perfect for each other, because that's exactly what I said.”
Her stomach, her chest were so taut it was hard to breathe. “We just met. How can you love me?”
“Because you are the first woman that's made me this happy by being with you. For me, partying all night was fun. Staying in with a woman was fun as long as we were naked. But you, it's just you. A text, a call, seeing you laugh, breathing you in—it's you, Alyssa. My life is crazy and it's asking so much to take me on. I know this is fast.”
He was going to keep talking. She could tell. He was nervous, not cocky. He was scared, not confident.
She mattered to him. She didn't have to be anything but herself. How much she needed that and he was offering his heart with it. Her head had nothing to offer that could have been better than that.
She didn't have to think—Alyssa kissed him. A cheer went up in the kitchen. She didn't care there was an audience, an excited one. She cupped both of his cheeks and kissed him hard. He'd barreled into her life, twice, and he was the best thing that could have happened for her.
The ache in her heart melted away. She pulled back. “Tell me again.”
“I love you.”
She held his gaze and could see he meant the three words. It was easy to let go of the doubts, the worries and the fears. So easy to listen to her gut, instead of her head finally piping up to say it was too soon, too fast. And her heart completely agreed with her gut. He was hers.
“I love you, Blaine.”
A dimple peeked out. “And if I were to call you 'sweetheart'?”
She laughed. “I'll remind you that I brought my chef knives today.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I love you.”
She laughed again, feeling light and so happy. “Hold that thought.” She glanced over his shoulder. “Sous chef. Suit up. I need a five minute break.”
The man saluted.
She grabbed his tie and pulled him away from prying eyes toward the guest rooms. He happily followed behind her. He didn't need much direction anyway.
Once they were far enough away from a nosy crowd, he pushed her into a corner. “I think we should talk about what happens next, Alyssa.”
“The easy way?” She tugged his tie loose. “Tell me. In detail.”
His smile deepened. “It won't always be easy, but I promise I'll never break your heart.”
“Because you are really good at mending them?”
He shook his head. “Because yours is precious to me. I'll protect it, at all costs.”
“Oh, Blaine.”
“No, why?”
She shook her head. “You love me.”
“No doubts?”
Alyssa thought back over every conversation they had. “Grandkids?”
“My mother needs them.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And when I close my eyes, our kids look like you. I want that. No question.”
God. Her heart couldn't take it. She tilted her head up, knowing he'd follow, knowing he would. “Your leather seats didn't stand a chance.”
“Yeah.” He laughed, and she felt the sound in her heart, her soul. “Yeah. I love you.”
BIO
Melissa Blue’s writing career started on a typewriter one month after her son was born. This would have been an idyllic situation for a writer if it had been 1985, not 2004. Eventually she upgraded to a computer. She’s still typing away on the same computer, making imaginary people fall in love.
Where to find me online:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorOfSMR
https://twitter.com/mel_thegreat
Where to sign up for my newsletter to get updates on new releases:
OTHER TITLES BY MELISSA BLUE
Under His Kilt
Her Insatiable Scot
Kilted For Pleasure
Kilt Tease
To One Hundred
MORE FROM THE GAME FOR LOVE WORLD
The game always changes for super-sexy, alpha athlete heroes who meet their perfect heroines in these sexy, fun and emotional romances that revolve around the world of professional sports (including but not limited to football, baseball, soccer, basketball, beach volleyball, race cars, polo, etc.). When professional linebacker Cole Taylor sets out to fulfill his grandmother's dying wish, he finds his perfect and innocent match, Anna Davis, in the most unlikely of places, and the love that develops between Cole and Anna leaves them irrevocably altered. Whose game will change next?
Start with the original book by Bella Andre:
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Game for Love
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Gridiron Heartbreaker ~ Melissa Blue
Winter Heat ~ Tasha Black
All the Right Moves ~ Marquita Valentine
Devil of the Gridiron ~ Melissa Blue
Not in the Game ~ Jasmine Haynes