Page 4 of Hard Ruck

“They didn’t, because I learnt to stand up for myself,” I said.

Although, now she mentioned it, one of my high school teachers went missing under mysterious circumstances. I couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen at the time. My brother was about seventeen. Was he the first? Honestly, I didn’t want to know. That particular teacher had commented on my weight and I never saw them again. I decided I wouldn’t think about it too hard.

“You’re such a badass,” Sadie said. “I wish you had another brother. If he was anything like you and Ice, I’d totally go there.” Her smile was nothing short of dreamy.

“If I’d had another brother, he’d be all yours,” I assured her. That was an easy promise to make, considering it was only the two of us. That was probably just as well, I didn’t think the world could cope with two Isaac Millers. Or two of me, for that matter.

“What are you going to tell your boyfriends?” she asked. “They might wonder why Belinda suddenly disappeared.”

“I can’t tell them anything,” I regretfully. Some day, I might have to be forthcoming about the dark nature of Dusk Bay, but not yet. “My brother arranged a communication with her employer to say she had a family emergency. After that, she’ll quietly disappear for a while. He assured me it was all taken care of. She won’t be a problem for anyone else again.

“The guys will be happy she’s gone,” I added. “If I hadn’t dealt with her, they might have, and they can’t afford to do anything that would jeopardise their careers.”

“Like strangling the living shit out of a paparazzo,” Sadie suggested.

“Exactly.” I nodded. “That’s the kind of thing a professional rugby player would get in a little bit of trouble for.”

“Or a lot of trouble,” she said.

“Or a shit ton,” I agreed. They would have done it, though. Frost might have drugged her so the other two could drag her off somewhere. I tried not to, but the mental image of Stormplacing her into a bath and holding her under the water until she drowned popped into my head. His handsome face, intense grey eyes full of fury as he watched the life fade out of her.

I already knew I was fucked up, so the way my clit throbbed at the thought didn’t surprise me. It should have disgusted me more than it did, but the mental image was…well, hot.

So was the thought of Dallas fucking me from behind while we watched Storm kill her.

What would they have thought of what was going on in my brain right now? If they had any sense, they’d run for the hills. If I had any sense, I’d let them.

“You didn’t just do it for you,” Sadie said. “You went over there to deal with that woman to protect them as well. So they wouldn’t have to deal with the potential publicity her article would have drummed up. Because you don’t want people saying things about them.”

“Of course I don’t,” I said. “Because what they do behind closed doors is no one else’s business. Even if it didn’t impact their career now, it would be a cloud over them for the rest of their lives. Or at least until they retire from playing footy. And because of what? Because they wanted to see me naked. Big fucking deal.”

I sucked in a hard breath. “I get it, they’re role models for children, but they can be that out in public. Private should stay private. No one needs to know what really goes on.”

Outside of spending time at Flirts, they did all the usual community stuff, being the good guys for kids to look up to. For aspiring rugby players to copy. That was all the public needed to see. The salacious side was none of their business. It didn’t matter how famous they were, they didn’t owe their fans every little detail of their lives. They didn’t need to know Daniel Frost drugged and fucked me. They didn’t need to know I was waiting for Storm Keller to whisk me away to get rough with me. Theydidn’t need to know Dallas Gregory could hardly keep his cock out of me when we were together. They didn’t need to know if I got involved with any other players on the team. Only we needed to know.

“Anyone who’s upset by that is jealous they didn’t get to see you naked,” Sadie assured me. She’d seen me like that plenty of times at the club. She’d seen me bent over the couches, or on my knees giving a client a blowjob. She’d seen so much it probably didn’t register anymore. I was just Chelsea doing my job, nothing more. No big deal.

“I’ll keep telling myself that,” I assured her. I might need it for the next time someone like Belinda popped up. I’d have to be on my guard, because it wasn’t an if. It was a when, and there was only so much space in my brother’s workroom.

Chapter Three

Chelsea

I wincedat the crunch of Storm’s elbow slamming into Atlas’ nose. From my position on the sidelines, it was painfully audible. And quickly followed by Atlas’ shout of pain.

“Fucking hell!” He grabbed the hem of his jersey and pressed it to his nose to stem the gush of blood, while he trotted over to the edge of the field.

“I’ll let you manage this,” Doctor Stuart said as he nodded and stepped back. “Atlas, this is Doctor Chelsea Miller. She’s fully qualified to take care of you.”

Atlas gave me a sceptical look, which quickly changed to a speculative one. He glanced back over his shoulder at Storm, Frost and Dallas, who all glared in his direction.

For a moment, I thought they might try to stop me from treating him, but Coach called for them to focus and get back to training. They only hesitated for a moment before walking back into position, their backs to us. Each man held himself stiff, clearly still aware of what was going on behind him. Not liking it, but not having a choice either.

“We’ll need to x-ray that,” I said to Atlas. As a formality, because anyone could tell his nose was broken. Not for the first time, given the shape of it before this.

“Maybe it’ll be even now,” he said, his voice muffled with fabric and pain.

I smiled and walked beside him to the stadium’s state-of-the-art infirmary. “I’ll do what I can to make sure you stay pretty.”

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