Playing to Win

wasn’t her. Shedidn’t get clean. She didn’t come back. She wasn’t thinking about me, only about herself. Like always, it was about her and what she needed, never about what I needed.”
    He swept his hand down her arm, his touch light. He wasn’t pulling her in, wasn’t trying to hug her, just giving her comfort. “What did you need?”
    Anger and hurt finally won. She slumped against him. “I needed my mother. I needed her to take care of me.” Tears spilled from her eyes and she didn’t try to hold them back. The floodgates had burst and pain wrenched from every part of her. “Why did she do that to me? Why didn’t she take care of me?”
    Her legs wobbled and she started to sink to the floor. Cole was there to catch her, to wrap his strong arms around her. He dropped down and pulled her onto his lap.
    She leaned her head against him and sobbed, so hard that for a while she felt like she couldn’t breathe. And through it all, Cole held her, stroking her hair and her back while she cried out the misery, loneliness, and abandonment she’d felt as a child and all through her adulthood.
    For the first time in all these years, she let the memories come through, remembered the good times she’d had with her mother, and all the bad times, wrenching fresh tears and agony so painful she wasn’t sure she’d survive it.
    And still, Cole held her, murmuring words of comfort, a solid presence while she let go of it all.
    When she had nothing left to cry, she leaned her head against his shoulder, so spent she couldn’t even talk. Cole picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. He sat her on the bed and went into the bathroom, came back with a warm washcloth to wipe her face. He took down her hair, slipped off her shoes, and unzipped her dress, making her stand so he could slip it off her, then he moved her onto the bed and put her under the covers.
    Exhaustion took over and she crawled in. He undressed and climbed in the bed with her, shut off the light and pulled her tight against him.
    There was so much more she wanted to say to him, but she didn’t have it in her to have that conversation.
    Not now. She needed to regroup.
    She closed her eyes and snuggled against his warmth.
    COLE LAY IN BED FOR A LONG TIME, LISTENING TO THE sounds of Savannah’s breathing.
    She’d fallen asleep right away, but it wasn’t an easy sleep.
    He figured he’d hold her until she drifted off, then he’d get up and watch some TV. It was still early, after all.
    But the way she held on to him—clutching him like she was lost at sea and he was her goddamn lifeline—made him rethink his strategy.
    She’d gone it alone. Her entire life, she’d had no one. The success and position she held now had been her own doing. She’d had no parents along the way to help her, to cook her meals and make sure she did her homework, no one to kick her ass when she needed it, no one to kiss her boo-boos when she failed and tell her everything was going to be all right.
    How tough did someone have to be to survive a childhood like that?
    Pretty fucking tough.
    Yet she was so sweet. She wasn’t a hard-ass, wasn’t jaded after all that had been done to her. In bed, she was giving and generous. And she smiled a lot. She seemed to enjoy life.
    Whereas he’d been nothing but a giant pain in the ass, taking for granted everything that had been given to him. He’d had it so easy, while his parents had struggled to give him a good life so all he had to do was go out and live his dream.
    He and Savannah were as different as night and day. How could she tolerate being around him? He was nothing but a spoiled football player who craved the spotlight. He didn’t deserve to be sharing a bed with her. She needed someone who cared for her, who thought of nothing but her, who’d give up everything just to give her the kind of life she deserved.
    He sucked in a breath and realized it was time he made some serious life changes. It was time to go all in and stop hesitating about the things he really wanted in his career. In his life.
    It was time to start taking some chances.



EIGHTEEN

    SAVANNAH WOKE ALONE IN HER BED, FEELING A LITTLE disoriented and with a wicked headache, but fully aware of what had happened last night.
    She sat up, drew her knees to her chest, and laid her head in her hands.
    She’d been making a lot of boneheaded moves since she’d met Cole.
    Having sex with him, of course, topped the list. But falling apart in front of