Chapter 81

Carol’s POV

I stare at them in disbelief. Sophia is wrapped around Coach Bower’s arm, and she is batting her long lashes up at him. What kind of game is she playing right now? I look at Aiden who is just as confused if not more.

“Coach, are you feeling okay?” Aiden asks, narrowing his eyes at him.

Coach Bower looks at Aiden like he has lost his mind.

“I’ve never felt better,” Coach says, shrugging his shoulders. “Why do you ask?”

“Since when is Sophia your fated mate?” Aiden asks, his brows furrowed together.

“We had never met until today,” Coach says, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess I didn’t know. I’m sorry if this upsets you, but it’s the truth.”

“You know she convinced Zach, my ex, that she’s his fated mate too, right?” I ask, not sure if Coach actually knew what had happened between Carol and me.

Coach Bower looks skeptical for a moment; I can see the uncertainty in his eyes as he glances down at Sophia who’s glaring at me in the same fashion that Katrina had glared at me when I caught her in a lie. I fold my arms across my chest and stare back, not willing to back down. These were my people; this is my career. I’m not letting Sophia ruin another good thing.

“Do you really think I would do something like that again? Especially with you here? I’m not stupid,” she says through her teeth. “Can’t you just be happy for us, Carol?”

She puts her head on Coach’s arm and he pretty much gushes at the motion.

I wanted to say something to put Sophia in her place; I was sick and tired of her trying to wiggle her way in and ruin my life. I’m not exactly sure what she was after, but I made a promise that I would find out if it was the last thing I did.

I grabbed Aiden’s arm and pulled him away from the two of them, knowing that if I stuck around, I would say something I’d regret. I walked back inside, my head whirling from what had just happened.

Aiden stops me before we get too far and he spins me around to face him; his eyes showing compassion and worry as he looks into mine.

“Are you okay?” He finally asks after he finishes studying me.

I shake my head, feeling the anger surging through my body.

“Nothing about this is okay,” I said through my teeth, not really sure what to think about the situation or how to go about any of this.

He nods, understanding and then he bends and kisses my forehead.

“I know and I’m not sure what got into Coach all of a sudden,” Aiden says, shaking his head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Do you think that she’s pulling the same trick she pulled on Zach?”

“I can almost count on it,” I murmur, folding my arms across my chest as I get lost deep in thought.

“What do you want to do about it?” He asks as if I held all the answers.

I sigh, my shoulders are slumping. All the fight in me was slowly leaving my body because when it came down to it, there wasn’t anything we could do about it. If Coach Bower wants to believe Sophia and be with her, then that’s his business. I don’t have a right to come in between them and plus, there’s always that small percent that I could be wrong, and Sophia really is tricking him like she tricked Zach.

It’s a nagging feeling that doesn’t seem to want to go away, but I push it into the pit of my belly anyway and shrug my shoulders, trying to seem casual, but feeling as if I was punched in the stomach.

Aiden reluctantly agrees and we continue the rest of the banquet like nothing had happened. We speak to a few sponsors, we eat some more food, I drink a little bit too much wine, and then we start to say goodbye to the dying party as we decide it’s probably time to leave. I’m exhausted and all I really want to do is slide into bed with my fated mate.

My cheeks warm at the very thought and from the sparkle in Aiden’s eyes whenever he glances at me during the many conversations he’s been having with different sponsors and coaches, I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.

“It was good talking to you, Daniel. I’ll make sure to keep you in mind when we return in a couple of months and are in need of a home,” I heard a man saying as he shook Daniel’s hand. The man had a very fancy suit on, which most likely cost more than my apartment, and on his arm was a stunning-looking woman with a gold shimmering dress and her long sleek blonde hair tied back in a low pony.

Daniel beamed at the man as they shook hands and when they said goodbye and parted ways, Daniel’s attention turned to me.

I can’t help the scowl on my face as our eyes lock. I don’t mean to scowl as I do, but it just kind of came out. Daniel doesn’t seem to notice though; or if he does, he doesn’t care. He lifts his glass of wine in the air like he’s toasting me before he brings the glass to his lips and sips on the white elixir.

I hardly notice that I’m walking toward him until I’m directly in front of him and he looks startled to see me so close to him.

“Carol,” Daniel greets, a glint of humor in his eyes. “What can I do for you?”

“What kind of game are playing with Coach Bower?” I asked him before I could stop myself.

He raises his brows at me, completely caught off guard.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” he says, shrugging his shoulders as he takes another sip of his wine.

Maybe It’s the fact that I had too much wine, to begin with, but I’m feeling bolder than I had in a long time and I’m not taking his absentminded answers.

“I’m serious, Daniel. You brought Sophia here after knowing the stunt she pulled with Zach. It’s not a coincidence that the same thing is happening with the coach as well.”

“I brought Sophia here because since you left, she’s the best in the company,” Daniel says, folding his own arms across his chest and arching a brow at me. “We are here for one reason and one reason one… to gain clientele. Sophia has great people skills and I thought she’d be able to benefit from this event. I’m sorry if the truth bothers you, but not everything revolves around you, Carol.”

I’m seeing fucking red. I’m not sure how I know he’s lying, but I can feel it in my bones. I scowl at him, and it takes everything I have not to lung my entire body at him. Or at the least slap him.

“Oh, Carol! There you are!” I hear Coach Bower saying as he rushes towards me, Sophia clinging to him like she might fall apart if she were to part herself from his clutches.

I had to stifle an eye roll at the two of them. I immediately calmed down when I felt Aiden’s large and warm hand on my lower back and his presence filled me with a sense of ease.

“Here I am,” I repeated his words, looking at Coach Bower expectantly.

“I have great news that I’m excited about,” he says, a big grin appearing on his face. “I just bought a multimillion-dollar house right on the beach! I want to have a party in celebration at the location in a couple of weeks after I settle in, and I thought the perfect woman to help with the party was you considering you pulled off this incredible banquet in a week.”

He was glowing from his admittance, but I couldn’t hear past, “Just bought a multimillion-dollar house.”

My mouth is on the ground as I stare at him in complete shock.

“You what?” I asked, my jaw still on the ground as I stared at him. He looks so happy, and I can’t wrap my head around any of this.

“Coach, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Aiden asks the question that’s on the tip of my tongue.

“Of course it is! I’ve been in need of a new home. Why wouldn’t it be?”

I looked at Daniel who was grinning from ear to ear. Something doesn’t feel right. As I stare at him, he meets my eyes, then he winks, and my blood boils. I just want the fucking truth for once; why is that so hard for people to do? Why can’t they just tell the truth?

Just as the thought leaves my mind, that familiar green glow surrounds him, and his entire body stills. He stares at me for a moment, and then his face falls and his shoulders slump. He then turns to Coach Bower and Sophia.

“What we are doing isn’t right,” he finally says, shocking all of us. “We need to give this man his money back, Sophia.”

Coach Bower’s brows pinch together and Sophia pales as she glares at Daniel.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, trying and failing to hide her nervousness.

“The coach doesn’t deserve this treatment and you know it,” Daniel says between his teeth. “You are deceiving him. You took that pill that makes the first guy who looks at you fall at your feet and think you’re his one true mate. It’s time to come clean.”