It wasn’t comfortable, and my face was certainly scarlet by the end, but it all went pretty much the way I expected. Eventually, he got tired of ranting, then spun on his heel and stomped away. I stood there, blowing out a breath in relief. Not so bad, all in all. Though I still had to face my boss to explain the fine.
And now it was time to collect the empty bags and head off to the next interview. Except when I turned, Connor was still standing there, waiting. Off to the right, his sister was doing a brisk business in calendars, but it was Connor who caught my attention. Especially when he stepped right into my personal space.
His body was large compared to my very modest five foot six inch frame. I could smell him—a musky cacao that made me think of licking hot chocolate off of his washboard abs. And his eyes still held that sunshine beauty.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I exhaled. “This one was my fault. I deserved it.”
“Uh-huh.” Flat tone. No accusation, as far as I could tell, but not very much support.
“But it was worth it,” I continued. “You were amazing, and it’ll go viral for sure. I knew you’d been practicing that catch—”
“For fun. As a way to blow off steam, not as a media stunt.”
I flashed him a smile. “Good thing you’re amazing enough to do both.”
It was a joke and meant to lighten the mood. After all, I was complimenting him. But his expression turned icy cold, chilling me to the bone.
“This spectacle wasn’t what I had in mind when I made the suggestion. I’m done with media stunts. Never again.”
“B-but you did so well. It’ll be a meme for sure.”
“Believe it or not, some of us don’t want to be flashed on every cell phone in America.”
Thatwas a shock. His teammates were constantly all over me to get them more airtime. Any one of them would have given their eyeteeth for exactly this kind of publicity.
“Okay,” I said, scrambling to adjust. “No stunts. Just interviews.”
“I’m done with those, too.”
I jolted. “You’re in the All-Star Game. Youarethe Bobcats’ media presence.”
I could hear him grind his teeth. “No. More.” And then his eyes went soft. For a brief flash, I saw vulnerability there. And maybe pain. “Please, Gia. I can’t keep doing this.”
He’d reached his limit. I should have realized it before, but he was so good with the press, I hadn’t picked up on it. But now I could see that every single appearance took a toll on him. Some guys just didn’t love the spotlight, and I needed to respect Connor’s wishes.
I did some rapid mental calculations. I had two post-game interviews lined up and half a dozen other spotlights over the next two days. “Can you handle a spotlight—?”
“No.” That was it. One clipped word, then he spun on his heel and walked away, his long strides cutting through the crowd like a knife through butter.
I watched him go, annoyed with myself for appreciating the sight of his taut behind while the rest of me wanted to choke him. How the hell was I going to cover post-game interviews without our star player? Journalists did not like being stood up, and it was going to take all my skill to pull this off.
I dug out my phone and went to work.
Chapter Three
Connor
Back home.
I inhaled the peculiar scent of male sweat and deodorized carpet that was the Bobcat home stadium. It was three days after the All-Star Game. We’d won, by the way, and my knees weren’t any worse for wear. Which meant now the team could get serious about the sport we all loved without the media distraction. The only thing looming was the trading deadline,but that was a couple weeks away. Plenty of time for me to get the Bobcats focused on winning the pennant, and I was eager to get to it.
I needed a pennant before my knees completely crapped out on me.
But just before I made it to the privacy of the locker room, a cheerful brunette stepped in front of me—Gia Kubic looking fierce, which on her tiny frame looked adorable.
“Connor, you’re looking happy this morning.” It was the opening salvo in her perky war, and I wasn’t having any of it.
