My first love let them destroy my leg to save his scholarship. Guess who's his boss now?

Matt Harrison was my everything in college—my first love, my secret, my future. Until jealous teammates sabotaged me on the field, ending my career, and Matt chose to stay silent. He was so deep in the closet he couldn't see daylight. Too scared that being gay would destroy everything he'd built to escape his deadbeat father and toxic childhood. I was nineteen, heartbroken, and convinced love was a lie.

Now I'm twenty-seven, rich as hell, and the new owner of the Cincinnati Crusaders. Matt's team. He's still the golden boy with his perfect fake girlfriend, still hiding behind the same lies that cost us everything. Still so terrified of the truth that he'd rather live a lie.

Every team meeting, I watch him squirm. Every practice, I remind him who signs his paychecks. Every time he looks at me with those desperate eyes, begging for forgiveness, I remember what it felt like to be sacrificed for his fear. He could have warned me about the sabotage. Could have chosen love over image. Instead, he let them destroy me.

The problem? Eight years later, I still want him. And Matt? He's making it clear that underneath all that fear, he never stopped wanting me either. But this time, if he wants me, he'll have to choose me. Publicly. Completely. No more hiding. Revenge was supposed to be simple. Making him face the truth might be even better.

Contains mature themes.