Chapter 9 - Victoria

Victoria

M y entire body went rigid. “What?”

Hannah’s head lifted sharply. Her brown eyes grew wide. She almost sobered up completely when she saw me fuming.

“Victoria, I would never. You know that, right?”

I mustered all the strength I had not to storm over to Bennet and give him a piece of my mind. I don’t care if he’s a Dominant or not, this was a shitty thing to do. I’m all for playing games and pushing limits but it had to be consensual once other people were pulled in.

He was all high and mighty while lecturing me on discussing my limits with Xavier and yet here he is, going rogue.

“I know you wouldn’t,” I finally said. And I meant it. Hannah is a good person. She’s not conniving or manipulative or untrustworthy.

Neither is Bennet. He’s just a colossal pain in the ass.

“Want to know what I think?” I asked.

She nodded, glancing over at Bennet. I looked over as well. His face was void of all expression. I shot him a dirty look.

“I think we should get you some water and some food and then go talk to the boys.”

Before we could do any of that, Noah, Jax, and Dante surrounded us.

“We need a group photo,” Jax proclaimed, loosening his tie. “All the core people from our draft class. You never know if something like this will ever happen again.”

“What? You mean like last time?” Dante shook his head. “Weren’t we doing this very thing exactly one year ago?”

“Dude, you know what I mean.”

“What does any of this have to do with us?” I looked each one of them in the eye.

Hannah hiccuped and leaned into me. I started having flashbacks to frat parties.

“You,” Noah rounded on us and draped an arm over my shoulders, “taught us everything we know about dealing with the New York media. You’ve been there for us. And let’s face it, you put up with a lot of our bullshit.”

“You left out the on a daily basis part,” I said, trying to figure out a way to remove myself from his embrace.

“I’m an angel,” Dante proclaimed. “The only bullshit she puts up with is yours, Tate.”

“The fuck you are,” Noah retorted.

While the two of them bickered back and forth, Jax fidgeted with his phone and complained about the dim lighting. Hannah sagged into me even more.

This is a circus and I’m failing at being the ringmaster .

The back of my head prickled with anticipation. And it wasn’t the good kind.

“This must be where all the real fun is happening.” Xavier’s clipped tone sliced through me. Oh shit . “Hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Xavier Fucking Maddox,” Noah exclaimed, releasing me and turning around. “Where’ve you been all night? I want to hear about your back to back championships.” He looked at me. “You don’t brag enough about him.” Noah elbowed Xavier in the side and winked. “Company policy. No bragging allowed.”

Xavier’s brows lifted in amusement. “Interesting. Victoria’s been known to break policies when she feels like it.”

“She does seem to be the type, doesn’t she?” Noah joked. Xavier’s expression iced.

“Keep it up, Tate,” I warned. “I control the narrative for your career in this town.”

“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands. “You win.”

Hannah’s arm tightened around my waist. “I think I need to sit down,” she whispered.

“If you boys will excuse us.” I gave Xavier a look that said behave for real and gently led Hannah away.

Leaving him unsupervised with Noah could end in a number of ways.

An argument. A fist fight. A shouting match. World War Three.

None of the hypothetical outcomes gave me much hope.

Maybe he’ll prove me wrong.

Oh right. He doesn’t like maybes.

After I got Hannah a bottle of water and an assortment of heavy appetizers, I accompanied her to Bennet’s table. She insisted on walking without help but I wasn’t about to let her stumble her way through the room.

Besides, I had a few things to say to the god of thunder.

“Feeling alright, doll?” he asked, smiling at Hannah. She sat next to him, sipping on the water.

“I’m fine.” She regained some of her poised stature.

“And how about you, Ms. Chase? Feeling okay?” His amber eyes glittered with self-satisfaction.

I started to say something and snapped my mouth shut.

Self edit.

I have to self edit or I’ll say way too many things right now.

“Remember the night the three of us went out for drinks?” I asked.

“Of course. Lovely evening.”

“Right.” I rolled my eyes. “I would appreciate it if you took your own unsolicited advice about limits.”

Bennet folded his hands, regarding me with interest. “Go on.”

“If you want your little games to involve me or Xavier, maybe you should ask us if we want to be a part of them instead of imposing your will to get your fucking rocks off.”

So much for self editing .

I half expected Bennet to launch into one of his lengthy speeches about how I’m not a true submissive and I wouldn’t appreciate his definition of disobedience and blah, blah, blah.

Much to my surprise, he capitulated.

“You’re right. Although, your boyfriend knows more than you think. But that’s a conversation for the two of you to have at some point.” His expression softened. “I apologize if any of what transpired made you uncomfortable. It wasn’t my intention.”

Sincerity coated every word. None of what he said felt rehearsed or forced.

Hannah snuggled into his side when he wrapped an arm around her. Just your average couple sharing a sweet moment.

“I’ll give you a pass this time, Bennet. And for the record, I wasn’t uncomfortable. Just…aggravated with you.”

“Duly noted.” He glanced down softly at Hannah. “If you’ll excuse us, I’m going to bring this precious woman to a more suitable room so she can recover from all those shots.”

As insufferable as Bennet can be at times, he really did care about Hannah. I watched him escort her out of the solarium.

One situation handled.

I braced myself and turned around.

Now, let’s see what’s going on with Xavier and—

What the…?

Xavier was holding court with Noah, Jax, and Dante, regaling them with a story. And he looked like he was enjoying himself. Obviously, he loved to be the center of attention. That part doesn’t surprise me.

But the way his face lit up as he spoke? Mesmerizing.

Oh my God.

Is he laughing and high-fiving with Noah ?

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see this.

Peaceful warmth spread through my chest.

Charlotte .

“Yeah, okay,” I whispered, putting my hand on my heart. “I see what you’re doing.”

The familiar sting of sadness and guilt threatened to overtake me. Wrestling with what happened to her when we were teenagers always lingered deep in my soul. Some days were easier than others. Moments like this always brought me unexpected peace.

Inhaling slow, I walked toward my boyfriend and his brand new buddies.

“…bowling or duck-duck-goose,” Jax was saying. “We like to keep the touchdown celebrations fun.”

I caught Xavier’s eye and smiled. He motioned for me to come closer.

“I preferred when you all did leap frog,” I told Jax, leaning my back against Xavier’s chest. His knuckles rasped across the front of my dress until the warmth of his hand rested on my stomach. I laced my fingers through his, relishing the soft rumble of satisfaction vibrating from him.

“We have a whole list of new ones for this season,” Dante quipped.

“Is Hannah still around?” Noah asked me. “I really wanted to get this photo.”

I shook my head. “She left. It’ll have to be just the three of you.”

“And you ,” Noah emphasized. “That was the plan.” He took out his phone and looked at Xavier. “Would you mind taking it for us?”

I waited for the inevitable tensing of muscles or a deep sigh or something. Much to my surprise, Xavier pressed a kiss to my neck and responded, “I’d be happy to.”

The second I stepped away from him, I studied his expression.

Friendly. Relaxed. Handsome as sin.

An eyebrow arched. “Do I have something on my face, love?”

“Um, uh, nope,” I stammered a bit. “Just wanted to make sure it was actually you and not a clone.”

“I see.” A knowing smile played on his lips. “Your friends are waiting.”

I walked over to the guys, opting to stand between Dante and Noah. Of course, they both put their arms around me. Xavier didn’t bat an eye. He simply pointed the phone at us and took the picture. Then he took one of just the three of them.

“Would you mind if your guy joins us for a picture, Victoria? How cool is it to have the best quarterback, tight ends, and goalkeeper the world has ever seen all together.”

“So cool.” I answered Noah before looking Xavier dead in the eye. “All these egos crammed together in one photo is definitely unmatched.”

His gaze swept over me in one heated motion filled with promises, sin, and filthy fantasies. I took the phone from him and grinned.

The four of them actually looked great together. And Noah’s right. They are some of the best athletes in the world.

I took a few pictures and handed the phone to my quarterback. Jax and Dante thanked us and returned to their dates.

Noah lingered for a few minutes.

“How long are you in the States for?” he asked Xavier.

“At least another couple weeks. Training for our season starts next month plus I have an international friendly coming up in August that I have to get back to prepare for.”

Noah gestured toward me. “He can use our gym while he’s here, right? I don’t think the Knights’ training staff will mind having one of England’s premiere players use the facility.” He turned his attention to Xavier. “You’ll be here for the Fourth of July then?”

My heart lodged itself in my throat. I flicked my eyes from Xavier to Noah, and back to Xavier.

He held my stare. “I plan to be. Why?”

“Tracey and I are renting a house on Lake George. We’re having some of the guys over. Jax, Dante. Oh, yeah, and Tre Gideon. He’s not here tonight but I think you met him after your game. Victoria and her friends always have an open invitation. You should come.”

Xavier’s pleasant smile punctuated the most unexpected conversation of the night. “I’ll consider it. Thank you.”

“I should get back to Tracey before she sends out a search party.” Noah hugged me before extending his hand to Xavier. “Great talking to you, man.”

Silence filled the space Noah previously occupied for several long moments before Xavier spoke.

“You seem surprised.”

“You could honestly knock me down with a feather right now.”

Navigating the ebbs and flows of his reactions and motivations tonight has been exhausting.

Flirtatious and filthy.

Pensive and stoic.

Charming and engaging.

“I think the internet experts call it growth .”

“You’re best friends now?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he drawled. “But he seems alright. Loves his teammates, loves the sport, loves competing.” Xavier looked at me softly. “He respects and thinks highly of you. They all do. Do you know how proud I felt hearing that? Gaining the trust and respect of professional athletes isn’t always easy. We can be selfish assholes.”

“Not all of you.” My words might have come out calm and even, but my heart pounded so hard I was afraid he’d hear it.

Proud.

He was proud to hear that about me.

Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes much too easily. I shouldn’t have had all the tequila .

It took me years to finally learn that my own father was proud of me. My mother still hasn’t acknowledged anything I’ve accomplished.

Since my twin died, I’ve walked through life convincing myself I didn’t need anyone to validate me. I know what I’ve achieved. I know I’m great at what I do.

Didn’t matter if it warred with the constant feelings of not deserving it.

Xavier held my chin and tilted it until my eyes met his.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “If you could see yourself the way others do, you wouldn’t downplay or dismiss your accomplishments.”

I’m always captivated by his eyes but right now they were magical. Golden shards reflected in the deep sapphire blue from all the soft lighting. Like constellations in the night sky .

“How do others see me?”

He held my stare. “Smart, confident, graceful, honest.” Another soft stroke of his thumb brushed over my cheek. “One of a kind.”

I swallowed. We both know that last part had nothing to do with other people. “And how do you see me?”

Xavier’s breathing staggered for a split second before answering. “Like you are the most remarkable, beautiful, rare creature I’ve ever seen.”

The words ignited every cell in my body.

“Never forget that, love.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” His lips brushed mine in the softest of kisses, sending my heart galloping. “Come with me.”