Page 36 of False Play
“The same way you softened the truth for me yesterday?” She gave me a hollow laugh. “Your ego doesn’t need to be protected.”
I winced. “Okay, fair. I deserved that. But thisisa good idea…” I let the words hang between us as my eyes connected with hers in a silent plea.
I could confidently say with my full chest I didn’t give one single fuck about my reputation. But I knew Kennedy well. If she found out I was only doing this for her, she would have shut it down quicker than I could have gotten on my knees and said the wordplease. She needed to believe I wanted this because it benefited me too.
After all, I was a dick, right? She could keep thinking that. I had no issues playing a role I knew like the back of my hand, even if a pang of disappointment hit me out of nowhere at the idea of lying to Kennedy.
“The only way I’d consider this crazy idea is if you take it seriously. Itcouldsoften your image and not put me in such a bad light. As much as it pains me to say this,” she tightened her shoulders and cringed as she continued to say, “it isn’t the worst idea you’ve had.”
I smiled triumphantly as I leaned in closer. “Are you calling me smart?”
Her eyes practically rolled to the back of her head. “Stop putting words in my mouth, Anderson.”
“You should probably start calling me Henry if I’m going to be your boyfriend, baby,” I joked with a smirk.
She immediately feigned a gag and made a disgusted face. “I’d rather you call me Jonesy than baby.”
I softly grazed her cheek with my knuckles with a playful tsk. “You and I both know that’s a lie, but I’ll let it slide,baby.”
She swatted my hand away with a scowl etched on her face. Fuck me, she looked cute when she was pissed. She always scrunched her nose, like she couldn’t decide if she was annoyed or secretly amused, making little creased lines appear on top of her nose.
It was safe to say I had a masochist kink when it came to Kennedy Jones andonlyKennedy Jones.
I chuckled and leaned against my truck, my eyes never leaving hers. “What do you say?”
She bit her bottom lip momentarily. It took every ounce of self-control I had to not reach for it and nip it myself.Fuck. With those perfectly cupid-shaped lips, I wanted nothing more than to get a small taste and intoxicate myself with her.
But this was fake. A beneficiary contract. I was fairly certain she’d kick me in the balls with her pointy heels and a sardonic smile etched on her face if I ever attempted to get near her mouth.
I wasn’t brave enough to find out. But boy, was I also eager. The internal battle was never-ending.
She sighed. “I hope this works.”
“It will,” I assured her, trying to sound confident.
There was too much riding on this for us to fuck it up, and thiswasa crazy idea. I was honestly a little shocked she’d agreed so quickly. But I wasn’t in the business of betting against myself. I had to take my wins where I could get them.
We strode through the arena toward the GM’s office, and the closer we got, the more I could feel my heart wanting to jolt out of my chest.
I had never dated anyone seriously. How was the mediasupposed to buy this whole thing? We needed to come up with a solid plan. But it was too late to back out. More than that—I didn’t want to. Deep down, I was kind of excited.
I knocked on Anthony’s office door, and after a beat, he said, “Come in.”
I opened the door and found Anthony sitting in his chair with Coach Sloane to his right, the director of human resources, Mac, and the director of public relations and Kennedy’s boss, Brad, to his left.
“Please, take a seat, guys,” Anthony said, his tone eerily calm.
The office was charged with something heavy, like a storm was going to hit at any moment. Coach’s shoulders were practically up to his ears, while Mac’s face gave nothing away. Brad was the only normal-looking man in this room, but he’d always been like that. You could never tell what the guy was thinking.
I swallowed hard as Kennedy and I took our seats.
Anthony leaned forward, elbows on the desk, fingers interlaced. He watched us with a level of scrutiny that made every muscle in my body tighten. The only sound in the room was the steady ticking of the clock with the Thunder’s logo on the back wall. Each second hung with a silence so thick, it was suffocating me.
“How bad is it?” Kennedy asked.
“Not gonna lie to you. It’s not looking good,” Anthony said.
“Reporters have a lot of questions,” Brad commented.
