Face Off (D.C. Stars, #1)

by Chelsea Curto

“No. Nothing ever worked out. I went through eight different families before I aged out, and by then, I was grateful to be out. I didn’t want to get my hopes up only to be sent back.” I take her hand in mine and kiss her knuckles. “People ask why I sleep with so many women, and I think it’s because I just want to be fucking wanted. They know what they’re getting into because I’m very honest about it—it’s only for the night. Sex and no attachments. They might claim they want to date me, that they want something long term, but we know it’s only for tickets and money and fame. “One-night stands soothe that need to be wanted, to have someone who wants to keep me, even if it’s only for a few hours. This way, I get to control things. I’m the one who leaves, not them. That probably makes me a horrible person. My therapist tells me sex can’t be my coping mechanism forever, and I’m starting to understand why. The older I get, the more I have this deeper desire to be wanted for real. To find someone who wants to keep me—not Maverick Miller the hockey player, but Maverick Miller, the fuckup kid without a family who tells jokes so no one knows he sometimes feels dead inside. And not just for the night, but for a long time. It goes against everything I’ve wanted up to this point, and it confuses the ever-loving fuck out of me.”