The Playgirl's Lover (ON HOLD)

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Don't play the player

I looked her up and down in a swift motion before darting my gaze back to the road. She was a fragile little girl, if she played football with me I might end up accidentally killing her. "Football is a violent sport. It's a contact sport, a player is subjected to being tackled, hit, bumped, and brought to the ground to be stopped"

She gave me a toothy, confident grin. "I'm strong, I can handle it"

For a kid who had seen too much, too little, she sure seemed to have an infectious innocence to her. I nodded. "We'll see,"

I parked the car in the driveway and stepped out. Tessa stepped out too, her eyes went to the mansion behind me and she paled once more.

I checked my cell phone to see if there was any reply from a certain blonde who had made it her mission to ignore the fuck out of me. There was none, I slid the phone back into my pocket.

And I haven't been thinking about the kiss at all. Not even a single time. Certainly not a million times a day when I should be working or doing something important. And I swear on my friend's Christian's life that I hadn't jerked off.

Servants immediately grabbed Tessa's stuff from her and I gestured for her to follow me. As we stepped inside, mom and dad welcomed her with warm smiles. She instantly eased up watching them, all the tension leaving her body. She hugged mom and then dad before we went into the living room.

Damon was lazily sprawled across one of the couches, flipping through the TV channels when his eyes fell on us. He stiffened and sat up immediately, his eyes narrowed on Tessa before darting to us.

He was wearing a black hoodie with black sweatpants, he had dark circles under his eyes probably from crying too much. It was a fucking unbearable sight to see Damon like that. He is always the wild, funny child, not the dark, brooding one. Black is not a good color on him.

"Fuck it" he hissed under his breath and got off the couch, probably to go sulk in his bedroom.

"Damon," the underlying warning in dad's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Behave."

Damon's shoulders sagged before he faced with annoyance. "I'm behaving. You wanted to bring a liar into this house and you did, I didn't say anything, did I?"

The harsh edge to his voice made Tessa flinch and that fucking pissed me off but I remained quiet.

Mom walked up to him. "Damon, this needs to stop. Tessa is a part of this family now and you better treat her with respect. If you call her a liar or any other colorful words, there are going to be consequences"

Damon glared at her. "But she is a liar! She is the reason Aaron went to jail!"

She flinched once more before dad wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

And I've had enough of it. "Aaron is the reason Aaron went to jail!" I intervened, even though I didn't want to snap at him while he was this depressed.

Damon scoffed, and a heartbroken expression fell on his face. "You too, Ace?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "You are acting like a jackass."

His lips pressed into a thin line before tears welled up in his eyes again. "Congratulations, dad, you got another child now. Why don't you take her to Washington with you once you win the election because I sure as hell aren't going anywhere with you."

He stomped to his room like the child he is and slammed the door shut for everyone to hear.

Mom followed Damon to his room and dad just stood there in his spot. He swallowed before passing Tessa a sweet smile. "Tessa, sweetheart, Fiona will show you to your room. This is your home now. If you need anything else just let me or Hannah know, alright?"