Silver
ALSO BY K.A. LINDE
ASCENSION SERIES
The Affiliate
The Bound
ADULT ROMANCE SERIES
AVOIDING SERIES
Avoiding Commitment
Avoiding Responsibility
Avoiding Intimacy
Avoiding Decisions
Avoiding Temptation
RECORD SERIES
Off the Record
On the Record
For the Record
Struck from the Record
ALL THAT GLITTERS SERIES
Diamonds
Gold
Emeralds
Platinum
Silver
TAKE ME SERIES
Take Me for Granted
Take Me with You
STAND ALONE
Following Me
Copyright © 2016 by K.A. Linde
All rights reserved.
Visit my website at
www.kalinde.com
Cover Designer: Anna Crosswell, Cover Couture,
www.bookcovercouture.com
Photography: Lindee Robinson Photography,
www.facebook.com/LindeeRobinsonPhotography
Editor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing,
www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1537622842
“
THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE
.”
Stacia Palmer tried not to roll her eyes. Her boyfriend, Marshall Matthews, had been repeating that over and over and over again for hours on end throughout the past two days. So, not only was
today
the best day of his life, but yesterday had been the best day of his life as well. And if he didn’t get drafted into the NFL today during the second round, then she was sure
tomorrow
, he was going to repeat ad nauseum that was the best day of his life, too.
But today was not the best day of Stacia’s life.
Yesterday hadn’t been either.
It should have been.
This was what she had worked three long years for. To some, her dream of becoming an NFL quarterback’s wife had seemed outlandish. Back at Las Vegas State, people had painted her as a slutty jersey chaser. She never denied any of the claims. It was exactly what she wanted. Or at least she had thought so.
When did getting everything you’ve ever wanted become a bad thing?
Everyone stilled around her as the Commissioner for the NFL stepped onto the stage to announce the next pick. Marshall tightly gripped her hand in his own and reached for his mother’s, who was seated on the other side of him. His father ceased his pacing and stared up at the screen, waiting to have his son called onstage. It had been a long couple of days for everyone. Waiting had never been more difficult.
“With the fiftieth pick in the NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts select…”
Marshall squeezed tighter, crushing her pinkie finger. She winced and tried to pull away, but Marshall was a star college quarterback. She stood no chance.
“Baison Truman, defensive end, Miami.”
Cheers erupted a section down from them. Stacia swiveled in her chair, thankful that Marshall had finally released her. She saw a tall African American man in a blue striped suit and bow tie hug his daughter who couldn’t have been older than four years old before hauling her up onto his hip and walking through the door to the main stage.
Marshall deflated next to her as another opportunity had passed by him. Not that he’d been in any talks with Indianapolis, but still, everyone had assured him that he would be drafted in the first round. Now, halfway through the second round, things were beginning to look dire.
It didn’t help that LV State hadn’t made it to the playoffs this year. They hadn’t even won their bowl game. They might have if the coach had decided to play to back up Pace instead of Marshall, but Marshall had more experience even if he didn’t have Pace’s talent.
She closed her eyes against the image of Baison Truman putting his Colts hat and jersey on his daughter.
Why am I thinking about Pace?
Pace Larson was nothing to her. He had made it blatantly clear time and time again that
she
was nothing to him either. That was how she had ended up here, at the draft with Marshall, instead of back in Vegas, finishing out her junior year with Pace as the starting quarterback her senior year.
“Fuck, why am I even here? This is humiliating,” Marshall swore next to her.
“It’ll work out,” Stacia said. She was trying to be encouraging but finding it increasingly difficult.
She knew the amount of money he would make dropped significantly for every person who went ahead of him. This would make his career. And that should have mattered to her. Well, it always had. She’d thought she would marry a man drafted as a first pick and happily live off his money for the rest of her days. After all, that was what she knew. Her father had been an NFL quarterback and it all made sense for it to come full circle.
She wasn’t like her two best friends—Bryna Turner and Trihn Hamilton. Bryna had been a gold digger for a bit there, but even then, she had always had higher aspirations. Now, she was on her way to becoming a movie director, like her father. Trihn had already started a successful clothing line that sold designer clothes to New York boutiques. They were both killing it!
Stacia hadn’t ever wanted something more in her life. Until today.
Now, she wanted something else.
It stirred inside her.
This strange feeling she had never, ever encountered before. It choked her. Ate at her from the inside out. Crawled over her skin and into her stomach.
Guilt?
Or maybe regret?
Whatever it was, this moment wasn’t right.
“Don’t talk to me like you know shit, Stacia. This is my career on the line,” he spat.
He launched from his seat and started pacing by his father. His mother shot Stacia a sympathetic look and then joined them.
Stacia sat, seething.
She
knew
his motherfucking career was on the line. She
knew
what this meant to him. And, frankly, she
did
know shit.
She wasn’t just some dumb cheerleader. She really knew and understood the ins and outs of football. Her father was the head coach of the football team for the University of Southern California where her younger brother, Derek, now played as the starting quarterback. She knew football.
Stacia took a deep breath and tried to rein in her growing unease. Why was she having second thoughts? Did it have something to do with the fact that Marshall hadn’t been drafted yet? Was it because he wasn’t going in the first round, and that hadn’t been her dream?
She didn’t think so. She was just realizing that claiming to want this life was one big lie.
Stacia and Marshall hadn’t spent much time together since he had decided to enter the draft. As soon as he’d announced it, he’d gotten a sports agent, a slimy guy by the name of Jude Rose. Her best friend Bryna had dated Jude her senior year of high school and found out the hard way that he was married. The fact that Marshall had chosen Jude anyway, despite Stacia informing him how much of a prick he was, hadn’t helped anything.
Afterward, Marshall had started training. He’d worked his ass off in every facility he could get into. Then, he’d gone to the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which Stacia had known was the real deal. How he performed in front of scouts there would make or break his draft stock.