Page 69 of Stumped

That’s not what I expected.“Whoa.”

Arms crossed over her chest, she inhales and exhales deeply. “Last night, I got home to find you slumped in tears outside myfront door. You camehereafter a loss and you’re not even going to talk to me about it?”

“Vera, I…”

“I know yesterday was hard and unexpected, but calling yourself a failure when this wasn’t your fault is not okay. And you can’t push all of this away with sex, Elias.” She’s breathing heavily now and my stomach turns at her expression. “You’re listening to and believing what the whole idiotic world is saying about you, when that’s not even close to the truth.”

“Peaches…”

“No.” She holds a hand up. “Only if you’re going to say something of substance do I want to hear that beautiful voice. Otherwise, you stay here while I get ready for my day.”

Before she can leave again, I lunge across the bed and grab her hand. I don’t even care I’m buck naked, I scoot over the soft mattress and sit at the edge, pulling her towards me. She steps between my spread legs and I release her hand, sighing softly as she brushes her fingers through my hair. I don’t know where to start, how to get the words out or in what way I can express this disappointment I feel.

“Iama failure,” I start and when she tugs on my hair, I lift my head to look at her. “I’ve played this team, this pitch, this fucking game a million times. Last night, I tripped. Not literally, but figuratively. I never expect much from myself in life. I’m a good batter, I work my ass off every single time, and that’s enough. Since I got back in uniform, there’s all this weight on my shoulders. Some of it is my own expectations, a lot of it comes from the team and the fans. I played so well the first games back. I played like the man I always was. Last night…”

“You tripped,” she finishes and I nod. “Doesn’t make you a failure.”

“Ifeltlike a failure. We were doing so badly. I thought this was some kind of joke. My team knew I’d save them when I gotout there. And I couldn’t. I made such a mess of it. I fucked up so bad.”

She doesn’t say anything for a while, her fingers moving through my hair again. I know I’m being hard on myself, but this is who I am. I give so much when I’m passionate about something, but maybe I givetoo muchwhen it’s not my job to do so.

“Everyone fucks up. Everyone makes mistakes and doesn’t deliver. Being a failure means you don’t even try. And you tried. God, Elias. I watched you, you were playing so fucking hard. I saw the way your body was prepared for every shot, I saw how you swung and cursed yourself for every missed boundary and whenever you couldn’t take a run.” Her hands drop to my shoulders and she squeezes. “I love your broad shoulders, honey, but they’re not meant to carry an entire cricket team.”

“What are they meant for?”

“My thighs,” she whispers.

“That can be arranged.”

Vera smiles and climbs into my lap. Cradling my face in her hands, she says, “You arenotthe saviour of the Renegades, Elias. You’re one of their best batters, but they can’t expect you to drag them out of a shit game. If your team played badly, that’s on them. You’re only responsible for how you play. You played so well. Everyone saw you take those shots, they saw you twist and bend and break yourself to hit every ball. You are not a failure.”

Tears slide down my cheeks and her fingers are there, wiping them away as I process her words. If this was anyone else, I’d think she was saying it to make me change my mind. But this is exactly what she’s been telling me from the start. That I matter, I’m more than enough and Iamworthy of all the good shit in the world. It’ll take me a long time to truly believe her words, but I feel the positive weight of them pressing against me.

“Forget what the commentators and critics say about you, ignore your teammates and coaches. Listen to yourself, superstar. You came off an injury and became the highest scorer in the shortest time. That counts for something. They put you in at a crucial point in the game and you delivered the best you could. That is important.”

She continues listing my achievements and I stare at her in wonder, because this woman knows me. When she saidyou matterweeks ago, I felt the effect of the words. But this is way more powerful.

“I was planning on showing up at your house,” she says.

“Really?”

“I had a feeling you’d need a little TLC.”

“I only need you,” I tell her honestly. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You can only thank me if you truly understand what I’m saying. Because if you continue to believe you’re a fa—” I cut her off with a kiss, her bottom lip tucked between mine as I suck and tug before our heads tilt for a proper kiss. She sighs and her arms tighten around my neck as we allow ourselves to be distracted and completely consumed by each other.

I break the kiss, my forehead resting against hers as I repeat, “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course.”

The words trigger something in my memory as she nuzzles into me and my heart does a funny skipping thing. I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her shoulder as the fog in my brain clears up.

“Will you still love me if I keep failing?”

“Of course.”

Vera kissing my neck breaks me out of my thoughts. Ididconfess my love for her, but maybe she did too. I feel her warm breath against my skin as she sighs and I choose to ignore thatto focus on the now. I squeeze her and she moans, only then do I remember I’m completely naked and my very hard dick is making himself known by pressing against her.

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