Page 96 of Defending her Heart

Rowan’s cheeks turn bright pink, and while I feel bad about making her the center of attention, something she hates, I don’t mind the pressure being off me.

“Miles? God, no. We’re nothing alike. You’re the one who gave me the jersey, Kendall.”

Fair enough.

We talk about the game, Riley and Walker’s sex life, place our bets on when she’ll be pregnant, then filter out to our seats. The game is a blowout, and Boston wins by four touchdowns.

While we wait for Walker and his friends to come out of the locker room, those fucking butterflies wreak havoc on my insides. When Nash comes out looking so freaking gorgeous, they make their way into my chest. A pang of jealousy plays around with the butterflies as a gaggle of women swarm around him, Miles, and Walker.

It’s supposed to be friends and family in this area to avoid the pap scene, but sometimes the friends of other players get starstruck. Especially when this particular trio of guys had a stellar game.

While Miles eats up the attention, draping his long arms around four girls, Walker makes a run for it straight to Riley. Nash signs a few autographs, then comes over to our circle. “Hey,” he says directly to me, ignoring everyone else.

One simple word shouldn’t stir me up so much, but it does. I tip my chin to him in greeting, then grip onto Rowan’s hand and tug her toward Jackson and Taylor.

“Let’s get a head start and reserve our table.” I push Jackson toward the parking lot before Nash can steal me away again.

While I ended up enjoying our dinner for two last week, it just as equally terrified me.

“You know the restaurant has an entire area roped off for us, right?” Jackson asks as he slides on his leather gloves before grabbing Taylor’s hand.

“And you know it isn’t forus,right?” Rowan adds, tossing a smirk my way. “We should wait for our celebrity friends, or they won’t even let us anywhere near the table.”

Damn. She has a point. “We can sit in the warm car while we wait.”

With the press of a button on his key fob, Jackson’s sleek Mercedes starts up. It’s already warm and toasty by the time we reach it and climb in. The buttery leather seats are soft, and the seat warmer feels amazing after freezing in the stands for three hours.

Walker could get us box seats, but Riley likes being close to the field where she can see her husband better. To be fair, the view from the third row is pretty damn good.

We’re not even in the Mercedes for two minutes when Jackson turns around and glares at me in the backseat. “Time to spill, Ken-Ken.”

“Spill what?”

“The tea. We all knew something was up between Riley and Walker last year when she shut us out. It’s not like you and your loudmouth to be quiet, so there’s obviously something you don’t want us to know.”

Rowan snorts next to me, and she’s so not a snorter. I give her the side-eye and Jackson points at her.

“You know?” he gasps with a flair of drama. “Row-Row. What is our little Ken doll hiding from us?”

“The fuck? I’m not a Ken doll.”

“No, but I’m guessing your fuck boy is.”

“I don’t have a fuck boy.” I don’t need to look at Rowan to know her brow is lifted. “Fine. I have a fuck boy, but that’s all he is. I didn’t say anything because I knew you’d make a big deal about it.”

“Ehh.” Jackson makes an annoying buzzer sound. “If it was no big deal, you’d have no problem telling us. Tell me I’m right, Tay.”

Taylor, who usually plays Switzerland, shrugs his shoulders. “Kendall doesn’t usually have a problem kissing and telling.”

“Meaning she has hearts and flowers for her fuckboy.”

“You’re an idiot.” I flick Jackson’s forehead. Realizing the only way to get out of this is to tell the somewhat truth, I let out a sigh. “Fine. But don’t make a big deal about it. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want things to be awkward for Riley and Walker.”

“What do they have to do with it?”

I run my tongue along my top teeth and spit out, “I had sex with Nash a couple times.”

“You said as much earlier. So why the secrecy?”

---