“Hey, man. What’s going on?”
“We’re going out,” he announced.
“Out?”
He grinned. “Hell, yeah. We need to blow off some steam. You’re coming with us.”
I shook my head. “I’m studying.”
“You sure you’re not still a fucking rookie?”
I glared at him. “Maybe I’m the only one who wants to win tomorrow night.”
He laughed in my face. “No, you’re the only fucker who thinks studying will make a difference. We’ve got this game. So come on. We’re going out.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Do you know where we are?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. It was rhetorical, so I waited for him to answer for me.
“We’re in fucking Austin. Where the Warriors live. Where they eat. Where they drink. Where people think they aren’t the biggest dicks on the planet.”
“What’s your point, Stubbs?”
He crossed his arms. “Not only are we going to beat them tomorrow night, but we’re also going to beat them tonight. We’ll drink their liquor. Hit on their women. Party like they could only dream.”
The Wranglers liked to party. No—the Wranglers liked wicked debauchery. We threw the kind of parties you couldn’t mention at Thanksgiving dinner. Last year, as the ring leader of the rookie class, I was responsible for the Dean. It was a tradition to give the veterans a party that satisfied their every sinful need. And I did a pretty damn good job. We had high-stakes poker, strippers, and top-shelf liquor, and no one left without an A-list blowjob. But that didn’t mean I was up for it tonight. Things were different. I wasn’t a rookie anymore. I had to prove myself and I wanted that damn bonus this season.
“Get your ass out here, Sam,” Stubbs ordered.
“I’ll meet you.”
“Like hell you will.” He jammed his foot in the door. “Get your wallet and keys.”
I hung my head. Damn it. This was the last thing I wanted to do right now. Stubbs’ grin said everything when I met him in the hallway. Tonight was going to be Wrangler-level epic.
2
Natalia
I hung the shirt and clipped the tiny skirt to the hanger and scowled at my uniform. I hated it. Sometimes I didn’t want to even look at myself in the mirror when I had it on. Then there were the boots. Who wore gold metallic knee-high boots? I had wiped the scuff marks from them and placed them under the dance ensemble.
Calling it dance was a stretch. It was basically a stripper’s outfit. I didn’t know how anyone could feel Warrior pride wearing that thing, but the other girls on the squad did. They loved it. They loved the W on their chests. They loved the mini stars on their skirts. They didn’t care that half of the shirt was missing and the only reason they got attention was because of their bodies. It didn’t seem to bother any of them. Except me.
And I would have to put it on again tomorrow night for the game. I’d parade around showing off my toned thighs and stomach. I’d wave my hands in the air and dance to the techno music with a huge Texas-sized smile on my face. After all, I was a Warrior Goddess.
I was trained to be a professional dancer, but this wasn’t what I had in mind. I could win a Tony for the acting performance I gave on the sidelines.
I let my fingers trace over the satin ribbon dangling from my pointe shoes. They were on the second shelf of my closet. I hadn’t tried them on again since the accident. I was tempted to slide my feet into them and pirouette around my living room, but it wouldn’t help my mood any. It would only remind me I wasn’t doing what I loved. The knots in my stomach wound tightly.
It had been nine months since I had worn them, and I didn’t know when I’d be ready to try them on again. I hesitated for a second, thinking this could be the moment, but I stopped myself. I didn’t want to face what it might mean if my leg gave way. The shoes I loved had made me a prisoner to fear. I was scared my supporting leg would never hold me again.
It was one thing to shake my hips and do kicks toward a crowd of Warrior fans. It was something completely different to put all my trust in the ability of my hamstring to withstand the intense pressure of dancing with pointe shoes. My entire body relied on my right leg to work in perfect unison, and right now I didn’t have that trust in myself. I couldn’t try on the shoes.
Instead I turned off the closet light and pretended there wasn’t a dance squad uniform hanging inside. I would trade it out for a hundred tutus any day.
I was thinking about taking a walk to the park near my condo and picking up a salad on my way home for dinner when I heard my phone ring.
I grabbed it from the kitchen island. “Hello?”
“Natalia, what are you doing, girl?” It was Heather from the dance team.
“Not much. I was just headed out to pick up dinner.”
“Good. Then you can meet the rest of us for drinks.”
“Oh no, I’m not up for that. It’s Sunday night.”
“You’ll be the only one not there. You have to go. It’s a Goddess tradition.” She sounded bubbly and excited.
I rolled my eyes. “And what tradition is that?”
“We always go out the night before the first game of the season. Just the girls. It’s so much fun.”
“We’ve already had games,” I protested. “It’s not the first one.”
“Those were pre-season and totally do not count.”
I was tired of the constant lectures on football terminology and rules. I didn’t know anything about the sport. I didn’t really like it. I didn’t understand why thousands of people paid two hundred dollars a ticket to watch men try to bash each other’s brains in. For me, it was only a paycheck and a way to get me back on stage where I belonged. I tolerated as much of it as I could.
I knew I didn’t make much per game. No one would be able to survive on a salary as a dancer. We were never paid for the amount of practices we had to attend, but the pay out came from the promotional events. Warriors fans knew no limits when it came to reserving the Goddesses for birthday, bachelor, or retirement parties.
I was promised a substantial bonus for appearing in the two calendars the squad printed each year. There was the holiday edition as well as a summer swimsuit collection. There was a rumor floating around that we were going to start wearing patches on our uniforms for advertisers. I didn’t know that I agreed with being a dancing billboard, but if that happened, each dancer would make a small percentage each time we wore it. The only way to make sure I profited as a Goddess was to dance at every game.
“I might have to sit this one out, Heather. But I appreciate the invitation. Call me next time.”
“Oh no. You are not going to be the reason the guys lose tomorrow night.” Her voice lowered an octave. It was her mother hen tone.
I huffed. What was she accusing me of? “Of course not. I always want them to win.”
I was praying she wasn’t going to tell me about some crazy powder puff tradition where I’d have to run on the field wearing a set of shoulder pads and a helmet during the halftime show.
“Then you have to go. You have to be there or they’ll lose. This is what it means to be a Goddess. You have a duty to the team.”
It was absurd. The traditions these girls came up with, or maintained for however many years, were ludicrous. It was completely illogical that the Warriors would lose if I didn’t go out for one drink.
Out of the forty girls on the dance squad, Heather was the one I had spent the most time with. We had been paired together at summer training camp. Sharing a room with her hadn’t been all that bad. She took dancing seriously—we had that in common. It just wasn’t the same kind of dance.
I learned quickly that the other girls didn’t want to hear about my training in ballet. They didn’t care who I studied under. They were here because it was a lifelong dream to be a Goddess dancer. Some of them were third generation legacy girls. Unlike them, I wasn’t trying to get a modeling contract or snag a spot in a player’
s bed.
I had bills to pay, and when no one would take an injured ballerina, the Warriors took me in. I did appreciate the money. I couldn’t shake the rest of it. When I took the job in May, I thought eventually I’d wrap my pride around the concept of being on a dance squad, but my pride never backed down. I was a ballerina, and a respectable ballerina wouldn’t do what I did, even if it meant not getting evicted.
I sighed. If I didn’t go tonight, the girls would blame me. They would glare at me in the locker room, and every time I walked in the practice studio, they would hold me accountable for the game’s outcome. I wasn’t ready to start off the season that way. We didn’t have to be best friends, but we did work together.
“Fine,” I agreed. “Text me the bar’s address and I’ll meet you there.”
She squealed. “Awesome!”
“But one drink,” I warned. “I want to be home before ten.”
I wasn’t going to bother changing out of my workout clothes. I liked the fitted yoga pants and the lavender top. It reminded me to always move through space with graceful intention. One of the skills Madame Collette had drilled into me.
“That’s all you have to do. I promise. One drink with the girls, and there’s no way they can lose. And you know how they like to win.” I heard the giggle in her voice.
Again, this was silly, but I had joined silly. I was a part of team silly. I grabbed my bag and walked out the door.
3
Sam
The lights were dim. Dim enough that I hoped none of the locals recognized us. Despite Stubbs’ cocky speech, I felt pretty safe invading Warrior territory on a Sunday night. There was a guy on stage singing something about a road trip he took. I stared at my glass of water.
Wes came up behind me and slapped me on the back. “Sticking to the hard stuff?”
“Yeah.”
He held up his fingers to the bartender. “Two bourbons, neat.”
The guy already had them poured before I could turn down the drink. It didn’t help that I had a reputation from my rookie season. It was like rushing a fraternity when I was drafted. I made damn sure the veterans liked me, especially Wes.
Wes grinned. “To tomorrow night’s win.” He clinked his glass against mine and kicked back the thick liquor. I didn’t have a choice. I swallowed it and felt the fire from my throat to my belly.
“That’s good shit.” He slapped me on the back.
“Thanks for the drink.”
He pointed to the bartender. “Another round.”
Shit, he was just getting started. I took the second round and it went down smoother than the first.
“I know where to find you tomorrow night, don’t I?” he asked.
“Hell, yeah. The end zone.”
Wes was part of the reason my numbers had broken so many records. He liked throwing to me. And it worked. We were a winning combination.
“Just keep open.” He winked.
“Shouldn’t be a problem with the defense the Warriors run.”
We both laughed. We had a right to be cocky and arrogant. We were defending national champions. We earned the fucking right to boast. Not only that, but any chance to take a crack at the Warriors, we took.
Wes’s eyebrows waggled. “Check that out.” He tipped his head and I followed his eyes.
A group of girls walked through the doors and headed for the bar. Every one of the Wranglers had noticed them. It was hard not to. There was no one else here and they were hot as fuck. Each one of them had long hair, killer hips, and a set of tits that we’d all like to get buried in. As they walked past our table, I could smell the expensive perfumes and lotions they wore. It was like walking past a makeup counter in a department store. My teammates’ heads had all pivoted in one direction.
“Shit,” I whispered under my breath.
“Fuck is more like it.” Wes chuckled. I guess I wasn’t that quiet.
I kept my ass planted on the barstool while most of the team saddled up to the bar, shoving each other out of the way to buy the first round of drinks. This was trouble. Every one of those girls was a distraction to my buddies.
Some of the guys had wives or girlfriends. Hell, some even had kids. But when a group of women like that walked in, they had the power to erase all memories.
“Not getting in on that?” Wes asked. We stared at our teammates.
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’m focused on the game. Not getting a piece of ass tonight.”
I could tell he didn’t approve. “You threw one hell of a Dean last year.”
“Thanks.” At the time, it was my crowning achievement, but there was more going on now. I had stats to back up my reputation, and I needed even more to get that bonus.
“So why are you holding back now? Seems like your kind of scene.”
I leaned closer to him. “I have a season policy. Can we leave it at that?”
“Ahh, one of those fuckers.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped.
“You think you can only have fun in the off-season. I know the type. I just didn’t realize you were one of them.”
“I still have fun. I just don’t get involved with women. The game is more important.”
Wes stared at me. “No football player is that good. You start blocking out what’s around you, and you lose the game. You can’t act like there aren’t women on this earth for six months. Too much focus is bullshit, Sam. This isn’t baseball. Let those guys have their weird superstitions. Football players don’t do those damn things.”
“So you think getting shit-faced the night before a game and screwing some random girl is going to help us win tomorrow?”
He stood from the table. “Take my advice however you want. But I’ve been in the game long enough to know that extreme anything is never good.” He pressed his heavy hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear. “Technically, the season doesn’t start until tomorrow, so you’re not breaking any rules tonight.” He slapped me once again and walked away.
I had to laugh. If anyone thought Wes Blakefield was the team leader who would mentor a rookie into taking the path of righteousness, they didn’t know the man. I’d probably never get that type of advice again in my career.
Most people would agree with me. Coaches would. Trainers would. But not Wes. He probably thought less of me now that I revealed why I was staying away from the women.
The singer started up again, and I looked around to see if anyone would notice if I slipped out. The guys were too busy talking to the girls. I could walk out now and nobody would give a shit.
I stood to stretch my legs. The door was on the other side of the bar. A red neon sign hung over the entrance that read Warriors. It was another reminder that I needed to be reading our playbook, not taking shots and buying pretty girls drinks. I could do that in February.
Our hotel was only a few blocks from the bar. I’d walk back, clear my head, then hit the book again. The way the guys were drinking I might be the only one who could hold my head up tomorrow.
I looked over my shoulder. Stubbs had his arm around one of the girl’s waists. Shit. He had two girlfriends back home, but that didn’t stop him. I shook my head and took a step toward the door. I wasn’t paying attention to what or who was in front of me.
“Ow!”
“Oh shit.” I looked down. I grabbed her arm before she hit the floor. “Sorry.”
I had plowed her over with one step.
“Watch where you’re going, maybe?” Her voice told me everything I needed to know about her before I even saw her face. She was strong-willed, opinionated, and not afraid to stand up for herself.
I helped her to balance on both feet. She smoothed the strands of hair that had fallen over her cheeks and tilted her chin. Her eyes lifted to mine and I swallowed hard.
Fuck. She was gorgeous. And not like the other girls. Every part of her was natural and flawless. I stared at her high cheekbones, arched eyebrows, and long eyelashes. There was grace in her
movements. Even her scowl.
She brushed her blond hair from her face. The rest was pulled back high off her neck.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking.” But I was now. I was checking out every inch of her. She wasn’t dressed like the others. It looked like she had run here from a yoga class.
She shrugged off my apology. “Sorry, I was a little rude. It’s fine.”
“Let me buy you a drink.” It popped out of my mouth before I could think about what I was saying.
She looked at me quizzically. “I’m fine, really. No damage done.”
“But I want to apologize. What do you like? It’s on me.”
She pinched her lips together and I noticed how lush and full they were. God, she was perfect.
She shook her head. “Really. It’s not that big a deal.”
“I insist.” I pressed my fingers to her wrist and heard a sigh escape those damn sinful lips of hers.
Her eyes flashed to mine. “All right. But only one. That’s all.”
“That’s all I’m offering.” I grinned. “Wait here.” I led her to the table where I had been sitting with Wes only a few seconds ago. “What’s your poison of choice?”
“Vodka tonic.”
“Got it.” I maneuvered toward the bar and threw a fifty in front of the bartender.
He poured a bourbon for me and a vodka tonic with a lime wedge for the girl. I walked back to the table. She shifted in her seat, and her loose shirt slid from her collarbone down her arm. Seeing a woman’s shoulder had never made my mouth water like that before.
She pinched the collar and repositioned it. “Thank you.”
I noticed how long and delicate her fingers were when she picked up the glass.
“It’s the least I could do. Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”
I’d knocked bigger men than me to their asses at the line of scrimmage. It couldn’t have felt good when I rammed into her.
“I don’t think I’ll have any bruises.” She brought the edge of the glass to her mouth.
I didn’t know what in the hell I was doing. I was getting ready to take my third shot and I was sitting with the most gorgeous girl in the place. I couldn’t blame Wes for any of it. He may have planted an idea in my head, but I was doing this all on my own.
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