Page 76 of Forever Offsides

“Hi,” he says, eyeing my wine. “What are you doing here?”

I tilt my head and give him a deadpan expression. “Having a drink.”

“Alone?” He glances about me as if waiting for a guy to materialize.

“Yes.” I snicker. “Your son is fucking some random blonde, and I discovered the hard way that his room is directly beneath mine.”

He pales, his lips dipping into a frown. “Oh.”

I don’t know if they have rules against that sort of thing happening the night before a game, but I don’t exactly care if I just got a player in trouble with their coach.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have a curfew?”

He licks his lips and steps toward me. “Yes. I was just doing a quick set of rounds to make sure I didn’t have to kick anyone’s ass to bed the night before our first away game.”

“Do coaches normally do that?”

His lips bounce. “No clue.” His gaze shifts about my face. “Are you upset?”

My eyebrows dive. “About what?”

“Russel and the woman.”

“Oh.” I wave him away. “No. I don’t care. Honestly, I’m relieved I didn’t fall into his bullshit.”

“What bullshit?”

“He’s been calling and texting me a lot, trying to get me to go out with him and give him a second chance. That was intermingled between posing us as friends.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “He has?”

I nod. “Yup.” I pop the P sound. “Clearly it wasn’t as sincere as he played.”

He shifts his weight and looks out into the bar, his jaw hard and his eyes narrowed. “I don’t know about that. I’m sure he means it. I wouldn’t let whatever is happening⁠—”

“Please don’t defend him to me. Not you.”

Slowly his head swivels back to me. “Were you considering it? Giving him a second chance.”

“No,” I tell him honestly. “I wasn’t.”

He swallows thickly, tension radiating from him that quickens my pulse. “How long do you think he’ll be with her?”

I shrug. “Anywhere from thirty seconds to hours if he wants seconds and thirds is my guess.”

He coughs out a small laugh. “Jesus, your mouth.” He shakes his head. “Well, I can’t leave you sitting alone in a bar for hours.”

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, but I still don’t want you sitting here alone. Or worse, having someone sit down beside you.”

“Is that what this is? You’re jealous?”

“I’m always jealous when it comes to you. It’s already late. Bring your drink up to my room. You can hang out there until he’s finished.”

My jaw drops a little.

“I’ll behave,” he adds solemnly. “I’ve been good for the last few weeks, haven’t I? I didn’t even touch you at breakfast.”