Hat Trick (D.C. Stars, #4)

by Chelsea Curto

For the ones who fight even when they want to give up. I’m rooting for you.

I sigh and curse myself for having done something in another life to piss off the meet-cute gods.

I wish I had the balls of a mediocre white man who thinks he’s hot shit. I’d be unstoppable.

“And I bet you couldn’t find my clit even if I pointed it out to you,”

I’m not supposed to have a favorite player on the team—and I love all the guys I work with—but Riley takes the top spot.

I don’t like to be rescued, but I don’t mind being a damsel in distress if it means getting saved by a guy like you.”

“Life is short. We need to celebrate the small stuff.”

His Uber driver miraculously walked away unharmed.”

omg 😭

I’ve always been a determined bitch. Once I put my mind to something, I don’t stop until it happens, and I’ll be damned if Riley goes down without a fight.

An endless cycle of being angry at everything while also grieving the life I’ll never get back.

I’m not asking you to give me a mile, Riley. I’m not even asking for a foot.” “I hope not. I only have one now, and it would be pretty fucking rude of you to take that from me.”

😭

“She wasn’t finished speaking,” Riley says, deathly low. The look in his eye is murderous. A shiver races up my spine when he curls his fingers into a fist. My cheeks turn bright red when he stares at my boss and tilts his head to the side. “And her name is Lexi. L-e-x-i. That’s not difficult, is it? Treat her with respect and get it right, or I’m leaving.”

🧎🏽‍♀️

“If there’s one thing I love to do, it’s prove everyone who’s ever doubted me wrong. That’s what you’re going to do too.”

Coach I’m tired every fucking day of my life. Me It must be exhausting to be so annoying.

LMAO

And I’m not saying you need to be saved. Just… let us be waiting with a life jacket if it starts to feel like you’re drowning, okay?”

“I’ll do my best,” I say. “That’s more than enough.”

“And now I’m in future dad mode. Emmy is trying to get pregnant, and imagining her carrying my baby is the hottest thing in the fucking world.

mavvy & emmy 🥹

Congrats on the loss,” I say. “Glad to know you all suck without me.”

pls he’s killing me

We celebrate our wins and mourn our losses together without any sort of resentment when things go right for someone else.

“Not every day can be sunshine and rainbows. A lot of days suck, but you got out of bed today. That’s a win,”

You can’t magically become undepressed, but you have to find something that makes you feel good.”

There’s nothing I love more than kicking men’s asses and watching them cry.

“Experimenting with new ways to cope and adjusting to what happened to me. Finding a new normal.

“That guy you were talking to downstairs was a waste of your fucking time,” he rasps. “I hate him.”

🧎🏽‍♀️

“Of course I was fucking jealous. He had your attention. And I’m fucking desperate for it.”

You’re in charge here. Tell me what you want and how you want it, and I’ll make it so fucking good for you.”

See you soon, Lexi baby.

God forbid someone likes to pretend they’re in a fictional world where women are treated right and orgasms are plentiful, because no way in hell does that happens in the reality where I’m currently living.

We should really talk to someone about our co-dependence.

LMAO

I’m the weakest, most pathetic motherfucker in existence.

“I’m glad. You deserve all the good days, Riley.”

🫶🏽

Funny how all my good days include her.

“I’m really glad you’re still here.”

🥺

I haven’t known peace in years.

same Liam lmao

“My lime guy.”

🥹🍋‍🟩

You’re a fully functioning adult male.” “You sound surprised.” “I am. The bar is low, and I’m impressed.”

LMAO

“This is how it’s supposed to feel when someone is doing it right. As long as you’re my friend, you’re not going to have to fake anything, Lexi.”

Lot of big words coming from the guy from the Florida education system!!

😭😭😭😭lmao

Some days the irritation and depression last for twenty minutes. I’ll take a bath, and it’ll disappear. Other times it stretches for hours, and I turn off my phone, lie in bed, and stare at the wall.

“Some people think of recovery as a straight, flat line. A direct route from point A, which is the onset of grief, and B, which is a new normal. That’s not true. It’s more like rolling hills and valleys. There will be highs and lows, but they lead to the same place. And sometimes, you’ll have a flat line for months before a bump in the road shows up and you have to climb up another hill.”

❤️‍🩹

“I’m okay. I’m closer to good than not, and that’s lightyears better than where I was before. A work in fucking progress, I’d say, but also someone who knows they have a bigger role here and is no longer in a hurry to leave.”

“Never in a million years did I think he’d get here.” “I did,” I say. “I knew it all along.”

I haven’t given two shits about what the men in my life do, but I’m finding I’m dependent on making him smile. Determined he has a good day every day, and it hurts me to know he’s hurting.

“I get you out of it. I care about you, Riley,”

C’mon, Lexi baby. Let me know you’re okay.

“Fully capable of handling things by yourself. I know that. But guess what? Accepting help doesn’t make you weak, okay? It just means for a few minutes, someone else can help carry the load. And you’ve been carrying the load for me for months. Share the burden with me just this once.”

🧎🏽‍♀️

“Do it yourself? I know you can. But here’s the thing, Lexi. I’m not going to be able to sleep. I’m not going to be able to eat. I’m not going to be able to do anything except wonder if you’re okay and taken care of. Put me out of my misery and let me do it for you.”

He’s perfect. The antithesis of everything I ever thought a man could be, and for as much as I do like him, for as much as I want to spend my free time with him, I also hate him a little bit for making me so reliant on him.

I get to spend the day with you. And on Maverick’s dime? We’re buying everything in the park.”

“Oh, I’m on your side. You’ll get there eventually.”