Page 3 of Second Chance to Score

I stood up, pushing my chair back with a clatter and sending an apologetic smile towards my mother.

“Thanks for dinner, Mom. I really need to get out of here.”

I didn’t wait to hear what my father was mumbling to my mother as I stormed out.

Robbie

“I don’t know Coach, this seems like a bad idea. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but your daughter hates me.”

“Oh, I’m fully aware of that, Mason. She didn’t even try to hide it last night. Then again, she hates me more.”

That was a rare moment of self-reflection for the man who I’d known for over twenty years now.

“Look, I pulled some strings to get you on her calendar for tomorrow morning at ten a.m. Just show up and say that you’re Robert Grey, and then when you see her you can convince her to take you on as a patient.”

“Or she’ll castrate me.”

The coach shook his head. “She wouldn’t do that during football season. She’s a Grange, she knows what’s important.”

Despite my instincts, I showed up at Grange Physical Therapy a few minutes before ten. I’d spent a sleepless night thinking about Violet and what it would be like to see her again. It had been twenty years, but I still remembered with painful clarity the day she broke up with me.

We were early into our junior year of college and after dating for two years, I figured we’d be together forever. I was head over heels in love with her, and not because she was football royalty. No, I’d fallen in love with Violet even before I knew who her family was. Her curvy body and expressive green eyes drew me in at first, but her brilliant mind and fun-loving personality had made me stay.

I’d had it all planned out. I’d get drafted to the NFL my senior year, and then I’d propose. She’d get a job doing PT for whatever team I went with, and the two of us would travel the country during the season, then spend our off-season in Colorado, where we’d both been raised.

Everything had been perfect, until the day she’d come to my room at the frat house and discovered a naked woman in my bed. I didn’t even know who the woman was. I’d come home from the library to find her sleeping there and stayed in a buddy’s room instead. I learned later she’d been hoping I’d come back so she could seduce me but had fallen asleep before I got there.

When Violet discovered the other girl naked in my bed, she’d assumed that I was cheating on her. And that was it. Violet lost all her trust in me over some drunk girl with a crush. There was no reasoning with her, and in the end, I was too hurt by her lack of trust to keep trying to fix things.

We spent the next two years studiously avoiding each other, which was a little hard when we both were minoring in exercise science and had a lot of classes together.

“Mr. Gray?” I looked up at the young woman who was staring in my direction with a flirty smile. Based on her “Grange Physical Therapy” polo, she worked here. “I’ll take you back now.”

“Thank you.” I followed her back to one of the treatment rooms where she handed me a clipboard and a stack of papers.

“Fill those out please and Dr. Grange will be in soon.” She headed towards the door, then turned back to study me. “You must have friends in high places Mr. Gray, Dr. Grange usually has a waiting list that’s months long.”

I took a few minutes filling out the paperwork, even though I knew that the team would pay for my visit and share all of my applicable medical records. If Violet agreed to take me on as a patient, that is.

Ten minutes later, the door opened. When I looked up, my heart seemed to stutter in my chest. Time had been good to Violet, because somehow, she looked even more beautiful than she had back in college.

She was still an enticing mix of lean and curvy, although she’d filled out some over the years. It only made her look more womanly. Her auburn hair seemed a little darker now, cut in a long bob that skimmed the top of her shoulders.

“Hello Mr. Grey, I’m—.”

Her words broke off as she looked up and realized who I was. Her beautiful green eyes immediately turned angry.

“Robbie? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Your father sent me.”

“Of course he did,” she huffed. “That man never learned how to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Her eyes trailed over my body in a way that was not exactly clinical. My cock twitched in greeting and I blew out a slow breath, silently telling him to stand down.

“Violet, I know you hate me, and your father tricking you into seeing me isn’t ideal. But I also know that you love the Cougars. It’s my last season, I just need you to help me get through the playoffs.”

“No.”