Out of Play: A Sports Romance (Love in the Arena Book 2)

by Tirrell, Kayla

  Her hand went to cover her mouth when she realized she’d said that last part. It was true, Finn had been the one who explained what was happening, despite being a young teenage boy at the time. But that wasn’t exactly something you shared on a first date—or ever.

  It had to be the wine that made her speak so freely. The possibility of her being this comfortable with Grant already was too terrifying to consider.

  “I-I’m sorry. That was way too much information.”

  Grant gave her a small smile. “It wasn’t the answer I was expecting to my question, but it means a lot that you were willing to share something so personal. Plus, it explains a lot.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “Only that I’ve seen how protective your brother is when it comes to you.”

  Em winced. “You heard about how he broke Parrera’s nose, didn’t you?”

  And to think, they hadn’t even dated. That poor guy had only expressed interest. How Damien got away with taking her on such a terrible date after that without any repercussions still baffled her. But it was also a relief. She hated when Finn got all macho man.

  Grant nodded. “When Bastian first told me, I was shocked that Finn would act like that. But now it makes a little more sense. My big sister gets the same way.” The corners of his mouth quirked up. “Though I don’t think she’s ever broken someone’s nose over it.”

  Thankful for the shift in focus, Em smiled at Grant. “Maybe she’s never had a good reason to.”

  He took a sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair. “Oh, I think she’s had plenty of reasons. I’ve had my share of devastating breakups.”

  “You have?” Em couldn’t imagine anyone breaking up with Grant.

  “I went through a phase where I had really bad taste in girls.”

  She lifted a brow. “And how do you know you’re not on a streak?”

  Grant put both hands on the table and leaned forward. “Because she’s already approved of you.”

  Em jerked back. “You told your sister about me?”

  He shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? I figured you’d understand since you’re so close to Finn.”

  She was close to her brother, but that didn’t mean they talked about dating. Not anymore.

  Speaking of her brother...Em had hardly given the game they were supposed to be watching a passing glance. She was too focused on the charming guy sitting with her.

  The soccer player sitting with her.

  Why was this so hard?

  It felt like she was being torn in two every time she was with Grant.

  Her heart told her to open up with Grant more, to see where things led. Even on the surface, he was better than the guys she’d dated. He was considerate—loved his family.

  But her brain reminded her that opening up to him was a bad idea. Just because he seemed sweet now didn’t mean he wouldn’t pull a one-eighty like the other guys. What kind of ammunition had she just given him with her story about her parents? Plus, he lived in Kansas City. He wasn’t going to stick around forever.

  Fighting the panic rising in her chest, she stood up. “I’ve, uh, gotta go to the bathroom.”

  Confusion flashed over Grant’s features.

  Before he could say anything, she walked off—unsure of whether or not she was going to return.

  Grant

  Well, this isn’t going very well.

  Grant hadn’t meant to scare Em off. He was only trying to find common ground after finding out what an awful childhood Em had. He’d mentioned that his sister had approved of Em instead of mentioning how supportive his parents were, but apparently that had been the wrong choice.

  Why could he never seem to say the right thing to her once things got beyond the teasing? As long as they were joking and laughing, they were fine. But he’d finally had the chance to dig a little deeper, and he’d messed it up. Now he felt like a jerk and didn’t know how he would turn things around.

  When Em didn’t return right away, Grant turned to the field. It was the first time he was truly watching the game since sitting down for their date. He could catch the replay online, but he only got one chance to make a good impression on Em.

  Too bad he’d completely blown it.

  The timer counted down through the final minute of the third quarter. When the buzzer sounded, the teams switched sides, putting Finn close to the VIP section. The keeper glanced over at Grant through lowered brows.

  Grant was sure Finn was looking for his sister. He’d seen them leave the field together, and now she was gone. Grant’s gaze went over his shoulder looking for Em. He’d done it about a million times in the ten minutes since she’d left. Every time he hoped to see her walking in his direction, and every time he was disappointed.

  His gaze then went to the box seats next to the home bench. Miriam was still there, but she was alone. Frida had disappeared shortly after Em’s hasty retreat and still hadn’t returned.

  At first, Grant had hoped they were doing that weird thing where girls went to the bathroom together. He knew Em probably needed to talk to her friend after their date went sideways. But now…

  Now, he wondered if she was even still at the arena.

  He’d only wanted to make a lasting impression on Em, not bring up all her childhood pain.

  When the waitress walked by the table, Grant flagged her down and asked for the tab. The woman gave Grant a sympathetic smile and told him the drinks were on her.

  Oh, great. Now the waitress feels sorry for me.

  His attention went back to the game. The ball was in play on the other side of the field, and it was difficult to see the action. When Grant’s eyes glanced over to Finn, he was surprised to see the keeper staring at him again. And it was less of a stare and more of a glare.

  Grant shifted in his seat, his face growing hot under the continued scrutiny of Finn’s narrowed eyes.

  It wasn’t like Grant had chosen to be the bachelor. Not only that, he didn’t know Em would be one of the contestants. None of this was on purpose. He would just explain all of that to Finn when the game was over—and conveniently leave out the part about how he’d chosen Em once he realized it was her.

  There was no sense in getting all worked up over things he couldn’t change, especially now that it was painfully obvious she wasn’t coming back to finish their date. In a way, Grant hadn’t broken the no-dating-my-sister rule—he just hoped Finn would agree.

  The rest of the fourth quarter crawled by as Grant sat alone in the VIP section. The Storm scored two more goals and won the game with a final score of seven-to-three. When the players walked across the field toward the locker room, Grant pushed himself up on his crutches. He followed behind them feeling a little ridiculous in his suit and tie.

  Since he’d been sitting the entire game, he took a spot against the wall as they all shuffled into the locker room. He leaned his back against the cool surface to take pressure off his leg and set the crutches to the side.

  Coach immediately went into his recap of the game. One by one, he called on players to give them a rundown of their strengths and weaknesses. “Grant.”

  His head jerked up, surprised that he was included. “Yes, Coach?”

  “You just keep taking care of that ankle. I want you back out there playing as soon as possible, do you understand?”

  Relief washed over him. It was good to know he was missed, even as a rookie. “You got it.”

  “Great.” Coach continued to call on individual players to tell them what they needed to work on this week before the next game. They’d be traveling to Oregon and needed to be in peak performance. Playing in another team’s arena always came with challenges, but dealing with such a drastic time change would make it even harder.

  Coach clapped his hands together when he was done. “Get cleaned up, and get out there for the autograph session.”

  Grant grabbed his crutches, eager to get out there. Even though he didn’t play, he would be
on the field with a marker in hand. He didn’t make it more than a couple steps before Finn approached him. The entire locker room was silent as the other players pretended not to watch out of the corners of their eyes.

  Looked like he’d be explaining the non-date date sooner than he realized.

  Grant cleared his throat, wishing they could have this talk without an audience. “Hey, Finn. Good game.”

  Flattery is always a good way to start, right?

  “What’s going on between you and my sister?”

  His stomach dropped. Or maybe not. “What do you mean?”

  Finn crossed his arms over his chest. Had his biceps always looked so big? “I saw you guys together after the halftime show.”

  Grant took a deep breath and tried to sound nonchalant. “Nothing’s going on. Miriam asked me to be the bachelor tonight, and it looks like she somehow roped Em into it too.”

  “Emmeline.”

  “Right.” Grant gave him a tight smile. “Emmeline was one of the contestants, and I chose her. I mean, I couldn’t pick the girl with the skin-tight t-shirt. There are kids in the arena, and she’d have been hanging all over me. Totally inappropriate.”

  He hoped Finn didn’t make the connection that Grant only knew she had a skin-tight shirt on after he’d already chosen Em.

  Finn narrowed his eyes. “You’re not dating my sister.”

  As if her walking out on me wasn’t obvious enough.

  Grant narrowed his eyes right back at Finn. This wasn’t his fault...at least, not entirely. Miriam’s meddling was at least fifty-percent responsible. “I’m not dating her. I’m participating in team events as required by my contract.”

  Finn’s arms shifted to his sides, and Grant took an awkward step back on his crutches.

  “It was just a silly halftime show,” Silas said, rushing over. Bastian was right behind him. “It wasn’t a real date. She didn’t even stay until the end, so she obviously wasn’t into it.”

  Grant’s chest tightened at the reminder, but Silas was right. It wasn’t a real date, Em wasn’t into him, at least, not after that disaster.

  Silas put his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “It’s more like when you made Damien take Emmeline out and show her a bad time.”

  Finn shrugged off Silas’s hand. “That was different, and you know it. I told Damien to take her out to protect her. That date was meant to turn her off athletes forever.” Finn turned and narrowed his eyes at Grant. “I never asked you to do it.”

  Damien. He had to be the guy Em was talking about earlier. And now Grant knew why the date had been such a disaster. Grant’s fists clenched at his sides at the thought. Em looked up to Finn. He was her big brother, and he was manipulating her, not protecting her. And what was Finn’s issue with athletes? He was one, for crying out loud. What kind of captain thought so little of his teammates?

  Grant took a deep breath through his nose, hoping to calm himself. He was still the rookie, and Finn was still his captain, misguided as his actions may be.

  Grant lifted his chin. “I didn’t know I needed your permission.” Based on the looks on Silas and Bastian’s faces, it was the wrong thing to say—though that wasn’t entirely a surprise to him. He’d known he was dangerously close to doing something stupid.

  Finn took a step toward Grant. “If you only knew half the crap she’s gone through. I won’t let anyone hurt her.”

  Grant straightened his shoulders. “Anyone but you, you mean?”

  Fire flashed in Finn’s eyes. “I’m doing what’s best for her.”

  Of course he’d think that. Grant was protective of his sister and had had a perfect childhood compared to what Em and Finn had been through as kids.

  But they weren’t kids anymore. Em was capable of making her own decisions. “Have you ever considered you might not be the right person to decide what’s best for her?”

  The only hint at what was to come were Finn’s slightly narrowed eyes seconds before his fist connected with Grant’s face. Pain exploded in Grant’s eye and he fell back. His crutches fell away, and his hands circled madly for a few heart-stopping beats. Thankfully, he was close enough to the wall and was able to catch himself before stepping on his ankle and hurting it further. Not that it did anything for the pain that was now radiating through his entire head.

  He took a step, using the wall to propel himself forward, and pulled his arm back. Two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall before he could swing.

  There was a pinched expression on Bastian’s face as he pinned him to the wall and hissed in his ear. “I told you not to mess around with Emmeline, and now you’re provoking Finn? What is wrong with you?”

  Grant looked over Bastian’s shoulder at Finn. Silas was holding him back and spoke in hushed tones until Finn relaxed. Though he couldn’t hear what was being said, Grant was sure Silas was trying to talk him down from coming for him again.

  Let him come. I won’t be caught off guard the second time.

  “And people call me a hothead.” All eyes turned to Vinny sitting on the bench, arms crossed and expression gleeful.

  Finn made a growling sound and tried to maneuver around Silas—this time toward Vinny—but the forward held him back.

  With Bastian, and everyone else in the locker room, distracted, Grant saw his opening. He would get Finn back, not only for himself, but for Em too. He pulled his shoulder free from Bastian’s grip, but because of his injury, he wasn’t able to get very far before Bastian pushed him back against the wall.

  “You need to get a hold of yourself.”

  Grant fought for a few seconds before he relaxed against the wall. His teammate was right. He was letting his emotions get the best of him. But after having Em walk out, and then hearing that the one person she felt like she could trust wasn’t as great as she thought, Grant was dangerously close to losing it.

  He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths.

  Bastian gripped his shoulder. “You need to listen to me.”

  Grant opened his eyes.

  “Do not talk to Finn until he’s had a chance to calm down. Do not go to the autograph session tonight. And for the love of all that is good and holy, do not talk to Emmeline again. Do you understand?”

  Grant’s gaze went to Finn.

  Bastian squeezed his hand over the tight muscle between Grant’s shoulder and neck. “Do you understand?”

  Grant smacked Bastian’s hand off of him and grabbed his crutches. “Yeah, I got it.”

  Not that he would actually listen to Finn or Bastian. It was one thing for Em to decide she didn’t want to date, and quite another for Finn to say she was off-limits and sabotage her happiness with his fake date plan. She was a grown woman capable of making her own decisions.

  Of course, she might not want to date him, he realized as he walked past the field on his way out of the arena.

  But that was something he would need to hear from her mouth before he gave up on her.

  Emmeline

  After everything that had happened at the game this past weekend, Em had been hoping for an easy week at school. Apparently, that was too much to hope for. She’d never been so relieved for Friday’s dismissal bell. It was officially the weekend, and she kicked it off by crying in her car for fifteen minutes.

  Riley, the student whose father recently died, was having a hard time after that morning’s festivities. Not that Em could blame him.

  Why did so many schools insist on having Donuts for Dads when there were so many broken families in the world? Sure, for many students—and their fathers—it was a great chance to hang out while stuffing their faces with sugary goodness.

  But for others, like Riley, it only served as a reminder of what they didn’t have.

  Em knew that feeling all too well. Neither of her parents would have ever dreamed of showing up for a Muffins with Mom or Donuts with Dad event. They’d never been on a single field trip, and couldn’t be bothered to show up to any of Finn’s s
occer games back in high school.

  Every time they didn’t show up, it felt like a dagger to the heart. She always wondered what was wrong with her. Now that she was an adult, she knew the problem wasn’t with her, but her parents. But her students were still too young to understand that.

  She’d spent the week reminding her kids that any special person could be their guest for that morning’s event, but either Riley hadn’t realized that her gentle reminders were for him...or he didn’t care.

  She doubted it was the latter though based on the way he tried—and failed—to put on a brave face. She’d caught him with watery eyes on several occasions throughout the day. Em wanted to cry for him but had kept the tears at bay for his sake. She didn’t want to draw more attention to him.

  It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t Riley’s fault that his dad died, just like it wasn’t the other kids’ fault that their parents had left, or didn’t want to go. And yet, they were the ones who paid the price for it on these cutesy, themed breakfast days.

  So she’d kept it together until the bell rang and even made it out to her car before the tears streamed down her cheeks. Her gentle crying had quickly become loud sobbing as all the emotions from her childhood came to her in a rush.

  It was moments like this that she usually grabbed takeout and showed up on Finn’s doorstep. If she knocked on his door right now, he wouldn’t turn her away—except for the pesky fact that he was on the other side of the country for an away game.

  Em knew she could always go to her best friend with things like this too. Frida had always been there for Em growing up, but she was gone for the weekend at an art teacher conference, so she was also off the table.

  Why did the two most important people to me have to disappear on the same weekend?

  Em rested her forehead against her steering wheel and closed her eyes. There was only one other person who she’d opened up to about her awful parents, and she knew he was in town. Too bad she’d ghosted him in the middle of a date last week.