“Er, yeah. I guess.”
His eyes narrowed, but his voice remained unusually quiet. “Look, you’re not the first rookie to get up his own ass first season—”
“I know—”
“But you’re one of the best-paid ones.” He spoke right over me, and I figured I’d better button my lip. But then he was silent, staring hard at me, and I swallowed and scrambled for something to say.
“Yes, Coach.”
“Nico says it’s a girl.” He pronounced “girl” like he was farting and grunting at the same time.
“Nico should keep his nose out—”
“Don’t get smart, rookie,” he said with a kind of bark. The foghorn wasn’t far away, so I decided to show some humility.
“I’m not trying to be smart, Coach. I respect Nico’s opinion,” I lied, “but I had it under control.”
“Bullshit.” There’s the foghorn, and I winced. “Nico never gets involved unless you’re an idiot.” His jowls quivered as he glared at me. “Were you an idiot?”
Hard to deny that one. And since I’d never lied to my coach in my entire life, I had to fess up the truth. “Maybe.”
He snorted. “It’s not pills or booze, is it? She’s not pushing that shit on you?”
“No.” I bit the word out. Everyone was tested for drugs, and I was as clean as a whistle. But that didn’t stop everyone from asking.
“Then it’s just tits and ass. So get over it.”
I clamped my mouth shut. Heidi was a hell of a lot more than T&A, though I wasn’t sure how I knew that. Objectively speaking, all we’d done was have the best sex of my life. Twice. Though when I thought of her, I remembered the way we laughed with each other. How everything felt easy with her, including the sex.
Coach coughed out a breath. “Listen, Rob, pussy ain’t new to you. You’ve had plenty and still hit homers. And that’s your job, the reason you’re here on my diamond. So ditch the girl and do your job. Got it?”
I swallowed. He was right. Problem was, I’d been trying to get Heidi out of my brain for two days now and it hadn’t worked. And as for the nights, I’d jerked off with her panties in my hand, so no, I didn’t have my head on straight. What the hell was I going to do?
“Oh Jesus. Here she is,” Coach grumbled.
I whipped around, straining to see Heidi. But it wasn’t her. Instead, I saw the team owner, Joe DeLuce, strutting in with his daughter, Brittany, on his arm.
Brittany. Oh shit. I’d promised to see her after Saturday’s game in the owner’s booth, but had been so preoccupied with Heidi, I’d completely forgotten.
Meanwhile, the bottle blonde’s gaze found mine immediately and her bow of a mouth pursed in a flirty way. I couldn’t tell if she was blowing kisses or was annoyed at me because I’d forgotten our meeting. I’d already been warned by my older teammates that Brittany liked to drape herself on the new talent. I was this year’s selection and up until Saturday, I hadn’t minded one bit. She was gorgeous, a hot kisser (we’d never done more), and knew when to back away when I had to practice. But after seeing Heidi again, Brittany became just one more complication I didn’t want. But she was the owner’s daughter, and I needed to make nice.
“Give me five minutes, Coach,” I said. “Maybe ten. And then I’ll start hitting homers. I swear.”
Coach didn’t respond except with a grunt. But I knew that meant I had my ten minutes.
There’s nothing like a spoiled, alpha girl to shrink a guy’s libido. I’d dated a couple back in high school, so I knew the type. I hadn’t been a football star, so I didn’t rate the top girls, but I was an athlete and that gained some attention. But it had been enough for me to realize that the pretty curves weren’t worth the effort.
“Hey, Brittany, sorry about Saturday.”
“It’s okay. I understand the pressure you’re under.” She pursed her lips again and flashed me a coy look. I couldn’t help but compare her to Heidi, who wouldn’t know how to be coy if her life depended on it. “Maybe we can get together tonight. I’ll help you unwind.”
Hell, had she just offered to have sex with me while standing less than three feet from her father and my boss? The idea was enough to obliterate my libido completely, which had been my plan. I gave her a shrug.
“I need to focus, Brittany. Let me get my head on straight, and then maybe I’ll give you a call.”
This time, there was a definite pout and her brows narrowed a fraction in annoyance, but a moment later, it all smoothed out. “How about I just watch you practice then? I’ll be your personal cheering section.”
I was still trying to figure out how to gracefully tell her to go away when her father spoke up, his voice friendly but with an undercurrent of threat. “Let the boy do what he needs to do, Brit. He has to do well on Wednesday.”
