Seduced by the Game (9 page)

“Because I love her and
need to protect her. She is all I have left from her mother, and I can’t let
her go.”

“But I can’t either. I
love her.”

“If you love her, then let
her go. She will be better without you.”

“No,” he said, shaking his
head. “We are better together.”

“You heard me. You have
till tomorrow, King. End it, or I’ll end your career.”

Taking in a deep breath,
he tried to process everything that was just said to him. He was being
blackmailed, and there was nothing he could do about it. No one would believe
him. Nate Martin was the most respected college hockey coach in the league.
Everyone loved him. Hell, Karson’s own dad loved him. He had no choice. He had
to protect his career, and he had to make sure that Lacey had the life she
deserved, even if it killed him to do it. Coach was right. She had free college
here, and if her cancer did come back, at least here, she would be taken care
of. As much as he wanted to live in his little fantasy world of being a pro and
having the best girl on his arm, he had to realize that it wasn’t going to
happen.

Looking up at his coach,
he said, “I’ll end it.”

“Good,” he said with a
nod, running his hand through his blond hair. “And another thing, King, she
can’t ever know about this. I’ll ruin you if she ever finds out. Don’t ever
forget about my connections in the pros.”

Karson slowly nodded his
head. “I won’t tell her.”

“Or Grady. This is between
us. Believe me; it’s for the best. I am helping both of you. You’ll see and be
thankful when you are a single rookie making the world yours.”

Standing up, Karson looked
at the man he had idolized for the last two years and felt nothing but hatred
for him. Clearing his throat, he shook his head as he said, “I won’t have a
world because Lacey won’t be by my side.”

Walking out of the office
in a daze, Karson headed back to the dorm, ignoring everyone as he headed to
his room. Once there, he fell into bed and closed his eyes tight. His tears ran
along the side of his eyes, and he needed them to get out of him now. When he
was face-to-face with Lacey, he couldn’t cry. He couldn’t let her see how he
was slowly dying inside, because it would give it all away. She could see right
through him and would know that he wasn’t being truthful, but he couldn’t see
another way out of this. He had to do it, even if he didn’t want to let her go.
There was no other option; he had to protect her and himself. He had worked so
hard for his career, and he loved her too much to jeopardize her life. Coach
was right; he couldn’t support her the way he could.

As he lay crying in his
bed, he thought about what this was going to do to her, knowing this was going
to break her. He was going to be responsible for shattering her, and he had to
live with that for the rest of his life.

But what other choice did
he have?

* * * *

Lacey was standing in
front of her mirror, looking over the sweater dress she had paired with a pair
of black boots, hoping that she looked good enough to meet Karson’s parents.
She was nervous, but nothing could wipe the grin off her face. She had spent
the night wrapped in her boyfriend’s arms. The same boyfriend she was going to
leave Chicago for and continue to love for the rest of her life. She was so
glad she took the chance two months ago. She had promised to live life to the
fullest, and she was doing just that.

Nerves coursed through
her. Not only was she meeting his mom and dad, but he was also supposed to get
word that day if he was going into the draft. Everyone believed it was a done
deal but, at the same time, there was a chance that no one would want him. It
was a 2% chance, but still, it was there. She had the confidence that he was
going, and he would be first-round pick. Everyone would gush about him, he’d
get a great deal, and he’d rock the hell out of the league. That was the plan,
and while he did all that, she’d get her degree and then open the best lingerie
business in the country. Those were her dreams, and she knew that they were
within reach.

As long as she had Karson
standing beside her.

When the knock came at the
door, she smiled because Karson was early. Reaching for the door, she pulled it
open to find her delicious boyfriend on the other side. She was surprised that
he was wearing jeans since they were going out to dinner at some ritzy
restaurant, but ignored it as she reached for him, placing a kiss on his sweet
mouth.

“Hey!” she gushed as she
shut the door behind him. “You’re early. Give me a minute; I gotta fix my
makeup. Did your dad find out if you are going in the draft? I’m so excited. I
feel good about it.”

When Karson didn’t answer,
she looked back at him to find him watching her. “What?”

“You look beautiful.”

A grin pulled at her lips
as she said, “Well, thank you, but really, are you going in?”

Slowly, he nodded. She
squealed before wrapping her arms tightly around him. “I’m so proud of you!
You’re going to rock the big leagues!”

When he didn’t hug her
back, Lacey pulled back, surprised, and looked up into his face, immediately
seeing that something was very wrong. His eyes were bloodshot, his face red,
and she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from crying. But why would
Karson cry? He was her big, burly boyfriend. He made other guys cry. “What’s
wrong?”

Closing his eyes, he undid
her arms from around him and took a step back. “We need to talk.”

Dread filled her chest as
she looked up into his face. “About?”

“About us.”

Her heart picked up in
speed as she continued to look at him. He was looking everywhere but her,
another sign that something was horribly wrong.

“Lacey, we have to end
things.”

“What?”

“With me going to the
pros, I’m going to be so busy, traveling and training and shit, and it isn’t
fair to drag you into all that.”

“What are you talking
about? We’ll be fine. That’s why I’m going with you, so we can see each other
when you have downtime.”

“No, you need to stay
here. Go to school for free and be with your family.”

Shaking her head, she
said, “No, I need to go with you. I need to be with you. Everything else will
fall into place as long as we are together.”

Still not looking at her,
he said, “Lacey, I can’t ask you to follow me across the damn world. You need
to think of yourself, what is best for you, and that’s to stay in Chicago.”

“Who are you to tell me
what I need? We’ve been together for two months, and you’ve never told me what
I need. Except for maybe you, and you were right, so stop and look at me!
What
is going on?”

Slowly, Karson met her
gaze and let out a long breath. “You’re right, we’ve only been together for two
months. Maybe we are rushing into this. I’ve been having second thoughts,
Lacey, and I can’t help but feel like I dragging you from everything you know.
I don’t feel right about that. This is your life, and we don’t know what could
happen. Your cancer could come back or I could flop when I hit the big leagues,
and then what? How would I support you?”

Not able to hold them in
any longer, Lacey’s tears rushed down her face as she slowly shook her head.
“As long as we have each other, everything else will fall into place.”

She could see the pain in
his eyes, but that still didn’t stop him from saying, “Love won’t put food on
the table, or pay for your college, or start your business, Lacey. I’m sorry,
but I have to end things.”

A sob ripped from her as
she looked away, gasping for breath. What changed? How did they go from
promising to be together forever, to him breaking up with her?

She’d slept with him.

Looking up at him through
her tears, a sob was caught at the base of her throat as she cried, “Is this
about my breasts? Are you breaking up with me because I have no boobs? I
trusted you! I showed only you, and now you’re breaking up with me?”

He was in front of her
before she could even take in another breath. Squeezing her arms in his hands,
he shook his head quickly, tears welling up in his eyes as he held her gaze.
“God no, Lacey. Don’t you ever think that! I love you, I love your body, and I
love every single thing about you, but I can’t do this. I can’t guarantee you
the future when I have no clue what mine is. As much as I want to say we can
get back together once I figure it all out, that isn’t fair to you. I want you
to have the life you deserve, and I don’t think I’m the man to give it to you.”

“But you are! Karson, if
you love me, don’t break up with me,” she cried, holding on to his forearm.
“You promised you would never break me, and that’s what you are doing by giving
up on us and leaving me.”

Looking down at the
ground, he took in a deep breath. “I know, but I am doing it for you. I’m
sorry, Lacey. I’m so fucking sorry, but don’t you ever think I don’t love you.
I do, but I’m sorry, I have to end this.”

Pressing his lips to hers,
he kissed her hard, but she pushed him away. “No! You don’t get to kiss me or
tell me you love me when you are breaking up with me! How is that fair? How is
that even right? It’s a contradiction to everything, because even with you
saying you’re doing it for me, it makes no sense! If you loved me, you would
stay with me and love me for the rest of our lives, but you aren’t doing that,
are you?”

“I can’t. I love you too
much. I have to let you go,” he said, as tears slowly rolled down his perfectly
chiseled face.

“Why?”

“Because I have to, so
that you have the life you deserve,” he said with all the compassion in the
world, but all it did was piss her the hell off.

“Bullshit. Get the hell
out,” she cried, hugging herself with her arms.

“I love you, don’t forget
that,” he whispered, but she ignored him as she crumpled onto her bed.

“Leave me alone. You made
me a promise, Karson, and you broke it! You have completely broken me, and do
you even care? Are you going to be here to pick up the pieces? No, you’ll be in
the damn big league, leaving me behind to figure out how to live my life
without you! How can you live with yourself knowing that?”

“I don’t know,” he
whispered.

Covering her face, her
tears leaked all over her hands as her body shook with her sobs. The room was
completely quiet and she thought he had left, but when she looked up, she found
him still watching her from the doorway. “I’m sorry, Lacey. I really do love
you.”

And with that, he shut the
door, completely shattering her heart. As Lacey lay there, tears rushing down
her face as she choked on her own sobs, she had no clue what had just happened,
or how she was going to put herself back together after that. Their love was
all consuming, and now she wasn’t going to have that. How did someone come back
from that?

She thought being
diagnosed with cancer and having her breasts removed was the hardest thing
she’d ever have to battle, but all the pain she felt then didn’t even come
close to the pain she was feeling at the moment. She was a survivor though, and
she knew that she would cope with losing the greatest love of her life but,
like everything else that happened in her life, she wished she didn’t have to.

Yesterday.

Karson stood in the back
of the auditorium as the Catappellas sang their hearts out for the
championship. His bags were in his car and all ready for the trek back home to
Wisconsin before the draft. He wanted to be excited for the new life he was
about to embark on, but it was hard when he knew that the girl who stood in the
middle of the group in a bright red dress wasn’t going with him. It had been a
month since he had broken things off with Lacey, and each day was harder than
the last. He fought with himself daily to keep from going to her and begging
for forgiveness. He knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life, but he
prayed in the long run it was for the best.

He missed her—everything
about her. He missed her lips, her smile, her laugh, and the feel of her body
against his. He wanted nothing more than to run to the stage and ask her to run
away with him, but from where he stood, he could see Grady and Coach. The
hatred he felt in his body for his old coach was indescribable. He would always
blame him from taking away his world and ruining him.

As he watched the
Catappellas sing “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles, his heart ached for
her. He was stupid to come, he knew that this would hurt, but he had to see her
one last time before he took off, leaving Chicago and his world behind him.
Watching her from afar was hard and he hated it, but it was what he resorted to
for the last month. He wasn’t sure when or if he’d ever see her again, so he
knew he had to come, even if it was just to watch her since he knew he couldn’t
say anything to her. His words would mean nothing to her. He had already broken
her, and nothing he would say could fix what he had done.

When the group started to
sing the melody to “Yesterday,” also by the Beatles, someone handed Lacey a mic
and she took center stage, the lights shining on her, making her look like an
angel. Something lurched in his chest. He fought for his breath as her sweet
lips moved, and the most beautiful sound came out. As she sang the song, each
word stabbed into Karson like a knife. He knew it wasn’t a coincidence that she
was singing this song. She might not know that he was there, but she was
singing it for him. It hurt hearing the words, but he welcomed the pain.