Title: Off Season
Series: Nashville Fury, Book 3
Author: Chelle Sloan
Contemporary Romance; Sports/Football Romance; Second Chance Romance
This is a game I’m not willing to lose.
When you’re at the top of professional football, the fall to the bottom is steep.
I was the king of Nashville. Now I’m the problem child.
One minute I’m the face of the franchise. Next thing I know I’m being sent away after my self destructive ways have become too much to handle.
Little does my team know that sending me back to my hometown is the worst thing they could have done.
She’s here. The one who broke me. The one who sent me to rock bottom.
She’s also the only one who can put my damaged self back together.
I’ve loved Lucy Valenti since the moment I met her. Her big brown eyes and kind smile hooked me in. Her faith in me made me want to be a better man. She’s the only one who has ever seen me as more than a football player.
She was my end game. My final play. But I ran out of time.
Or did I? Because I can’t ignore the sparks that fly when we are around each other. Or the heat that still burns between us.
I always said the offseason was going to be our time. And if I don’t throw one last Hail Mary, it might be the end.
And this is a game I’m not willing to lose.
**The Nashville Fury series is a series of interconnected, standalone, sports romances.**
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“Lulu, Stop!”
I stop and turn to find Bryce inches from me. “Don’t call me that. Not anymore.”
“Why? Why can’t I call you that?” His face is so close to mine as he silently begs for answers. He might be trying to come off as intimidating, but my heart says otherwise having him this close.
“Because I hate it.”
“Liar.”
“I didn’t lie to you!” I yell, knowing we’re causing a scene. I feel the eyes of Laurel Heights on us.
“Yes, you did. You did then and you are now.”
“I did what I thought was best.”
“So you’ve said.” His voice drips with disdain.
“I can’t do this. Not now, and not here.”
“Then when? When are you going to give me the explanation I deserve? Coincidentally, it all started right after you decided I wasn’t worth having in your life anymore.”
Tears are burning in my eyes, but I push them back. I know I owe him an explanation, but I’m not ready.
Every time he’s low, he needs me to pull him back up. Every time there is a hard decision or his dad decides to pop back into his life, I’m there to talk him through it. And, as much as it kills me not to help him, I can’t. He has to learn how to navigate his problems without my help.
“Yes, you can. You’ve always been able to.”
“Is that a joke? In case you haven’t seen—”
“Oh, I’ve seen,” I say, taking a fortifying breath. “I’ve seen it all. The headlines. The pictures. The games. But Bryce, you’ve always been able to. I’ve been your crutch for years, and I can’t be that anymore. I’m sorry. I can’t be the girl who you go to when things get hard and then leave behind with empty promises of a future that is never going to come. It’s not fair to me, Bryce. It hurts me too much.”
“But it was finally time!” he yells, his hands gripping my shoulders. “It was time for us.”
I laugh, but there’s no humor to it. “What made that time different?”
My question silences him. If he’s honest with himself, he knows that’s just another promise he wouldn’t have kept.
I use the silence to shrug away from his hold and race to my car down the street. Thankful that I left it unlocked, I hurry and get in, immediately locking it and firing up the engine.
When I look back toward the front of the store with tears streaming down my face, I don’t see the man who has been on the front page of every tabloid in America.
I see the lost boy I first fell in love with.
“Lulu, Stop!”
I stop and turn to find Bryce inches from me. “Don’t call me that. Not anymore.”
“Why? Why can’t I call you that?” His face is so close to mine as he silently begs for answers. He might be trying to come off as intimidating, but my heart says otherwise having him this close.
“Because I hate it.”
“Liar.”
“I didn’t lie to you!” I yell, knowing we’re causing a scene. I feel the eyes of Laurel Heights on us.
“Yes, you did. You did then and you are now.”
“I did what I thought was best.”
“So you’ve said.” His voice drips with disdain.
“I can’t do this. Not now, and not here.”
“Then when? When are you going to give me the explanation I deserve? Coincidentally, it all started right after you decided I wasn’t worth having in your life anymore.”
Tears are burning in my eyes, but I push them back. I know I owe him an explanation, but I’m not ready.
Every time he’s low, he needs me to pull him back up. Every time there is a hard decision or his dad decides to pop back into his life, I’m there to talk him through it. And, as much as it kills me not to help him, I can’t. He has to learn how to navigate his problems without my help.
“Yes, you can. You’ve always been able to.”
“Is that a joke? In case you haven’t seen—”
“Oh, I’ve seen,” I say, taking a fortifying breath. “I’ve seen it all. The headlines. The pictures. The games. But Bryce, you’ve always been able to. I’ve been your crutch for years, and I can’t be that anymore. I’m sorry. I can’t be the girl who you go to when things get hard and then leave behind with empty promises of a future that is never going to come. It’s not fair to me, Bryce. It hurts me too much.”
“But it was finally time!” he yells, his hands gripping my shoulders. “It was time for us.”
I laugh, but there’s no humor to it. “What made that time different?”
My question silences him. If he’s honest with himself, he knows that’s just another promise he wouldn’t have kept.
I use the silence to shrug away from his hold and race to my car down the street. Thankful that I left it unlocked, I hurry and get in, immediately locking it and firing up the engine.
When I look back toward the front of the store with tears streaming down my face, I don’t see the man who has been on the front page of every tabloid in America.
I see the lost boy I first fell in love with.
Spend time with the Nashville Fury
a series of interconnected, standalone sports romances
Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Amazon | Amazon Worldwide
Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Amazon | Amazon Worldwide
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$25 Amazon Gift Card
Chelle is a contemporary romance author who writes happily ever afters with a lot of love with a little bit of humor mixed in. A native of Ohio, Chelle decided that after a decades-long career in sports journalism, it was time to take a step back. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in journalism and is set to graduate from her program in 2021. She is a diehard Cleveland sports fan, is the owner of way too many, yet not enough, tumblers and will be a New Kids on the Block fan until the day she dies. She also does her best writing at Starbucks, where you can usually find a venti caramel frappucino on her table. As for her own happily every after? Maybe one day…
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