Free All In: Paying to Play (Gambling With Love) by Lane Hart Page A

all seriousness. Who wouldn't want this man? "Oh I know, she's blind, right?"
    Zack scrubs both hands over his face and shakes his head. "No, she's not blind."
    "Mentally incompetent?"
    "Nope."
    "Then I have no fucking clue. Except..." I start and hesitate before being brutally honest with the hottest man alive.
    "What?" he asks.
    "You are known for being a player. Maybe she just doesn't want to be played," I explain as gently as possible. Is that why I'm hesitating with Jake? Because I'm afraid he'll hurt me? Hell, I know he'll hurt me. He does so on a daily basis and we're not even sleeping together!  
    "I thought I went out of my way to show her I wasn't trying to play her," Zack grumbles.
    "Sorry, but I have no further advice, and I'm a freaking expert. Psychiatrist," I tell him with a sympathetic smile.
    "I bet Jake keeps you busy with all his psychotic bullshit." Zack chuckles.  
    "You have no idea. I'm starting to think the man might just be pure evil."
    "And yet your dad got you to agree to live with him and date him for several weeks?" he asks.
    "I'm using the money he's paying me to start my own practice and get a little publicity. He needed a non-slut. You're not going to…tell anyone about this, are you?" I suddenly worry that I've been running my mouth and now it's going to bite me in the ass.
    "Hell no. I hope you'll keep my problems to yourself, too."
    "Of course, doctor-patient confidentiality," I assure him. "Too bad they didn't hook me up to be your fake girlfriend."
    "Yeah," he replies with a sigh, and I know he's lying. Despite what he just did, there's only one woman he wants. I was nothing more than an attempt for him to try and get over her. Oh, silly football player. Doesn't he know that's not how it works?
    "You could fuck a million women, but if she's the one, you'll never forget her," I tell him. "Maybe you shouldn't give up on her so soon. Either she's worth the challenge or she's not. But when the day comes that Zack Bradford can't get the girl, then there's no chance for any other man," I tease.
    "Maybe you're right." He sighs, and I can hear the regret in his words. He's not the only one. "I better go."  
    "Good luck," I say to him as he climbs off the bed and starts to redress.
    "Thanks," Zack replies with a small, sad smile before leaving my room.
    …
    Jake doesn't speak to me Saturday, not that he was home much, or Sunday morning before his one o'clock game. Why that makes me feel like shit, I'm not sure, but it does.
    I get to the stadium jersey-less, in my jeans and women’s Wildcat tee, an hour early, pick up my ticket under the same name, "Bitch" and take my seat next to Jake's brothers.
    "Holy shit!" the oldest one, Jordan, says while I settle in with a tray of nachos. "You again? How the hell is that possible?"
    "What can I say? I'm a keeper," I mutter on an exhale.
    "Trouble in paradise?" he asks. 
    "Huh? No, of course not. Jake and I are awesome."
    "Bullshit."
    "I had no idea that pain-in-the-ass was a hereditary condition," I tell him, making him chuckle.
    "Oh, so you're saying Jake's in the doghouse?"
    "Nope," I reply, then quickly shove a cheese covered chip into my mouth.
    "Yeah he is. What'd he do?" Jordan asks.
    "It wasn't him that messed up, it was me," I admit honestly.
    "Have you apologized?"
    "No."
    "Why the hell not?" he asks.
    I shrug my shoulders.
    "So Jake's mad at you?"
    "Uh-huh," I keep filling my mouth with chips to avoid having to give more specific answers to his probing questions.
    "And you're upset that he's mad at you, but you haven't apologized?"
    I shrug my shoulders again.  
    Jordan sighs heavily and shifts in his seat. "A&W root beer and apple pie," he says softly.
    "Ah, what?"
    "If you want him to forgive you those are his favorites. But you should already know that since you're his girlfriend."
    "I don't think all the root beer and pie in the city could mend this."
    "You cheated on him!?!" he exclaims, and I quickly shush him as my face starts to