Page 13 of The Anaconda Downstairs

What kind of lesson had you planned for the butt crack of dawn if I wasn’t flying to Cali today?

The three little dots indicating that he was writing appeared, but then disappeared. It took all I had in me not to demand he type faster.

Finally the dots reappeared and then his next message.

I was going to make you send me a smiling, sleepy, bedhead morning selfie.

Oh my gawd. He did know I had a sex dream. How? I dropped my phone into my lap and stared out the window for a full seven deep breaths. My phone buzzed again while I was putting myself back together. I let it be until Kelsey nudged me. She probably thought it was the venue or the flight crew or something important.

I picked it up before she could see. My boss and best friend didn’t need to know I’d asked her future brother-in-law for dating help and then had a naughty dream about him that he somehow knew about.

Everett’s next text was there waiting for me.

For your dating app profiles we’ll be setting up.

Oh. Right. Dating apps. Yeah. Of course he’d suggest I get on the apps. This had absolutely nothing to do with the fantasies that had arisen in my REM sleep. Duh.

Why a bedhead selfie? I have plenty of pics on my socials we could use.

I pulled up a couple I thought were okay and sent them to him.

While you’re cute AF in all these, trust me—a sleepy smile and your pretty red curls spread across a pillow in the morning will get you more dates than you know what to do with.

I gulped so hard Kelsey thought I was choking and slapped me on the back. I threw in a couple of coughs just so she wouldn’t catch on. I gasped and grabbed my bottle of water from my bag and took a few sips. “Choked on my own spit.”

Kelsey leaned over, her eyes widening. “Is that Everett you’re texting?”

Before I could stop her, she snatched my phone.

I grabbed it back before she could scroll up. Everett would kill me and I’d happily die if I couldn’t even keep our dating lessons arrangement secret for twelve hours.

“You did not see what you think you saw, so pretend you didn’t see anything.” I gave her those same puppy dog eyes that had worked on Everett. “Okay?”

Kelsey gave me a you’re insane look.

Everything in my life just got a whole lot more complicated.

A NIGHT OUT OR IN?

EVERETT

I’d been distracted all week, waiting for the text from Penelope saying tonight was the night she’d practice her flirting. Each evening, I stared at my phone, a mix of anticipation and dread churning in my gut. And each night, I’d feel a ridiculous sense of relief when she’d message that it had been another long day of shooting and she was too exhausted to go out.

I told myself it was just concern for her well-being. After all, what kind of coach would I be if I pushed her too hard? Not that I’d pushed her at all. The thought of Penelope out there, flirting with other guys... it twisted something inside me.

But now we were all in Florida for the Mustangs’ away game, and I was running out of excuses.

The girls—Kelsey, Penelope, Willa, and Trixie—had their own suite at the hotel. Team rules meant players couldn’t have our partners in our rooms after curfew. It was a rule I’d never had trouble with before, but tonight it was driving me crazy.

I paced my room, reviewed my playbook, did some sit ups and pushups and even the dreaded burpees, and was now trying to focus on tomorrow’s game, when I heard a soft giggle in the hallway. Peering out, I caught a glimpse of Kelsey slipping intoDec’s room. A few minutes later, I saw Trixie sneaking towards Chris’s door, and there was no way Hayes didn’t already have Willa in his room.

Good. I hope the kid was getting laid like the rest of them. Kingmans played better when... fuck, I was going to play like shit.

Penelope must be alone in the girls’ suite.

Oh, this was such a bad idea.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I was knocking on her door. When she opened it, looking adorably confused in her pink polka-dotted pajamas, my mouth went dry, my palms started sweating, and my determination to keep this completely platonic went down in a huge tackle by my libido. How the fuck was I going to resist stripping her out of those?

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