Page 54 of Just Playin'
“You chose to lie, E, so you’re the one left to suffer the consequences of your actions.” She waves her fingers to the first man in the line outside her cubicle. “Who’s ready for a rubdown?”
I swear to God, the line doubles in under a second when they realize Amara has been replaced with a much younger and much more attractive masseuse.
I point to a now empty bench at the side of the locker room. “Sit the fuck down, Foster.”
He licks his puffy black lips that get all the cheerleaders’ heads in a tizzy while rubbing his hands together. “It’s all good, man. I’ll wait right here. I don’t want to miss my place in line.” Not once do his eyes leave Willow’s tits during his entire sentence.
They finally lift to mine when I snarl, “Sit.The fuck.Down. Or find your ass on the bench for the rest of the season.”
“Hey, brother, calm down. I’m not saying you can’t go first. I’m more than happy to wait my turn.”
When I growl, Foster holds his hands up in defeat while moving back to reclaim his spot in the line that grows longer the more Willow stands at my side smiling a shit-eating grin. She’s not the only one smiling, though. Dalton has his shoulder propped against the wall separating the massage chamber from the locker room. He’s only just returned to the field after taking a few weeks off to introduce Jayla to his family, but his smile tells me everything I need to know. He’s not only forcing me to confess my line of work to Willow. He’s forcing me to confess my feelings for her as well.
Fuck face.
I lock my furious eyes with Dalton. My snarled words are for Foster, but Dalton can have the wrath of my vicious glare. “Amara will be back any second toserveyou.” The way I sneer “serve” leaves no doubt to what I am referring. “For the rest of you, if I hear so much of a murmur that you’re thinking about Willow massaging your schlong while you’re in the shower, my cleats will be so firmly planted up your ass, you won’t sit for a week. Do you understand me?”
Dalton smirks like a smug fuck, impressed by my arrogant macho-headed warning. Willow looks shocked, and I’m still harboring so much jealousy, my clutch on her arm is a little firmer than I’m comfortable with. I don’t mean to hurt her; I just want to get her into Coach James’s office before I switch from offense to defense.
It’s the fight of my life not to tighten my grip on Willow’s arm when she murmurs, “Do you really think they’ll play slippery sausage while thinking about me? If your answer is yes, can you add a location and a time to your answer? You need to hook a girl up!” She raises the arm I’m not clutching in the air like she’s waiting for a high-five.
“I’ll give you five; it just won’t be your hand I’m smacking.”
Her smile doesn’t slacken in the slightest. She’s loving the douchebag routine I’m working even more than I fucking love the way her tight white dress clings to her curves. I hated when Coach James requested that Amara wear a uniform. Now I’m loving it.
Coach James swivels his big leather chair around to face us when we enter his office unannounced.
“You know how you’ve been recommending I get my own physical therapist?” When he nods, I nudge my head to Willow. “I’ve got one. Mine exclusively. She’s not to touch the other players. Do you understand?”
I swallow some of my attitude when Coach James raises a brow. He can squash my dreams as quickly as he made them come true. He’s not a man I should be bossing around, but I just can’t help it. I’m pissed, hackled with jealousy, and five seconds from gouging out Foster’s eyes for how long they lingered on Willow’s tits. My career is the last thing on my mind right now.
“Now it makes sense.” Coach James’s dark eyes dance between Willow and me as he stands from his seat to pace around his messy desk. “I knew something was off when Dalton requested we take on an intern. He has a wife and a new kid, so he shouldn’t be messing with one. But this. . .” he gestures his hand between Willow and me, “this makes sense.”
I don’t know what pisses me off more: the mirth in his tone, confirmation that Dalton set me up, or him calling Willow a kid. I’m confident it’s the latter when I snarl, “She’s twenty-two.” I curse a thousand times in my head. “In a couple of months.”
Willow glares at me in shock. Her jaw is hanging open, and her eyes are bugged, but her stunned expression doesn’t detract from her murderous glare.
“Hey, don’t be pissed at me. Dalton snooped in your purse, not me, so if anyone deserves your anger, it’s him.”
Her eyes narrow into thin slits. “Oh, don’t worry, he’ll get his.”
I smile, loving that I have an ally on my side to take down Dalton. I may have pulled a similar stunt on him and Becca, but that was years ago, premillions of dollars at stakedays.
My smile is wiped right off my face when Coach James says, “Willow signed a non-fraternization policy. It applies toallmembers of our team—players included.”
“Yeah, but that was only because you thought she was going to break up your golden couple. Now you know she isn’t, there’s no need for the policy.”
Coach James pulls a face. “The policy wasn’t just implemented for this instance. It’s something the directors have been looking at implementing for a while now. Willow’s placement here just presented the perfect opportunity to bring it into play. You know what the media is like; if they catch wind of anything fishy, they run with it—no matter if it’s true or not.”
I know what he is saying; I understand what he is saying, but I still fucking hate what he is saying.
My tongue swivels around my mouth so I can ease out my next set of words. “It’s too late. We’ve already. . .”
Willow bumps me with her hip at the same time Coach James coughs, wordlessly advising me he gets the gist of my confession.
“The policy was only signed today, so anything that happened before it was signed is invalid.” Coach James’s amused gaze locks with mine as his lips tug into a smirk. “But. . .” He delays the inevitable, loving the way he’s making me squirm. “It is very much valid now, and it will be upheld byallstaff members.”
“I didn’t sign anything, so it’s only Willow left dateless for the next six weeks—” I chuckle under my breath when Willow’s fist whacking into my gut steals my words. It’s nice to see I’m not the only one handling jealousy issues today.
