Shit.
“If you’re planning on breaking your, like, years-long dry spell, maybe choose someone with just a little more distance from the team than the GM’s niece and the person in charge of our collective mental health. That’s a big bucket of nope, Cam.”
With that, he jogs out onto the field, catching the pass Tylerrockets to him and firing it back. Scrubbing my hands over my face and shoving my fingers through my hair, I walk towards the field too, and if my route happens to take me straight past Maddy, well, that’s just the way that goes.
Damn Drew’s big bucket of nope straight to hell.
“Looking good, Wildcat,” I say as I sidle up next to her and stop, my eyes glued to the field like I’m surveying my teammates as they warm up.
“You can’t call me that here,” she says in a low voice, her eyes still glued the field too.
I bump my shoulder with hers, and warmth spreads through me from the contact. From the way she huffs out a breath, her fingers flexing on the pink water bottle she holds, I know she felt it too, and everything inside me lights up. “Is there a place Icancall you that?”
When she turns to face me, her green eyes locking on mine, my heart kicks up, and I feel my smile spread. She’s so damn pretty. “Why do you look so pleased with yourself?”
I take a quick glance around and see assistant coaches and staff milling around, some of the guys chatting with trainers on the sidelines and others deep into their warm-ups on the field, and Coach standing with one foot propped up on a bench, studying his clipboard like it contains the secrets to the universe. “Because it’s a football Sunday, and I get to go warm up in a few minutes and then go play my favorite game. Because I heard from my kids right before I came out here, and talking to them before a game is good luck. And because I walked out of the tunnel just now and saw you. Seeing you makes me happy.”
Maddy rolls her eyes and takes a sip from her water bottle. “Were you by any chance present for the conversation where I told you we can only be friends?”
I nod, focused on her mouth but not because I want to kiss her—although, fuck yeah, I do—but because every time she talks, I catch a glimpse of what I’m almost positive is her very orange tongue. Glancing at her water bottle, I notice littleorange drops around the top and chuckle when I realize that her water bottle is, in fact, full of orange soda.
Why do I find that so damn delightful?
“Wildcat, we are friends. It’s just that I also remember you look really hot naked and you whimper when you come. I can’t just un-remember that, you know?”
Maddy inhales sharply, looking around quickly, likely to make sure there’s no one else within earshot, which of course, there isn’t. I said I would never get in the way of her job and I meant it, even if her insistence on being just friends makes the competitor in me want to prove her wrong. And even if all I want in life is to have my hands on her again. With her hands on her hips, she gives me what I think she thinks is an irritated glare, but her orange tongue blunts the effect.
She’s so cute I just want to cuddle her up and also fuck her into my mattress. It’s a really, really appealing combination.
“Hey, Maddy! Cam! Watch this!” We both look over as Tyler grins at us, bounces once on his toes, and then runs across the field at top speed, vaulting over three defensive linemen kneeling in a row on the turf. The second he clears them, they all pop up and cheer, the rest of the guys on the field joining in.
“Perfect ten, Ty!” I call, amused, as always, by his antics. That guy wouldn’t know game day jitters if they walked up and introduced themselves.
Maddy just rolls her eyes. “Why did I think working with you overgrown children was a good idea?” she mutters, taking another swig of her drink.
Grabbing her water bottle from her, I take a sip, laughing when my suspicions are confirmed. “Drinking orange soda out of a water bottle is a baller move, Wildcat.”
She yanks the bottle away from me. “Water is the most boring drink in the world. I prefer to hydrate with sugar and carbonation. Can you get out on the field already? It’s weird that you’re just standing here while the rest of your team is warming up.”
I consider pointing out that warm-ups don’t officially start for another five minutes and half the team is still fucking around, but I’m already pressing my luck, so instead I just shrug. “Yeah, but I wanted to give you something first.”
“Is it your blood oath that no one associated with this team will find out about the night we spent together?” she asks dryly.
I grin. “Close.” With a wink, I toss her the Ziploc bag I grabbed from my locker before I came out to the field.
She catches it and glances down then back up at me, her freckled nose crinkled in confusion. “What am I looking at?”
I cluck my tongue. “An M&M’s connoisseur such as yourself should recognize your favorite candy when it’s in your hand. I thought you might need a pre-game sweet treat.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Why are they in a Ziploc bag?”
Spinning around, I walk backwards towards the field, still facing her. “Because you like all the different flavors, and I didn’t want you to have to choose. Every M&M’s flavor is in there except caramel. Caramel M&M’s are the worst.”
Maddy’s entire stern demeanor disappears and she laughs, her eyes full of fun when she looks at me. “They really are the worst.” Opening the bag, she takes a handful of M&M’s and tosses them into her mouth. “Go score a touchdown, Cam,” she says, her voice muffled by the candy.
“Offensive linemen don’t usually score touchdowns.” I drop my voice so only she can hear it. “But if I did score one, I would score it for you.”
With a wink and a grin at the way a soft pink flush crawls up from her chest to her cheeks, I turn and jog onto the field, feeling her eyes on me the whole time.
