Forget Me Not. Crystal B. Bright
sanctuary. His huge five-bedroom, four-bathroom house could have held a large family. As a teenager, he used to proclaim how one day he would have a house like he and his brothers had seen riding their bikes up and down the Oceanfront boardwalk. He had planned on getting married and filling the house with children. Plus, the place afforded him a little bit of privacy.
When the cab stopped at the guard station, Gideon popped his head out the back window to address the guard. “Hi. Would you mind opening the gate? I live here.”
The guard screwed up her lips as though preparing to argue with him. As soon as her stare met his, she stopped. Her mouth dropped open. “You’re Gideon Wells of the Wolves! I can’t believe you’re here. I saw you play.” The young woman pointed to a TV screen in her little shack. “You were great, especially that last play.”
Too bad not everyone would think that last play had been perfect. Gideon would have to call Dennis. No way would he allow this to mess up their decade-long friendship.
Gideon gave her a slight smile. “Thanks.”
“I’m new here.” She craned her body outside of the guard window and presented her hand to him. “My name is Pearl. Nice to meet you.”
He shook her hand. Although small, he felt calluses across her palm. A part of him respected her implied work ethic. “Do you need to see my ID?” Gideon reached into his pocket for his wallet.
“No, sir.” The thin Asian woman with shaggy brown hair started typing on her computer. “I recognize you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I can’t believe you’re home so soon after the Super Bowl.” She winked at Gideon.
“Had a family emergency.” Gideon shrugged and started to lean back into the cab.
“I hope everything is all right.”
Gideon hoped so. The guard opened the gate for the cab driver after issuing him a temporary pass.
Weariness caught up with Gideon the longer he sat in the cab. He yawned more than once before getting to his house. He needed to get some sleep and rest his knee for a bit. Now that he moved around, it started to throb.
Gideon paid the driver and took his bag into his big, empty house. “Hello!” he shouted if only to hear the echo reverberating back at him.
The inside looked the same. The same colorful Spanish tile floors greeted him. His oversize, custom-made furniture decorated the rooms. Having furniture made that fit his height and stature had been another perk of getting paid the ridiculous amount of money he’d been given to throw a ball and get pummeled by buildings posing as men.
He peered down the hall to the kitchen area. With it being morning, light streamed through the windows. The all-white kitchen looked clean. Although the small bag of peanuts on the plane hadn’t satisfied his hunger, Gideon didn’t feel like eating right now.
He looked straight ahead through the patio doors that led to his backyard area. His in-ground pool remained covered, and on top of that cover sat a layer of blinding-white snow. February in Virginia. He had to love it.
Gideon set his house alarm and started to drag his body and suitcase upstairs to his bedroom. Thankfully, the maid service kept his house cleaned. He knew he would come home to a bed with fresh sheets.
The first step he made on the bottom landing step shot a painful reminder to his brain of what he’d put his body through last night. The excruciating pain crumbled him to the floor until he had to take a seat on the step for a moment.
“Damn it!” He grasped his knee over his jeans.
Through the denim, he felt the tight bindings he’d used to wrap around his knee to keep it steady and stave off some of the discomfort. Too bad it hadn’t worked. Not this time.
Gideon rubbed his knee. “One more day, and then I’ll get it looked at. I need more time.”
He took a couple of deep breaths before standing and taking the stairs with ease and careful precision as to not aggravate his knee further. Had Dennis been here, he would have given Gideon the I-told-you-so speech for not having an elevator installed in his home. At the time he had his house built, the contractor had asked Gideon if he wanted an elevator. Gideon had turned down the offer flat without further argument. Honestly, he liked his house, but he hated being in a gated community. With rabid fans, he found it to be a necessity.
He breathed a sigh of relief once he got to his bedroom.
He flicked on the light in his bedroom and released a curse. His heart felt like it rocketed up to his head and pounded out of control until the steady beat filled his ears.
“Hi, Gideon.” The perky cheerleader he’d been trying to avoid sat up on her knees in his bed…naked. “Welcome home.”
Gideon took a deep breath before speaking; otherwise this young woman would hear a string of profanities that would make his mother blush. He also made sure to keep his stare directly on this woman’s eyes.
Scanning down at her body would only get him in trouble. Breaking up with a starlet had managed to get him out of the media’s eye. He didn’t need to go back with some new controversy.
“How did you get into my home?” Gideon stood by the bedroom door.
The way he felt, if he had moved in closer to this nut job, he would grab her and remove her from his house. Gideon had no plans of putting his hands on this woman. He held his cell phone and crossed his arms to keep it hidden.
“Actually it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.” She moved to the edge of the bed. “I was going to sit at the guard shack until you showed up and ask you to invite me up.” She hugged her body, which pushed her augmented breasts together.
Again, Gideon wouldn’t peer down. Nothing good could come from him looking at her like he wanted her.
She continued and smiled as though she had done a great thing. “I was on the same flight as you. Did you feel me touching your shoulder?”
So that strange touch hadn’t been on accident. As Gideon thought about the connection, a shiver ran through his body. He had been stepped on during a game by an opposing team member. He’d even been spat on in his face through his face guard. This cheerleader’s touch made him want to crawl out of his skin.
“Right when the plane landed, I went straight to your house.”
“How did you know where I live?” he asked.
“A girl’s got to have her secrets.” She winked. “Maybe later I’ll tell you so we can laugh about it.”
Gideon’s blood boiled with each treacherous word she spoke. Not only had she violated his personal space, she’d somehow managed to get his personal information.
“I didn’t have to wait for a bag because I came here with the clothes on my back. There was a male guard at the gate. I told him I was a She-Wolf and here to see you. It helps that we had that personal interaction at the Super Bowl.” She swung her legs back and forth. “Did you like that? I liked touching you.”
Gideon remained quiet. He had to hear her full story first before he took action.
When Gideon didn’t answer, the cheerleader’s smile started to fade and she continued with her tale. “He let me in and called your house. Your cleaning staff was here so they let me in.” She raised her hands in the air. “Tah dah. That was smart of me, right? Do you know any other woman who would do this much for you?” She snaked her tongue over her red, bee-stung-looking lips.
Nothing about this plastic woman appealed to Gideon. She didn’t seem real. The more she smiled, the more he saw her as a mannequin that had come to life. This one, though, had sought refuge in his home, in his bed. He couldn’t have that.
Gideon never wanted to be one of those athletes that bought a big, ostentatious house because they made millions of dollars.