Tyler tugs on her ponytail, and when she scowls at him, hejust grins wider. “The dads told me to watch you, and I’ve been around long enough to know that you don’t argue with a dad. Especially a dad who’s also my boss.”
“Except it’s taking my dadforever,” Ethan says, throwing himself back against the cushions. “He already has a zillion muscles. You would think he could skip a leg day or something.”
“Never skip a leg day,” Drew says seriously, humor dancing in his eyes.
“You didn’t break the trophies, did you?” Tyler asks Ethan. “You dad will never forgive me.” He looks at Ethan before turning to Zoe. “And your dad will probably trade me, and I’ll end up playing in Florida or some shit.” He shivers dramatically. “Can you imagine living in a place where the seasons never change? Gross.”
“No one is getting traded. Yet.” Brian smirks as he strolls into my office, ruffling Tyler’s hair like he’s a little kid, dropping a kiss on Zoe’s head, and striding over to pull me up from the couch and wrap me in a hug. “How’s it going, Mads? My guys treating you well?” He shoots a glance at Drew, who grins.
“She’s one of the team, Bry.”
Warmth and satisfaction tangle in my chest at Drew’s words because that’s the way I want these guys to see me. As someone who’s on their side. Who wants the best for them. Who wants to help them achieve all their goals. And in the last month, I think I’ve started to build exactly that. One more in a long list of reasons Cam and I can’t happen. These guys would never see me as part of the team if I was dating one of the team. “I mean, I’m not throwing any footballs or anything, but I do what I can.”
“I bet you would throw a killer spiral.” The deep rumbly voice has chills racing down my spine, and I turn to the doorway to see Cam, clad in gym shorts, a gray T-shirt, and a backwards Renegades hat that does absolutely insane things to my insides, leaning on the doorframe. His eyes dance with humor and his lips tug up in a grin, and is it just me or has the temperature in this room suddenly gone from comfortable to standing underthe sun in the middle of the desert for hours with no water in sight?
So much for that list of reasons.
An office full of children, my sort of cousin and very good friend, the star wide receiver, and my boss who also happens to be my uncle is absolutely not the place for a lust attack over the Renegades’ fuck hot center. And father to two of these children.
Be cool, Maddy. Be very, very cool.
Easier to do when anxiety sweat isn’t dripping between my boobs.
Tyler chuckles. “Maddy can sink a slapshot from halfway across a hockey rink, but her football skills need some serious work.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Am I remembering wrong or did you choke in absolutely spectacular fashion the last time we went head-to-head on skates?”
“You beat him?” Riley asks, curiosity in her voice as she looks between Tyler and me.
“She wiped the rink with him,” Brian says with a grin. “Absolutely kicked his ass. I think he might have cried.”
“He did,” Zoe confirms to Riley. “I was there and I saw it. He kept falling on the ice, and Maddy was skating around like she was in the NHL or something.”
“I did not,” Tyler mutters. “Besides, I’d like to see you successfully throw a football fifty yards into double coverage while under pressure from the best defense in the league.”
“Feeling a little competitive, Hansley?” I ask with a smirk. My traitorous eyes find Cam, and when our eyes meet, he tosses me the sexiest wink imaginable, and butterflies explode in my stomach.
I think I’m in a little bit of trouble.
Tyler crosses his arms over his chest. “Duh, do you even know me?”
Tearing my eyes away from Cam as casually as possible, I nod. “In fact, I do. Since you were born, little Ty Ty.”
Tyler makes a face at the nickname I know he hates, which is why I used it. I might be an eldest daughter, but there’s a latent youngest child buried somewhere inside of me. “There’s only one way to settle this, Maddy girl. Football throwing competition. You and me. Right now.”
Ugh, should have seen that coming. “I don’t think I’m wearing the shoes for it,” I say breezily.
Tyler gives my purple Converse high tops—a present from Sarah’s mom, Jo, when we all went to Boston to visit the Wyles side of the family a couple months ago—a pointed look. “Those will work fine.”
“Do it, Maddy!” Ethan cheers from the couch.
“Yeah, Maddy, you should definitely do it.” Cam leans against the door frame and crosses his arms over his chest. His lips tip up in a smile, and his eyes fix on me in a way that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I could get lost in all that blue. I have gotten lost in all that blue. Suddenly, the air between us feels electric, and I know I shouldn’t be looking at him this way in a room full of people who absolutely can’t know what happened between us, but I also can’t look away.
“We’re definitely doing this!” Drew jumps up from the couch, the movement just enough to snap me out of my Cam-induced haze.
When he tosses me a surreptitious wink, I’m one hundred percent sure he caught the vibes between Cam and me, and the interruption was intentional. Maybe Cam even told him about our night together. I mean, I told my best friends, so it stands to reason that maybe he told his, too, right? Does anyone even know what man friends talk about?
“The practice field is empty right now,” Brian says. “I’m in the mood for a little intra-family competition.”
