“I saw all that coverage. Dude, it didn’t look like damage control,” Nate muses. “You tap that after?”
“Feck off with that,” I scoffed, but my cheeks flamed at his accusation. “It wasn’t like that, at all.” Truth is, I wasn’t sure what anything was like since then. The few days that had followed that shoot, I’d found myself searching for her in the stadium with no luck, because she really did airtight our schedules to not overlap. I’d found myself thinking about thingsthat I shouldn’t be thinking about. While Jake dreamed about Nate in tiaras, I’d been plagued with images of her. I didn’t have time to sit and analyze dreams with a million other things I should have been focusing on, but Teddy Sloane had invaded my mind, and she was as stubborn there as she was in real life. Flashes of her leaning into me during the shoot, how soft and strong she felt beneath my palms. Her scent that I found myself almost searching for in the stadium.
And no amount of extra exercise had burned it out of me.
I’d also spent the last few days in talks with our head of PR, coming up with ideas that would redirect the narrative. Why had I offered that? Panic? Redemption? To show her I wasn’t just the asshole she knew in college.
I wasn’t sure, but I knew she’d gotten under my skin again. Only this time, I wasn’t willing to beat her. I wanted her to win.
Teddy Sloane had started a fire within me, and I didn’t just mean because she’s hot. There’s more. So much more to her.
“You’re a bad liar, man,” Ramirez said, laughing into his cup.
I shook my head and took a long sip of beer, but my eyes kept drifting back to where she was at the bar with those long fucking legs. Men flocked around her, which wasn’t a surprise, but she effortlessly batted them all away with a scowl or a smile that was too bitter for them to stick around. All it did was make my blood run hotter. Wanting her was a new development, but I couldn’t lie and say that it was one I was mad about.
Her head tilted back as she laughed at something Leo said. I never had an issue with the guy, until now. Irrational thoughts of punching him right in the face for making her laugh swarmed my mind, but that was exactly what they were, irrational. Something I couldn’t afford to be.
Her fingers danced along the condensation of the glass she’d been handed, filled with soda. Suddenly, my mouth went dry atthe idea of licking that water off her finger, of using it to trail down her body and…
“Cap?”
My head swung to the boys at the table, and their faces told me they knew exactly where my thoughts were headed. But before anyone could say a thing, she was right there.
“You clean up nice, Sloane.” Jake wolf-whistled as she slid her drink onto our table but didn’t sit, but the fact she chose to be near me made all my nerves fray. She smelled divine, like expensive perfume, and all I wanted to do was rub myself against her like a dog in heat.Fucking get it together, man.
“Boys, if that’s the bar for complimenting women, no wonder you’re all single.”
The table dissolved intoooosand burns that seemed to satiate the woman in front of us. Micah arrived a second later, with Bobby wrapped around her, as always. “Hey, team.”
“Your captain is just roasting Jakey here,” Ramirez said with a shit-eating-grin.
Micah laughed. “Again? What, he didn’t learn his lesson yet?”
“Man just needs a woman who knows how to deal with kids,” Bobby added, giving Micah’s waist a quick squeeze. “Preferably one with the patience of a saint.”
Jake held up his hand. “I’ll have you know, I’m extremely dateable forallwomen.”
Bobby let out a short laugh. “No one’s arguing with you, Jakey. Just saying you might make someone work for it.”
Micah nodded, sipping her drink. “A challenge can be good, though.”
Jake brightened. “Exactly. Thank you.”
The group eased back into chatter, no one taking any of it too seriously. It was the kind of teasing that comes from knowing each other well. But that only made Teddy look more uncomfortable. She still hadn’t sat down with us. Hovering nearme like a gravitational field I couldn’t escape. Every shift of her body was a hit—her shoulder brushing my arm, the warmth of her thigh grazing the table near mine.
I pretended to take a drink to take a breath. But her presence was its own gravity. A steady pull I felt more than I understood.
13
Teddy
Micah had made sure I didn’t bail tonight, and honestly, I was grateful she pushed. I’d ignored her text telling me to get ready, spent half the afternoon convincing myself I was too tired to sit in a loud bar with everyone, but she appeared at my door, like she always does—arms crossed, eyebrows raised, already knowing every excuse I had lined up. And now, here with my drink cooling my hand and the comfortable noise of the team weaving around me, I could admit she was right.
It felt good to be here. Normal, even. A small pocket of ease in a busy month that has felt like juggling fire. This was the kind of downtime Natalie was talking about, and she was right, to no surprise. We had a big year ahead of us and we deserved to let go a little.
More of the girls’ team joined us within minutes. Evie, Delany, Lola and her girlfriend, and a few others. All of them smiled and chatted with the Knights team, settling themselves into their giant booth without hesitation. And then there was me, still at the end of the table, like a weirdo.
I should have taken a seat, I knew that. There was an empty space near Micah, but my body hadn’t quite committed to the motion yet. Maybe because Connor was there, watching the conversation with that quiet attentiveness, and every time his eyes flicked to me, a live current skittered through me. That was new, and I had no idea what to do with it. So, for now, I’d stay where I was.
