Page 85 of Blindsided By the Enforcer

Cade:Can I come see you?

I look at my phone. It’s a quarter to ten. I have school tomorrow and need sleep.

Me:Is this a booty call?

Cade:If you want it to be, but I need to talk to you.

Me:Okay, come over

Talking sounds serious. I wonder what he wants to talk about. He called me Friday night and told me he had a deepconversation with his dad on the bus on the way to St. Louis. I texted him Saturday and wished him good luck on his game. This morning he sent me a funny face selfie of him at breakfast in the hotel and that was it. What is so important he needs to come here at this late hour to tell me?

Being apart from Cade this weekend made me realize I miss him when he isn’t around. He has also become such an important part of my life. I don’t know how we managed not to have sex until this point, but it is something I decided I want to do with Cade. Even if things end with us soon after because he is leaving school, or Scarlett finally takes the hint and backs off. I want to have sex with Cade Price. That in itself should tell me something because giving myself to someone isn’t easy, but Cade is so kind and sexy, my restraint has come to a point that it feels nonexistent.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Cade

Traveling with the team made it really hit home how much I miss Annie when she isn’t around. As I pull into her driveway, I can’t wait to see her. To kiss her sweet lips. I want her writhing beneath me. It was all I could think about all weekend. How I spent so many years of my life with a girl I didn’t have feelings for. How I let Scarlett manipulate me for so long out of a sense of responsibility. Being with Annie has taught me what real attraction is. What it feels like to share your inner-most thoughts with someone and need them so bad you want to spend every waking moment making them happy.

Me:I’m here

I send the text. Now I’m walking up to her door, my body tense and my chest tight. I haven’t lied to Annie about my relationship with Scarlett, but I withheld an important piece of information. I only hope she isn’t going to hate me. She opens the door with a smile on her face. Her hair is up in a messy bun. She’s wearing a pink tank top and a pair of gray short shorts. I’ve learned this is Annie’s usual home attire.

“Hey.”

She waves me inside, shivering. “Hey.”

I place a hand on her hip and lean in to kiss her cheek, taking in the strawberry scent of her shampoo.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“Are we the only one’s here?” I don’t want the entire university knowing my secrets.

“Elle and Sadie are in their rooms,” she replies.

“Can we go to your room to talk?” I ask.

She nods. “Sure.”

I take off my boots and follow her upstairs. When I get to her room, I take off my jacket and place it on her chair. I feel like I’m delaying what I came to say. I want to share this with Annie so my delaying doesn’t make sense to me.

“Can I play some music? I know the walls in the hockey house are super thin. I don’t want to risk your roommates hearing what I have to say.”

“You’re making me nervous, Cade. Is everything okay?” she asks, wrapping her hands around her and rubbing her arms.

I walk over to her since she is standing, and I take her hands in mine. “Everything is good. I just have something important to share with you. Can we sit on the bed?”

She climbs on the bed, and I can’t help but take in her behind. I may be addicted to every inch of her body.

She settles against the headboard, and I sit beside her. I pull up Spotify on my phone and play a song loud enough that our voices will be drowned out.

“You know when I told you why I stayed with Scarlett so long,” I begin.

She nods and smiles. I can tell I’ve made her nervous or maybe she is feeding off my own nervous energy.

“I told you Scarlett’s dad started drinking and she was having a hard time with everything in her life,” I remind. “That wasall true. But there is something else that happened that no one knows. Not my close friends or my parents.”

“Cade, if it is something super personal, it’s okay,” she assures. “You don’t have to tell me everything.”

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