6
Vinnie
“Is therea beefy-guy breeding farm I don’t know about somewhere around here?”Bianca asks as soon as we walk into the ballroom at the Ritz.
I laugh, glancing around the room with her and realizing almost everyone is as built as me.Some have a little more padding, but no one is small except the coaching staff.
“We have to be big.”
She looks over her shoulder at me.“What exactly do you do?”
I smile, feeling proud to be able to say for the first time that I’ve achieved the one goal I’ve been working my ass off for years.“I play football.”
“Like football, football?”
“What other football is there?”
“Gallo,” my coach says as soon as he sees us.“This must be the beautiful Bianca I’ve heard so much about.”
I give Bianca a smile.“This is,” I say with a hand on the small of her back, loving the way she feels in my arms.
“It’s lovely to meet you.Vinnie speaks very highly of you,” Coach Malik tells her without looking at me as he holds out his hand for Bianca.
She places her palm in his hand, before he leans over and kisses the skin on the back of her hand.My body tightens at the contact, and my hand slides around to her side, pulling her closer.
“Coach,” I grumble, knowing he’s only being a gentleman, but not liking it just the same.
“I’ll let you two get settled.Grab a drink and mingle.”He smiles, still staring at Bianca.
Looking around the room, I know she’s the best-looking woman here.She’s naturally beautiful.Stunning, even.The other team wives have had so much Botox, their faces barely move anymore.Between the injections and the plastic surgeries, I’m pretty sure they look nothing like the women their husbands fell in love with years ago.
“Wait,” Bianca says as soon as the coach walks away from us.“Who are you?”
“Vinnie Gallo.Hopefully the newest starting quarterback for Chicago.”
She goes to back up, but I hold her tightly.“You’re a professional football player,” she whispers.
“I’m a rookie.I was just drafted.”
She blinks.“Shit.I watched that draft with my brothers and my dad.I remember you.”
“I’m kind of unforgettable.”I smirk.
“I did forget,” she teases with a small smile.“But now I remember.My family was psyched, screaming at the television like idiots when your name was called.”
“Did you scream my name too?”
“No.”She laughs.
“You will.”I tighten my grip on her waist again.
Her face instantly turns red, but she doesn’t tell me to fuck off, so I’d say I’m winning.Being with Bianca tonight has been easy so far.Maybe it’s the fact that neither of us is expecting anything out of the night, but whatever it is, I like it.She isn’t like the other women I’ve been with.She doesn’t want anything from me.
“Who do we have here?”Clarence asks, interrupting the moment.
“This is Bianca,” I tell him, and I wave my hand in his direction.“Bianca, this asshole is Clarence.”
He smacks my chest, and I flinch.“I’m his best friend on the team.Don’t listen to the idiot,” Clarence says.
