Page 25 of Cocky Player

Holding on to it would protect us both.

Ten

Connor

I gruntedthrough my weighted squats, trying to keep my focus on my form, the weight on the bar, and the thump of music pummeling my ears.Next to the squat rack, Kolby rested a shoulder, waiting his turn, smirking at me.The giant asshole.He couldn’t stop giving me shit and he was affecting my workout.

He also didn’t care.

I stood and shoved the weights back into the hooks.“What?”

“You’re playing with fire, you know that, right?”

An idiot wouldn’t.I was no idiot.

“It’s nothing,” I said, shoving a towel to my face and breathing heavily into it.The lie thickened in my throat as I thought it.Brenna Kemper wasnotnothing.She was consuming me and it was unnatural.

Unwanted.

She was dangerous to me and yet turning my back on her before I had a full taste of her wasn’t going to happen.

Kolby was giving me shit because he’d been next to me in the locker room at our training center before we began our early morning workout when her text came in.

Can’t do dinner tonight.

That was all she sent and Kolby started giving me grief for being pissed about it.I didn’t get pissed.I didn’t get emotionally invested in anything other than the goal of winning another Super Bowl.My five-year contract was up at the end of the season and I had five more months to become the best to ensure my best chance at contract renewal.

Which meant walking away from Brenna now—especially when she was ready to break things off so easily with no explanation, no conversation—was the smartest thing I could do.

Apparently, I might be a slight idiot.

“Back off, Kolby.It’s nothing.It’s all in good fun anyway.”

“And yet you’re throwing weights around today and working out like you haven’t been laid in a year.Too bad it’s not regular season, you’d be a monster.”

“I’m just prepping for training camp.That’s all.”Kolby might be a good guy, one of the best, but the less fodder I gave him to give me shit, the better.It wasn’t natural for me to open up to people.“And it hasn’t been a year,” I grumbled.

Only weeks.A couple of months.But what I’d done with Brenna was more memorable than the last handful of women I’d taken to bed.

So no, she wasn’t getting out of this without at least a conversation.

I dropped the towel and snagged my cell phone, opening it while Kolby started his squat set, ignoring the smirk on his face.

It’s happening.We can order in at my place if that’s easier for you.

Perhaps she had the same concerns I did.Being seen in public could be detrimental.In my most stalkerish moment, I spent a small amount of time looking into Brenna Kemper over the last week and hadn’t been able to find anything.She had no social media accounts.Not even the standard LinkedIn profile every college grad had these days.All I saw were a few photos with her family at games over the years.It was no wonder why I hadn’t recognized her until she stepped onto the stage.At my last appointment with David, she was only in one of the framed family photos he had in his office and even that one was hidden.

Like they were trying to hide her away.

The mystery surrounding her only made me more interested but perhaps that’s all this was.She was a puzzle, a woman who made me chase for her, and maybe that’s all that was so captivating about her.Perhaps once I finally had her and got to know her, the thrill of her would dissipate.

Unlikely.But I’d cling to the lie I told myself for as long as possible.

I switched back to the music app, shoved my noise-canceling headphones to my ears and moved to the other side of the weight room and lost myself in my workout until my legs and arms were burning, my abs sore, my body drenched in sweat.I didn’t look at my screen again until I’d showered and dressed, hesitating when I saw her text.

Seven tonight.I’ll be there.

I quickly texted back.What do you want for dinner?And don’t request dessert…I already have a plan for that.

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