“Wait…what?”
“You heard me. One night with you wasn’t enough. When I get back, you and I are having another conversation.”
He hung up before I could respond.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Luca
While the rest of the guys woke up hungover, I awoke ready for battle. I’d nursed one beer the entire night and instead had imaginary conversations in my head about how the talk with Lorelei would go.
She might not be down for changing our deal because she said she’d neverdatean athlete, but this wasn’t dating. I’d convince her or I’d do whatever I could to get her to agree to be exclusive friends with benefits. Sunday had changed the makeup of my DNA, and it was silly to creditthat nightfor playing the best game of my entire life, but for a guy obsessed with stats, it was hard to disprove it. Letting myself go, having a little fun, made me more relaxed, which made my muscles less tense and made it easier to move.
Sotechnically,sleeping with Lorelei was best for my future.
Okay, sure.
It was how I rationalized it and let go of all the red lights flashing in my head as to why it was a terrible idea. It’d betray my QB, go against my own promise to myself, potentially hurt my grandma’s future, and threaten to ruin my entire plan, but hey, it made me play better, so yeah, it was worth it.
Now she just had to agree. Plus, keeping it casual meant no one would get hurt. Not Lorelei, not me, nor my grandma who kept asking about her.
My knee bounced up and down on the bus ride back to campus, the nervous energy at seeing her overtaking my senses. God, the selfie she sent wearing my teammate’s jersey with other guys around her… did the woman not know what that unleashed in me?
It made me want to bite her thighs so she knew I was there every time she took a step. Suck her neck so when she put her ponytail up, she’d see me there. Fuck her again, so any man in the future would have to work twice as hard to replace the memory of me.
Lorelei Romano had a hold on me, and I wasn’t ready to let go.
I’d proudly avoided social media for years because it messed with my mental health too much, but I stared at my new account with zero followers and a placeholder profile picture. No one needed to knowsportsguy09809was me, not even Lorelei—the one account I followed.
I scrolled through her posts, like an obsessed teenager. She went out last night looking gorgeous, in someone else’s jersey. Photos of her and baseball players, beer, andis that fucking Eric?
My left cheek twitched. Had she hung out with herexlast night while I was out of town? My stomach hollowed at the thought. I closed the app, chewing my lip in annoyance.Thiswas why I didn’t get online. It pissed me off.
Sixty minutesuntil arrival. One hour until I could see her, ask about Eric, and beg her to renegotiate our deal. See, my plan was simple. I’d give myself two nights off a week, around both our sports schedules. It wasn’t dating—that’d be a hell no. But friends with benefits.Secretones. Exclusive ones—this one was important. It’d just be us, and no one would ever find out. Definitely not Dean. That was the first rule.
My phone buzzed with my grandma’s name, and I answered instantly. “Is everything okay? Are you alright?”
“Luca, you cannot assume the worst every time I call you. I could be asking you a question about fireworks or thongs or that pretty girl you brought.”
A strangled sound escaped my throat. “No thongs.”
“You’re no fun.” She laughed. “I wanted to congratulate you. You played a hell of a game, honey. We were all hooting and hollering until Pete fell asleep. Then we pranked him, but I caught most of the game.”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Thank you. Hopefully Pete is okay?”
“It was just a little thing, don’t you worry. Now, are you coming up again with Lorelei soon? The manager told me today that we’ve had a few thousand dollars in donations come in already from some viral thing? I want to ask her questions about it.”
Thousand dollars.I blinked. “Wait, really?”
“Don’t you live with the girl? Luca, get your head out of your football helmet and smell the roses. I thought you’d be doing more fun stuff with her around.”
“I am.” I blushed. “I mean, I’m having fun.”
“Okay, dear. Are you two coming up tonight?”
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask her if she can.”
“If not tonight, have her call me. Give her my number, would you?”
