Forever Blake (Once Upon a Player Book 3) by Elena Matthews (free books to read .TXT) 📗

“Hey, it’s me,” Ever’s gentle voice sounds through the door. “Open up. I have delicious burgers to help soak up that hangover.”

My stomach would probably rumble if it wasn’t currently filled to the brim with scotch. I get to my feet, stumbling slightly while my body gets acclimated to the gravity-to-booze ratio. They don’t usually mix too well together. I shuffle my feet across the wooden floor until I reach the door. I swing it open, and my chest constricts when her beauty overwhelms me in the best way possible.

God, she’s perfect.

“There you are—” Her eyes widen when she takes in my face.

No doubt, the bruising around my eyes has turned a new shade of purple since I last looked.

“Oh my God, Blake,” she says with a shriek, covering one hand over her mouth. “What happened?”

I step back as she all but charges inside my apartment. She sets a takeout bag on the small table by the door and steps up to me, delicately tracing my face. I hiss as everywhere surrounding my nose fucking hurts.

“Um, your dad knows.”

She pales at my mention of her father. “My dad did this?” she asks, her voice trembling.

I nod. “Yeah. Someone saw us heading into the pool house last night, and…well, he turned up this morning. As you can see, he wasn’t happy.”

Her chin wobbles, her pretty eyes shining with the onset of tears. “I’m so sorry, Blake. I knew he probably wouldn’t take it well, but to do this to you…I’m going to kill him. This is not okay!”

She goes to turn away, but I latch on to her wrist, keeping her glued to the spot.

“No, you’ll just make it worse. He wasn’t messing around this morning. This,” I say, pointing to my nose, “was just a warning.”

Her eyes crinkle, a frown forming. “What do you mean, a warning?”

“To stay away from you.”

“He said that?”

“Yes. That I’m the scum of the world, how he doesn’t want me tainting you, and how I clearly took advantage of you.”

“Surely, he didn’t mean it.”

“Okay, so if he didn’t mean it, then why did he fire me?” I shoot back.

She shakes her head. “He can’t do that.”

“He can, and he did, Ever.” I step away from her, threading my fingers through my unkempt hair.

“I’ll speak to him, Blake. He was obviously just in shock. You’re his best lawyer at the firm. He wouldn’t want to lose you.”

“That was before I slept with his daughter. It’s funny how much a man can lose respect for his prodigy in an instant, and who can blame him? I let him down. It was my job to teach you, not to get you to fall in love with me.”

“Does he know that I fell in love with you before I even knew he was your boss?”

I know her words should make me smile, but my brain just gets foggier from the scotch. “He doesn’t care, Ever. He wouldn’t let me explain. He just doesn’t want me to be with you.”

“Well, he doesn’t get to decide that for me.”

“Actually, it seems he does. In fact, he basically has me by the balls.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said if I don’t end our relationship, I could find myself in prison for a mistake I made fucking years ago, Ever. That, or he’ll have me disbarred.”

She gasps, horror masking her features. “Oh my God. How dare he blackmail you like that! I need to speak to him right now. He can’t be fucking serious. All because we fell in love? I didn’t realize he was such a cynic. Baby, I’ll fix this, I promise.”

“Why bother?” I spit out.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asks, her brows scrunching up with confusion.

“Maybe he’s right. Maybe I’m not good for you. I’ve never even been in a relationship before you. Who’s to say I won’t cheat on you, huh? I mean, hell, I probably will. It’s all I know…woman after woman…” I barely recognize the words spewing from my mouth, but I have no control over them. I’m not sure if I’m saying them to hurt her or myself or if I’m just angry and pissed with the entire situation.

“Jesus, he’s gotten into your head. I don’t believe for a second that you’d ever cheat on me. I don’t get where this self-sabotage is coming from.”

“How can this even work between us? You have so much to offer the world still…and here I am, a thirty-two-year-old lawyer who’s never been in a relationship, now unemployed, having spent his entire morning losing himself inside a bottle of scotch. I can barely stand up; I’m so steamed. Your dad is right. I’m not good enough for you.”

“Are you finished with your pity party?” she snaps, staring daggers at me. “I mean, are you even going to let me have a say in this? Or have both you and my dad decided how to run my life?”

“I’m not deciding how to run your life. It’s just…having me in your life isn’t a good choice. I’m not a good choice.”

“You know what? You’re drunk. I think we should discuss this once you’ve gotten some greasy food inside you and some sleep,” she tries to reason as she picks up the takeout bag and proceeds to make her way toward the kitchen.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Fine. I can’t force you to eat,” she states, setting the takeout bag on the counter. “But I’m not talking about this while you’re drunk. So, I’m going to sort this shit out with my dad, and I’ll come back later when you’re thinking straight.”

I follow her and lean my hands against the counter. “That’s where you’re wrong. I am thinking straight. I’m thinking so fucking straight that I’m even willing to do something that I’ll probably regret for the rest of my life, but I need to. You’re too good for me…every inch of you. You have your entire life ahead of you. I was wrong to ever start anything with you. I mean, who can blame