by Zoë Lane
“And replaced with what?” Nico asked while accessing his Instagram application. I’d be embarrassed if I wasn’t watching the blonde dancer pop her hips and dip low to the ground, her arms above her head. Her black miniskirt inched up just enough for me to see the lower curve of her rear end. No outline of panties meant either commando or thong. I took another drink.
“All pictures of him doing charity work. He looks good, right, Landyn? Like he’s not spending all his money on bottles of wine and impressing these groupies.”
“She cute?” Nico asked.
“She looks like she spends all her time going up and down aisles in a library.”
I shoved Cas’s shoulder, irritated he would describe my little mouse as a pathetic bookworm, even though she was intelligent and probably had spent most of her collegiate hours in a library if she wasn’t in class. “What the hell, man? She’s not like that.”
“So she is cute and you do like her?” Nico asked, a knowing grin on his face. I could punch his face and no one would really care. He was the kicker, after all. As long as nothing happened to his body below the waist, his gut and his face were fair game. I made a fist with my right hand.
Cas’s hand firmly gripped my right arm. “Hold it in, Landyn. Game one is less than a week away. Save it for the field.”
I knew my best friend was right, but I wasn’t having any luck suppressing my urge to punch or screw. Something had to give.
I needed my hands to play football.
I hopped off the stool and took a few more swigs of my beer before heading towards the petite blonde.
“Landyn! Not that one, bro!”
I heard Cas’s warning and ignored it. Rose didn’t have any hold over me. She wanted to keep things professional, so that’s the way it was going to be. I didn’t have to deny myself anyone else.
One arm around her waist, I jerked her into me—probably too rough—and began grinding her into my pelvis with the beat of the music. She giggled and gripped my arms, pushing back into me.
“Hi, Landyn.”
How did she know my name? The way her hands moved to skim over my abdomen and around my back made me forget to care. Nearly every girl her age in this city had to know who I was by now.
“How old are you?” I blurted the question.
Never could be too careful. The last thing I needed was to be seen with someone underage. No way Rose could spin that one into a positive.
She giggled some more, one hand sliding over my left cheek, and back around to the front. She looked at me with hooded eyes. “Old enough.”
I felt my body respond to her and pushed her deeper into the crowd of people and away from my wingmen, who had gotten two women to dance with them, just a bit too close to me. Cas tried to signal me to come back, but the girl was already in my arms and there was no turning back.
Blondie seemed to have the same thought on her mind, for she took my hand and quickly led me back to the hall and the restrooms. She knocked on the door labeled for the handicap and opened it. Empty. She crooked her finger at me and I obliged.
I stepped into the restroom and her arms went around my shoulders as she jumped into the air. I caught her beneath her plump ass. Commando. Perfect. I pushed her against the door and fumbled for the lock while her pink lips attacked mine. I heard the lock click and settled into the mauling rhythm of her kiss. It didn’t really matter that her tongue was all inside my mouth and outside of it seemingly at the same time. I just need release, and now.
Blondie moaned incessantly. I used the door as leverage and she tightened her legs around my waist. My right hand slipped into the back pocket of my jeans for the condom. What the fuck? How big were my pockets that I’d lose a condom in them?
“Hurry up!”
I leaned back and looked her straight in the eye. “You’re eager.”
He lips curved up to one side. “I can feel your eagerness too.”
She had me on that. “I don’t have a condom.”
She shrugged. “I’m on the pill,” she said and started kissing me again.
I groaned and unzipped. I leaned back to get some air, drowning in her saliva. This was not the best idea. When I looked in her face, I saw Rose. I let out a shout and stepped back. The girl tumbled to the floor. “Uh, sorry.” I offered her my hand and she slapped it away.
“Asshole.” She stood and put her hands on her hips. “Are we doing this or what?”
I blinked a few times. Rose didn’t reappear.
Someone loudly banged on the door.
“It’s occupied!” the girl shouted.
“Landyn! It’s Cas. That’s a cheerleader!”
*****
I wanted to throw up. I unlocked the bathroom door and nearly bumped into Cas on the way out.
“Dude,” I said and shoved him out of the way.
Cas grabbed my arm and spun me around. “Landyn, I’m not the one you’re pissed at.”
“Let’s just out of here, okay?”
Cas fell into step beside me. “You shouldn’t have picked her.” We separated to weave through the crowd. “She’s one of our cheerleaders.”
“Huh?” I could barely hear him over the blaring music. I wasn’t coming here again. Couldn’t hear myself talk.
Nico was already waiting at the door with a frown on his face.
When we exited the club, Cas said, “She’s a cheerleader!”
“Off-limits,” Nico supplied. “Didn’t she tell you?” Nico asked. “Her name’s Heather. She’s been around the stadium. You should’ve seen her.”
That’s why she looked familiar—not because she was a carbon-copy curvy blonde. “No, but she knew my name,” I said. “But everybody knows my name.” Wow, I sounded like a megalomaniac.
Even in the darkness, I could see Cas roll his eyes. “Doesn’t matter to you, does it? Could you for once stop and ask yourself if you should?”
This time his shoulder shoved me hard as both he and Nico walked by me. I followed at a distance.
Cheerleaders.
There was a no-fraternization policy between the players and the cheerleaders. I hadn’t recognized her because I simply hadn’t seen many of them at the stadium. Our practice schedules were offset. “I won’t tell if you won’t,” I joked lamely.
“Oh, we definitely won’t,” Nico rushed to say. “If we lose you as our starter, no telling if we’ll win the first game. And we need that win.”
“The organization needs that win,” Cas offered. “But it’s out of your system, right? You’re going to stay focused.”
Yeah, I was going to stay the course, all right. As long as Carter stayed away from me and my sister, and I could get through the last couple of charity appearances with Rose without wanting to rip her clothes off or rip her a new one, then I’d be fine. Less than a week. “Scared straight. Where are we going next?”
“Next?” Cas asked incredulously.
“Short night for me,” Nico answered. “Next time, Cas drives so I can drink more.”
“Gotcha,” Cas said.
Irritated, I settled into the backseat of Nico’s car with my arms crossed like a petulant child. “I feel sick,” I said to the silence in the car as we pulled out of the parking lot.
“Sick how?” Cas asked.
“You know, sick. Something’s not right.”
“Yeah, we know.”
“No, I mean…like I almost did something I would’ve really regretted.”
“We know,” Cas and Nico said in unison.
“No! I mean, if she wasn’t a cheerleader… something was off.”
“Yeah, Rose.”
“Thank you, Cas,” I grumbled. I put my hands over my face and groaned. I still felt ill, and not because Heather was a cheerleader, but because she wasn’t Rose. I wanted Rose to be in my arms, her legs around my waist, her mouth teasing and taunting me. Her hands on my waist, her voice begging, desperate for me to be inside her.
Instead I had nearly chosen Heather.
Poor substitute. And she knew who I was and had to have known about the no-frat policy. Just as reckless as me.
Stupid.
I burped and tasted beer mixed in with some fruity lip gloss that must’ve been hers. The taste caused my stomach to lurch. “I think I’m going to be sick,” I said with a hand over my mouth.
“Don’t even think about it, bro,” Nico stated firmly. “I just bought this. No way any detailing could get all your puke out, nor get rid of the smell. Hold it in and swallow it.”
“Ugh,” Cas said with a laugh. “Swallow it? Are you trying to make him puke in your car?”
“I’m pulling over.”
“No,” I said. “Don’t. I’m good. Just hurry up and drive.”
“Trust me, I am.”
Twenty minutes and about two dozen treacherous speed bumps later, I gave a half-wave to Nico and Cas and, with a salute to the doorman, ambled my way to the elevator for the ride up to my suite. When the doors opened, I jogged to the left door and realized mine was right across the hall. Good thing if I was ever drunk, it was only a fifty-fifty chance of getting it wrong, since my condo took up half the floor.
I didn’t make it further than the den and fell facefirst onto the couch.
“Where have you been?” Lacey’s voice came from above.
“Out,” I mumbled into the couch cushion.
“Landyn, I want to talk to you. Please.”
“No.”
“I need to talk.”
“Not about Carter, you don’t.”
“Landyn—”
“Lacey.” I turned my head to the side so I could breathe and see her. She had on flannel pajamas, her dark hair in a messy ponytail, her eyes red as though she’d been crying. Part of me felt sorry and wanted to comfort her like I had when we were children, huddled in the corner of a closet, the only place we could cry without being heard.
But I was still too sick over Heather and the drinks I’d had, and mad at both Carter and my sister. “You chose him.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. I groaned. Great. Now I was the one making her cry.
“I…I can’t do it anymore.”
I sat up. “Do what, Lacey? All you have to do is stay away from him. Do you really want a relationship with him that badly? You’ve got school and—wait, shouldn’t you be going back? You don’t have class on Monday?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” I said, exasperated.
“I’m failing.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ROSE
I’d thought concentrating on Bryan would be difficult after Landyn’s kiss, but it turned out that Bryan was a perfect distraction. He’d chosen an amazing seafood restaurant that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t been to before, and the gumbo… and the fish fry, and the—
“You’re doing it again,” Bryan said with a chuckle.
“Moaning? Sorry.” I hid my gaze from his, parting some of my hair to fall over my face. The apple crumble was amazing.
“It’s the cutest thing. I’m glad you like the food.”
“Thank you for bringing me.”
“I’m almost sorry I did.”
My brows came together. “Why?”
He winked and grinned. “I think you like the food more than you do me.”
I laughed merrily. “No chance. But…it is a very close second.”
“I’ll take it.”
I felt my phone buzz through my purse. Bryan appeared not to have noticed it. When he moved to flag down the waiter, I reached inside and put the phone in my lap, clicking the side button. The screen lit up, showing a message.
Landyn.
My sister’s gonna get kicked out of school. Enjoying your date?
Lacey’s getting kicked out of school? I wanted to text back immediately and ask why. Maybe that was why she was in town—not just to support Landyn. It was barely September. How the heck was she failing already? I’m on a date. I’m on a date! I suppressed a sigh and dipped my spoon into my ice cream. I couldn’t talk to him now. I shouldn’t even be thinking of Landyn with Bryan—a great guy—in front of me. I was already dreading having to thank my mom for setting us up.
My phone buzzed again.
I’m going to need you to do something about Carter, my father. Think he’ll go to the press with some sob story about how I’m not speaking to him. We need to get ahead of this.
I had just finished my research on Carter that afternoon. There wasn’t anything that stood out as alarming. He’d left the state a few years ago and met his current wife in South Carolina. They’d married and moved back to Richmond. They were expecting a child in about four months. His wife was from money. It wouldn’t make sense that he’d want Landyn’s.
“Hey, what are you looking at?”
“Huh?” My head came up. It had taken me too long to read Landyn’s message, and Bryan had caught me. “I’m so sorry, Bryan.” I put the phone underneath my thigh. “It’s…my client. He’s texting me about some issues he’s having that I’ll probably have to deal with.”
“Ah, right.”
I waved dismissively and spooned some ice cream mixed with apple crumble. “It’s no big deal. I’m sorry. I’m kinda on 24/7 detail since we have to monitor his activities until kickoff, which is literally a few days away, so—”
“It’s Landyn Gallagher. The star quarterback from Southeastern State. Three-time Heisman Trophy winner and first-round draft pick. Of course it’s a big deal.”
The ice cream melted around the crumble in my mouth as I stared at him. “I didn’t know you watched football,” I mumbled through the dessert. I swallowed quickly, hot and cold searing my throat. “Impressive.” I reached for my glass of water.
“Just because I’m a doctor doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy sports.”
“No, you’re right. I just didn’t peg you for a football guy.”
“Tennis is more my speed, but when the only thing this city is talking about is how we finally have a team other than the Deadskins, and the starting lineup has some of the standouts from college, you sit up and take notice. We might go to the Super Bowl in the inaugural season.”
I chuckled. It was still a little surreal, but if I knew Landyn at all, I know he’d do anything to get his team into the playoffs. “He can’t do it alone.”
“Who?”
I had to stop thinking so much about Landyn. Now I’m talking about him to no one but myself…and Bryan. “Landyn. I was talking about him.”
Bryan looked at me quizzically. “Why would you think he could do it alone?”
“Oh! I don’t, I…I just know how dedicated he is to the sport, and I was just thinking—”
“About him,” Bryan said with a small, less-than-enthusiastic smile.
“He’s my client. That’s all.”
“I didn’t ask you to explain.”
Yeah. Then why did I feel I had to? Was it because I’d almost agreed to have sex with him in the massage parlor back at the team’s headquarters? Bryan and I weren’t exclusive; I could sleep with whomever I wanted. Except that wasn’t me. That was Landyn.
“Um, right,” was all I could manage. Mortified, I took a healthy spoonful of dessert and planned on keeping pie in my mouth for the rest of the date.
My phone vibrated, causing me to jump.
“Your phone again.”
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. It was a number I didn’t recognize. Was Landyn on another phone? “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Casper. You might want to get over to Landyn’s.”
No he was not screwing up my date. “I’m…I’m on a date.”
“Yeah, he’s saying a lot of stuff right now. Pretty drunk. We’ll keep him here, but I know he respects you, so maybe you can talk him down. Get him to see reason.”
“Okay, thanks, Cas.”
“Who’s Cas?” Bryan asked as I hung up the phone.
I dreaded looking across the table, but I did for Bryan
’s sake. I wished I could come up with a good lie that Cas was a cousin or something. A fixer had to be quick. Bryan deserved better than that. “That was Casper, a teammate. It’s Landyn.”
“Of course it is. Tell me, is he surrounded by groupies and tearing up some bar?”
I shook my head. “Cas sounded serious. I think I better go. I might have some work to do.” Or something stupid to fix, if I knew Landyn.
Bryan’s mouth dipped down to one side, and I hated that he looked so defeated. He wasn’t in any competition. I enjoyed Landyn—probably a bit too much. The man had a kindness in him that I’d seen with the kids and his sister, and even with the Alzheimer’s patients. He’d come from such a broken family I couldn’t help but feel… did I feel sorry for him, or was it more? His kiss had felt like more…
“I’ll drive you to wherever you need to go. Let me get the check.”
“Thank you, Bryan. His condo is up the street from here. I had a wonderful time tonight.”
“I did, too. Just wish it didn’t have to end so soon.”
“Me, too,” I said quietly. A prick of anger toward Landyn suddenly had me hating my job. Why couldn’t people have normal problems like covering up election fraud or having to hide a mistress like the governor?
Hot drunk guys were the worst!
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ROSE
When I entered Landyn’s condo, Cas and another guy I hadn’t met before greeted me in the hallway.
“Hi, I’m Nico,” said the tall, tanned man with thick, curly black hair. He openly eyed me up and down, his full lips curving into an appreciative grin. “And Landyn definitely would’ve made a mistake.” Cas backhanded him in the chest.
“Pay no attention to Nico. Look, I think Landyn might be having some sort of a breakdown.”
“He texted me saying his sister is failing. Is that true?”
Cas shrugged. “Don’t know. I do think she’s having trouble in school.”
“She’s in the den. I’ll go keep her company. See what I can find out,” Nico disappeared around the corner.