“Unlike my shortsighted friends”—she rolled her pretty amber eyes—“I’m not in the market for exclusive.”
Not exclusive?Not what I wanted to hear, but I let it go—for now.“Shortsighted how?”
She shut off the engine and turned in her seat to face me.
Progress.
“Each of us is in school because we have goals and dreams.Jamaica wants to be a lawyer.Piper wants to run a business.Chess plans to be a sports medicine doctor.Yet each of them is dating a football player with NFL prospects, which can only mean my friends’ aspirations are going to take a back seat to their boyfriends’ dreams if they stay together.”She leveled me with a look.“I don’t intend to set aside my plans to accommodate a man’s no matter how hot he is.”
She let her eyes roam over me, and I almost questioned who was the blunt one now.Instead, I asked, “What are your big plans, Saylor Davis?”
A genuine smile lit up her gorgeous face.“Get on the crews of the biggest pop and rock bands out there and run their in-concert videos.”
I nodded, impressed.“Sounds like an incredibly cool career.”
“It does, doesn’t it?”The wistfulness in her answer told me everything I needed to know about her conviction.Leaning her arm across the steering wheel, she asked, “What about you, Cash Donovan?Which NFL team are you aiming for?”
I tried not to tense at the question I should have seen coming.“I think that ship sailed two years ago when I was back in Washington and blew out my knee.”
In a nanosecond, her expression flipped from expectant to concerned.“But you’re playing for the Wildcats.Aren’t you worried about hurting yourself again?”
With a dismissive gesture, I said, “Nah.I rehabbed it to the point of bionic.But I lost ground while I was doing that, so I lost my starting spot.Playing backup at Mountain State won’t exactly be a ringing endorsement of my skills with pro scouts.”I shrugged at her big-eyed stare.“I’ve made peace with it.I love the game, and I’m not quite ready to give it up, so I’m here.After graduation I’m off to chiropractic school rather than the pros.”
Saying it out loud to Saylor for the first time crystalized my decisions since I’d entered the portal back in December.Somewhere in the past year, I’d let go of playing pro ball.I think I was more surprised at my words as we blinked at each other across the console.
Saylor recovered first.“Did not see that one coming.”
I gave her my best smile.“Does that mean you’ll give me your number?You know, since I’m not a threat to your cool dreams?”
“How do you figure?”
I think she was going for hostile with her tone, but she let a note of intrigue slip in instead.
“Chiropractors stay in one place so they can build up a patient base.No switching teams or moving to new cities like NFL stars.It’s a home base kind of career.”I lifted one eyebrow in challenge.
“You don’t have my number.We haven’t gone on a date.You only found out my name this afternoon.Yet you sound like you’re making long-term plans.”Her narrow-eyed glare lit me up.
“Nope.I was only pointing out your problem is with football players who have a true shot at the pros, which makes sense.Playing pro ball requires sacrifice from the important people in the players’ lives.But I’m not one of those guys.”I turned up the charm by adding bedroom eyes to my smile.“Taking a chance with me isn’t going to mess with your big plans.”I pulled my phone from the pocket of my shorts and opened my contacts.“Digits, please.”
“You are so blunt.”The words came out on a tiny sigh, and I tightened my abs to keep my triumph in check.“Fine.”Her huffy exasperation delighted me, but I held tight until she rattled off her number and I had it safely saved on my phone under “Saylor Hot Kisses.”
“I’ll go out with you.”She shot me a sexy side-eye.“Once.”
Bingo.All I needed was a shot.
When my landlord started making noise about me “needing” to weed-whack the fence along the driveway so I didn’t “accidentally” drive into it some night, I decided I could forfeit ten days’ rent before the end of my lease.The guys were fine with me moving in early and even came over to my place to help me pack up my shit.
Honestly, I couldn’t figure out how Saylor could think anything about football players other than we were awesome.A teammate needed somewhere to stay?Boom!Another teammate had some space or knew someone who did.A teammate needed to move?No problem.Several players drove trucks.Since everyone spent days in the weight room, lifting heavy furniture was no big deal.
Not that I had much for furniture: a middle-aged recliner, a coffee table, a dresser serving as a TV stand, TV, and my king-size bed.The bed was the one piece of furniture I’d ever splurged on, because duh, college athlete.A decent bed was a must for peak performance.It also served me well whenever I wanted to entertain someone at the end of a date.The rest of my stuff came from secondhand stores or friends moving and not wanting to take something with them.
Dally glanced at the siding and wrinkled his nose as he climbed the cement steps to a narrow landing at the front door.“You weren’t wrong about nearing the sell-by date on your place.”
“Told ya.After the last rain, I have the distinct impression that green mold is a sentient being,” I said as I led us inside.
“The fuck is that?”Taco asked with a wide-eyed stare at my recliner.“A hand-me-down from your great-grandma?”
I shot him a glare from beneath my brows.“I dare you to sit in it.”
