Page 59 of Hot Receiver

A soft laugh escapes her lips. “I just want to see my son happy. It’s been a while. And speaking of happy, Matt Harrison certainly made an incredible judgment call on that last play today. I hope you were gracious.”

Heat creeps up the sides of my neck. She has no idea just how gracious I’d have liked to be if circumstances were different. But it can’t work. Even the slice of jealousy shining in his eyes before the game when he saw me with Ryan wasn’tenough to convince me that what we shared in our carnal little bubble can ever extend beyond it.

He saved me for the last time, and while I’ll always be grateful, I need to close the door on my past for good.

It’s time to begin my future.

“He played a great game today.”

A nagging voice in my mind still doesn’t get Mom’s crafty little segue, either. How did we go from Dad to the event to Matt’s touchdown?

Mom nods. “I also caught a clip of him speaking up for you earlier today. I was watching a video on one of those websites your father always kept in his sports bookmark folder.” She pauses for a second. “You two had a history playing for Ohio State before you left the team. But the way he was talking made it sound like your history isn’t that far back.”

Heat burns in my chest, a knot of flames igniting and shooting out to all my limbs.

I bring a hand to the back of my neck and squeeze, pulling my eyes away from the laptop screen. “Yeah, well, he’s a Crusader, and Travers was talking crap about his team. Matt’s the guy who always stands up for what he believes.”

He’d stand up for the team but not for himself.

Not for his happily ever after.

That realization’s got a harsh bite to it.

Just one more reason why I need to finally end the damn book and start a new one.

“He sounded sincere.”

I look back at the screen.

Mom shrugs. “I never believed he was all that into the girls he dates.”

My brow furrows. “I didn’t know you paid such close attention to his love life.”

“It’s easy to get a sense of people’s feelings about the ones they’re with.”

“How so?” And when did Mom ever pay that much attention to gossip rags?

“Any time I saw Matt with Anna Taylor or the gaggles of other Hollywood types on the news or in the papers, he’d smile, but I’d never see that look in his eye.”

“Whatlook?”

Mom smiles at me, her dark eyes twinkling. “The look he had when he stood next to you today. The look he had when he told the world how lucky the Crusaders are to have you at that press conference weeks ago. Pictures boast a thousand, oftentimes unspoken, words.”

I can’t even stop my jaw from hitting the keyboard of my laptop. “Mom, there was no…he doesn’t…isn’t…”

Words completely dry up on the tip of my tongue.

I’ve got nothing. She officially stunned me into complete and shocked silence.

“I’m just saying there was something in the way he looked at you that was different from the way he looked at all the others. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m right.”

I force myself to sputter a reply. “Well, it doesn’t make a difference. I mean, I’m the owner, right? Besides, whether or not it’s true, he’s sticking with the Hollywood blonde brigade.”

“I’m just saying that there could be a lot more to him than meets the eye. More than he’s let on even to himself. I’ll message you with the details for tomorrow night.” She smiles again. “I love you. So, so much.”

I kiss my fingers and press them onto the screen. “Love you, too, Mom.”

A good five minutes pass while I sit back and stare at the ceiling, still trying to process everything she said about Matt, about me…about Matt and me.

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