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Chapter Ten – Off the Clock

Author: Amycee
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-12 01:36:39

Lying to Cade wasn’t my worst idea this week… but it was close.

If I was going to pull it off, today was the only window I had.

Training camp went full throttle tomorrow. Today? Just a light shootaround, a little film review, and some sponsor calls, nothing he couldn’t handle without me breathing down his neck.

So I dressed for the part. Oversized sweater, baggy jeans, hair in a lazy bun. The kind of outfit that said Please don’t talk to me, I’m one bad question away from tears.

When I stepped inside his place, Cade glanced up from a protein shake. His eyes flicked over me, head tilting.

“You look…” He searched for the word. “…like you’ve already given up on life.”

“Medical condition,” I said, waving him off. “You wouldn’t survive it.”

A flicker crossed his face, something softer than his usual smirk, before he set the cup down.

“You should rest. Take the afternoon off. Whatever needs doing can wait until tomorrow.”

“Cool. See you then,” I said, already backing toward the door.

“Wow.
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  • Play Me Like You Mean It   CHAPTER 96 – Leaving Quietly

    I didn’t respond to Cade. I turned back to Zayne’s grave instead, drawing a slow breath, like I needed to pull myself together before I fell apart again. I had come here to say goodbye. Not to argue. Not to explain myself. And definitely not to stand there defending my pain.This moment wasn’t for Cade.It was for Zayne.Cade spoke again, his voice sharp behind me, asking what I was even doing there, like I had no right whatsoever to be there.I didn’t answer him.In my head, I spoke to Zayne instead.I have to go now, I told him silently. I didn’t expect him to show up here.I stood up slowly, brushed the dirt from my palms, and walked past Cade without looking at him.He reached out and grabbed my wrist.“Why?” he demanded, pulling me back.I looked down at his hand around my wrist, then calmly removed it.“You’re free to think whatever you want,” I said quietly. “I’m done explaining myself.”Then I walked away.I didn’t look back.I had packing to do.When I got home, the house was

  • Play Me Like You Mean It   CHAPTER 95 – Watch Your Back

    By the time I got into my car, my hands were already shaking.I slammed the door, locked it, then leaned forward until my forehead rested on the steering wheel.And that was it.The tears came.Not the small, manageable ones. The kind that make your chest hurt, your nose burn, your throat ache like you swallowed sand.I cried like I’d been holding my breath for weeks.Because I had.Zayne’s death hadn’t hit me like this. And that sounded cruel, even to me, but it was the truth. With Zayne, I went blank. I went numb. I turned into a body that moved and existed and did what was expected.But what Cade did, what he said, the way he looked at me…It cut through the numbness.It reminded me I was still alive enough to feel betrayal.I hated everything in that moment.Cade’s lack of trust. His approach to everything. How easily he believed the worst. How he sat there with anger in his eyes like I was the enemy.And I hated the version of me I’d become.I used to be broke, hustling, struggli

  • Play Me Like You Mean It   CHAPTER 94 – Trust Me a Little

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  • Play Me Like You Mean It   CHAPTER 93 – Another Truth

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  • Play Me Like You Mean It   CHAPTER 92 – The Final Farewell

    I couldn’t cry. I wanted to, but the tears wouldn’t come. Cade was next to me, breaking down in a way that made the air feel suffocating. His sobs came in heavy waves, his body shaking with grief so raw it felt like it might shatter him.But me? I just sat there. Empty.Everything felt too real, too final. This couldn’t be happening. My brain refused to accept it. Zayne was still here, somewhere, in a way that made this feel like a cruel joke.I somehow drove myself home. I didn’t want to be alone, but I also didn’t know how to face anyone. My body was on autopilot. I was in some sort of numb space, detached from everything.When I stepped inside, Jesse looked at me, and without a word, he knew. He didn’t ask me what happened. He just watched me walk to the couch. I sat there, my eyes fixed on nothing, feeling like I was being swallowed up by my own mind.Jesse sat quietly beside me, letting the minutes stretch into hours. No one needed to speak. At one point, I got up and went to my

  • Play Me Like You Mean It   CHAPTER 91 – Time of Death

    After I took off the white dress, I stood under the shower longer than necessary, letting the water run over me like it could rinse the day away. It didn’t.When I came out, wrapped in a towel, I went straight to the closet and pulled on a black T-shirt and shorts.I stepped out of my room, not wanting to be alone with my thoughts.Jesse was already in the living room, sitting on the couch with a movie playing. He wasn’t really watching it. I could tell by the way his eyes stayed fixed on the screen without following anything.I sat beside him. We didn’t speak for a while, just two people sharing the same space, both too tired to pretend everything was normal.After a long stretch of silence, he finally spoke.“So… what’s next?” he asked. “Are you moving in with Cade?”“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “We’ll figure it out.”That was the end of the conversation.At some point, exhaustion caught up with me. I fell asleep right there on the couch, my body giving in after everything it ha

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