Page 12 of False Start
“Have you asked Amber’s mother if it’s okay?”
“I texted her as you were finishing up. She’s fine having Zara for the afternoon, if you’re okay with it. Hey Weston, good to see you back,” Cami said, stepping up beside us.
“Thanks, good to be back.” I knocked knuckles with her.
“Weston Naylor.”
A grin spread across my face as I turned to face the woman I thought I’d never see again.
“Who’s that?” Cami asked behind me and was quickly shushed by her brother.
“What brings you here, princess?” I asked, striding across the grass toward her.
“We need to talk.”
Her hair was pulled back from her face today, the lengths curling down her back in a fiery waterfall and leaving her long, creamy neck exposed. The memory of her taste called to me as I forced myself to focus on her expertly made-up face and the words she was saying. Talk. Yes, I could talk with her.
“What about?” I asked, aiming for a casual stance, despite the sensation of multiple eyes burning into my back. My team were all like brothers. So close, that sometimes boundaries were blurred, and gossip spread faster than wildfire through the changing rooms.
“Have you…” Her startlingly blue eyes flicked toward the field behind me, proving we were, in fact, the center of everyone’s collective attention. She lowered her voice and moved a little closer.
“Have you been online this morning?”
“No, but Christian mentioned we’d made the headlines. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to drag you into the circus that is preseason football.”
Those eyes softened, and she half lifted her hand, as though she were going to touch me but reconsidered. I wanted her to touch me.
“I don’t care about attention. I’m an actor. I just didn’t expect this all to get complicated so quickly.”
She twisted her hands in front of her, chewing on her lip like there were more words she wanted to say.
“Tell me. I’ll help if I can,” I said, gripping her hands lightly to still them before she hurt herself.
She ducked her head, and a wave of her vanilla scent hit me as her ponytail slipped over her shoulder. “You may regret offering that.”
Giving in to the urge to touch her, I cupped her chin, lifting gently until her eyes met mine.
“Tell me.”
Her shoulders dropped at the touch of command I put into my voice. I’d noticed it the night before, and the memory threatened to make the situation in my warmup pants a little NSFW.
She liked to give up control, and the idea of a repeat of the night before was becoming less of a bad idea by the minute.
“My manager wants us to keep up our fake relationship.”
I paused, perfectly still despite the urge to pull away from her. She wanted to turn my good deed into a publicity stunt. To use me as a way to get her name out there.
Hadn’t I done that already?
She hadn’t sought me out because after some downtime she’d come to the conclusion we were really fucking compatible and should definitely see where we could go.
It was about the image.
Just like Harmony.
Although, at least Georgia was being open about it.
“She thinks it could be good for both of us. I guess, you’re returning to the field after some time off, so it could distract the media from your injury, and it’s already helping with my casting potential. Lydia was going to call your manager this morning, but I didn’t want you to find out through him. It seemed… cold? I don’t know.”
