“Say face again,” I mutter. A childish insult seems better than responding to any of that.
“Tell me about your childhood,” she says.
“No. We’re done here.” I move to stand.
She shakes her head. “Sit,” she barks at me as if I’m some sort of dog.
I don’t follow the command. I remain standing, and we face off as she slowly rises to a stand, her hands balled into fists that she’s now balancing forward on as she snarls at me.
“I get it, Jennings. You hate me. You hate the whole idea of this. And that’s fine. Hate it all you want, but we’re stucktogether for the next year. Iwillteach you to value yourself and your future since clearly that’s a training piece you missed somewhere along the way. Iwillbe here by your side fightingforyou while you fightagainstme. I don’t really care how you feel about that. So sit your ass down unless you want me to tattle to your boss, and cooperate with me unless you’re pleased to spend more time standing on the sidelines watching instead of being the one making the plays.” Her eyes glow at me with anger, and I find myself lowering back into the chair.
I’m quite sure no one has ever put me in my place like that before.
It’s—dare I say—hot as all fuck.
I wonder what her cunt tastes like.
Shit.
She has me pegged, and I’ve barely told her one single goddamn thing about myself.
I hate that she has me pegged. Nobody has ever seen through me the way she can. Nobody has ever talked to me like that before, either.
Everyone’s careful around me. They’re either scared I’ll go off on them, or they fall over themselves to get to me. It’s pathetic. Men don’t have backbones anymore, and the women I seem to interact with don’t know how to handle me. They’re just warm bodies that give me what I want for a night, and then I’m done.
I don’t want anything beyond that. I just want to be left alone, to crawl back into my hole where it’s dark and quiet. Where I don’t have to have human connection since all I’m left with when I do is pure disappointment.
CHAPTER 10: Everleigh Bradley
The Aces Fam
I can feel it.
I’m starting to crack his resolve.
I’ve spent the last two weeks meeting him in the mornings and working through some of the rumors swirling about him as I try to get to know the man beneath that tough, sturdy, tall wall he’s built around himself.
We have a quick meeting before the game, and we both spot another player on the team as he walks through the lobby. He’s probably leaving for today’s game. The Aces are playing at home today, and I’ll be there up in the stands as I watch Maverick on the sidelines. Call time is nine for players, but since he’s not playing, he’ll get there around noon.
A short time later, I’m chatting about public perception of his image when the door opens. I freeze, but then I see it’s just Dex. I rise and give him a hug. “Knock ’em dead today, bro.”
He turns toward Maverick. “Is this media one-oh-one? Train the new guy on what not to say publicly?”
“Eh, your sister’s here to keep on top of me for things like that.” He shoots me a wink. “And, you know. Whatever else.”
I glare at Maverick. “Knock off that bullshit.” I turn to my brother. “Good luck today.”
He nods and doesn’t say another word as he leaves, and I resume where I left off. After our meeting, I head upstairs to get ready for the game as I think through this morning.
If hetrulydidn’t care about his reputation, he wouldn’t have flirted with me in front of my brother. It’s a macho man thing, a pissing contest. But it’s also a breakthrough, as much as he won’t admit that.
I thought about bringing up what I found in my deep dive into the man sitting across from me, but somehow asking about his marriage felt too personal. I’m supposed to be getting personal, but I’m still treading lightly.
But…yeah. That was pretty shocking, the whole marriage thing. He was in love at some point. Probably. I guess people get married for other reasons. Maybe it was someone else trying to rebrand him, though I can’t possibly see him agreeing to marry someone for his image. Maybe he was someone different before. Or maybe the marriage changed him.
He's insanely private about his personal life, and that translates to all the research I did.
Jack gave me access to the owner’s suite, and I’ll observe from up there. It’s far away from the field where Maverick will be standing, but it’ll give me the same sort of perspective a fan might have.
