Page 88 of Tempting the Player
I don’t. Which was exactly her point. Still. The need to keep her safe is stronger than ever.
“I know.” He grins. “But you get this murderous glint in your eyes every time I call her Hollywood.”
I aim that glint right at him. Not that he’s scared of me. Knox isn’t scared of anything, unfortunately. Least of all me.
“I don’t know why you’re all grumpy about it. She’s hot. Own it.”
“Knox,” I warn, sitting straighter next to him.
He raises a fist over his mouth as he chuckles. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”
I return my focus to Flynn so I don’t pummel Knox. “I can’t believe how good he is. Remember when we all used to play HORSE in the driveway? Flynn could barely get the ball to the rim, and he was so damn mad every time he lost.” Damn, that feels like forever ago. “How old was he then?”
He shakes his head, eyes straight ahead on the court. “Five, maybe. I don’t think that basketball hoop got a lot of use once Mom got sick.”
The mention of Mom feels like a gut punch. All these years later and it still feels as raw as if it happened yesterday.
“He’d destroy us all now,” Knox adds.
“Definitely.” I swallow down the lump in my throat.
Jane appears in full Valley High merch. She has on a red hat with the bobcat logo, and a matching shirt over her dress, and she’s carrying more snacks than one person could eat in a day. Archer and Brogan flank her on either side. Knox follows my shifting attention and smiles.
“For real though, Jane seems cool. Plus, she fits your whole L.A. life. Is she planning on moving back when she’s done with school?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”
“And what about you? Have you heard anything from your agent for next season?” He moves his feet from the bleacher in front of us to make room for the others.
“Not yet.”
“There’s still time.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I think I might be done with all that.”
“There are a ton of options. You could go to the AFL for a while even.”
“I don’t know.” I rub my palms together. “Thinking that maybe it’s time to hang all that up and move back.”
He laughs, but when he realizes I’m serious, his smile drops. “Don’t give up now. You’ve worked too hard to walk away for some girl.”
I don’t have time to correct his assumption before Jane steps up in front of us. “Hey. I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a bunch of stuff.”
“More like two of everything they had,” Brogan mutters.
“Nice hat.” Knox juts his chin toward her.
She flushes slightly and holds out a bag of peanut butter M&Ms to me. “Or I’ve got Starburst, Twix, pretzels, popcorn, and a pickle.”
“These are great. Thanks.”
Knox barely holds in his laugh. He leans over and takes them from me. “Hendrick needs to watch his sugar intake. Big pro athlete and all.” He winks at her. “I, on the other hand, live on sweets. What else you got?”
I move over and she takes a seat between me and Knox. She places the food options out on the next bleacher down, and Archer and Brogan sit beside it in front of Knox.
Keeping the popcorn, she scoots closer to me. “I might have overdone it.”
I tap the brim of her cap, then grab a handful of the buttery popcorn. “Nah.”
