Kayden 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

I groaned as the familiar sound of my ringtone pierced the room yet again. My phone had been ringing non-stop since sunlight flooded the room, but I had been ignoring it, trying to catch some sleep to make up for all the energy I had lost last night.

The soreness between my legs was hard to ignore, and I could barely feel my legs—just as Rhys had promised.

Last night had been amazing, but it had left me with so much aching. It wasn’t extremely painful, but it felt like my ass was on fire.

"Oh goodness," I groaned again, clenching my fists tightly as I struggled to rise from the bed with Rhys’s arms wrapped possessively around me.

He didn’t look bothered by the sound and was still sleeping so peacefully, as if he had not knotted me three times last night.

As I managed to stand up from his side, he stirred, fluttering his eyes open. "Kayden," he muttered.

I gave no response at first as I headed toward my tuxedo jacket. The phone was still ringing even when I removed it from the breast pocket.

"Who is this?" I groaned out in frustration as I stared at the unfamiliar number on my phone screen.

I limped back to the bed and gritted my teeth as I tried to sit down.

"What’s going on?" Rhys asked in his sleepy voice, yawning and stretching his arms as he rose from the bed. "Did something happen?"

"It’s my phone. This same number has been calling me for a while now," I responded, also yawning.

Rhys leaned closer to me and placed his chin on my shoulder to stare at my phone. His touch sent a surging sensation through me, and I felt it in my hole, making me wince in pain.

"Are... are you alright?" Rhys asked, the concern evident in his tone.

I nodded in response. "Yes... yes, I am. I’m just sore."

"Oh, I must have been rough last night," he sighed.

"Don’t blame yourself. It was jus—"

"Hush." Rhys placed a finger on my lips. "Don’t say anything else. I know you’re sore because of me, so I hope this helps."

He placed a hand on my shoulder, and then I felt it—all over my body. The soothing cold spread through me, reaching down to my hole and relieving it of every trace of soreness.

"How do you feel?" he asked, his mouth beside my ear.

"I’m good," I told him. "But don’t release your pheromones like that ever again."

Rhys half-shrugged. "I just want to take responsibility for my actions and—"

His words were cut off by the ringing of my phone. "I think you should pick up and find out who it is."

I nodded and slid the accept button, then placed the phone to my ear.

"Hello..." I said, looking toward Rhys.

At first there was no response, and when I thought it was a spam call, a low sigh followed.

"Uh... Derek."

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the mention of my real name, and I felt my heart jump.

I removed the phone from my ear to stare at the number that had called, but it wasn’t one I recognized. It was a female voice, and I knew Rhoda and Gabriella’s voices well enough to know it wasn’t them.

"What’s happened?" Rhys murmured.

I said nothing and simply put the phone on speaker so he could hear.

"Derek, it’s me... me, your mother, Linda."

Rhys gasped beside me.

My heart wouldn’t stop racing, knowing that my estranged mother was the one on the line. It took all the willpower I had not to end the call, because I had already cut ties with her last night.

"Let me speak to her," Rhys tried to take the phone from my hand, but then his own phone started ringing too.

He stood up beside me to pick it up. When he did, he turned toward me. "Excuse me, I have to take this. It’s Coach Reddick," he said and walked to the other corner of the room, leaving me alone to deal with Linda.

"Are... are you there?"

"What do you want?" I demanded, making sure my voice sounded harsh so she would understand that I was in no mood to speak to her.

"I want to meet you," she replied, her voice shaking terribly with every word. "Let’s meet over a cup of coffee, or a meal, because I need to speak with you, Derek."

"I don’t," I told her. "I don’t know how you got my number, Linda, but I didn’t tell you about my identity last night because I wanted us to get along. I told you because I wanted you to remember the consequences of your actions."

"And I did, actually. Which is why I did everything I could to get your number. It’s because I just want to speak to you, Derek."

"Don’t call me that," I warned. "Don’t ever call me that name because it’s not my name. And no, I am not meeting up with you!" I ended the call before she could say anything else.

I heaved a deep sigh and flung my phone to the side of the bed, then lowered my body onto it.

What the hell was she trying to see me for? I thought.

After all these years living with my crazy father, she had never tried to reach out to me, and suddenly now she wanted to meet up after I told her who I was last night.

Rhys’s call ended and he came to stand beside me, eyeing the phone I had flung to his side of the bed. "Hey babe, I’m sorry. I had to take the coach’s call. We have a media round for today and tomorrow before we resume training for the finals. That’s why he called," he said as he sat beside me on the bed.

"How did it go with Linda? What does she want from you?"

"She wants to meet up with me," I responded and rose from the bed, running a hand through my hair. "But I know that she doesn’t care about me. She never did, and the only reason she called was because..." I paused, heaving a deep sigh as I tried to find the right words to say. "I told her no. There is no way I am meeting up with that vile woman after everything she has done to me."

Rhys placed a hand on my shoulder. "That’s all the more reason why you should meet with her. Tell her to her face how you truly feel about everything. Do you want me to come with you?" he asked. "I can cancel the media rounds with the team and lie that I have a stomach bug and I—"

I shook my head. "It’s alright. If I am going to do this, then I believe I should do it on my own."

Rhys nodded in response and patted me gently on the back. "Call her back and make the arrangement."