“I’ll text you about tomorrow,” Jillian said, expression apologetic.
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
My eyes landed on Luke and Sophie again, lingering in some form of twisted self-torture. With her small frame and long platinum blond hair, she looked like a real-life Barbie, and he was her Ken. They were probably a better couple than we could have ever been. Which meant the past year and a half I’d spent with him was a complete and utter waste.
A lump formed in my throat. I needed to get out of here, stat. The good news was, I could see the exit. The bad news was, reaching it would require walking past the entire team, including Luke and Sophie. A necessary but unpleasant task.
Just as I started to make another break for it, Paul muttered, “Here comes Carter.” He jerked his chin toward the locker rooms. “What does that asshole want?”
Suddenly, Luke was the least of my problems. I came to a screeching halt, swiveling in the direction Paul had indicated. There he was, in all of his gorgeous, arrogant glory. Broad shoulders in a well-tailored navy suit with a determined expression on his face. Chase Carter.
And he was heading right for me.
Chase weaved through the crowded concourse purposefully, side-stepping the spectators milling about. Several girls stopped and stared, not even trying to hide that they were ogling him. One or two tried to talk to him but appeared to be too tongue-tied to speak. Even a few of the guys he passed were visibly dazzled by his presence.
It was like a scene from a goddamn movie. All he needed was a spotlight and his own soundtrack.
He was magnetic. Hypnotic. Utterly addictive to look at.
As he drew closer, all the conversations around me faded out, and an eerie silence fell over the group. He came to a halt beside me, throwing an arm around my shoulders.
“Ready, James?” He snapped his gum, giving me a wink.
It was the equivalent of an atomic bomb going off in my personal life. Everyone stared at us, wide-eyed, but no one said a word. We could have heard a puck drop fifty feet away.
Jillian and Amelia looked like they’d seen a ghost. Derek eyed Chase warily, which wasn’t totally unwarranted given his reputation. And Luke clenched his jaw, his face turning redder than the Falcons’ home jersey. Sophie looked up at him questioningly, but his eyes were laser focused on us.
Not even on us. On Chase.
Chase flashed Luke an easy grin and gave him a nod. On its face, it looked cordial, but in reality, the smile was more smug than friendly, and it was peak passive aggressive. It was a “what are you gonna do about it?” smile. This, of course, had the intended effect. Luke glowered at him, his expression murderous, but he didn’t speak. Really, what could he say?
Chase inclined his head to the doors. “Let’s go.”
“Uh, sure.” I glanced back over at Amelia and Jillian, already dreading the interrogation I would surely receive later. “I’ll see you at home.”
“Okay,” they echoed in unison, heads cocked and voices lilting in confusion.
They weren’t the only ones who were confused.
I awkwardly waved goodbye to the stunned group of witnesses as Chase steered me away, his arm still draped around my shoulders. My brain was having a hard time getting up to speed. It didn’t help that I was close enough to get a contact high from his delicious cologne.
He was still touching me…and I didn’t completely hate it.
Even though I still hated him. Obviously.
Chase wordlessly maneuvered me back through the crowded concourse and over to the side exit that led to the players’ parking area.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, stealing a glance at him once we were out of sight of my friends.
“Rescuing you, apparently.”
“I don’t need to be rescued.”
He chuckled, low and deep. “You sure about that?”
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER 10
OceanofPDF.com
AS A FRIEND
Chase
“What the hell, Carter?” Bailey pulled away from me and came to a stop on the sidewalk outside the arena. Her eyes flashed with anger. “Where are you taking me?”
Late afternoon sun glinted off her dark blond hair, bringing out the green and gold in her hazel eyes. Unlike most girls I met at nightclubs, she was even more attractive in a normal, everyday setting, free of all the makeup and tight clothing. And like when we first met at XS last weekend, she had reverted back to hostile mode.
Just my luck: one of the hottest chicks I’d ever met hated my guts. Or was she hot because she hated me? Maybe it was a bit of both.
I didn’t want to examine that too closely.
But it was probably both.
“To my truck.” I pointed with my keys to the corner of the parking lot, where my black F-150 was parked several rows down.
“And then what?” She unzipped her black puffy jacket and slid it off to reveal a white short-sleeved V-neck underneath. It dipped down in the front, showing the slightest hint of her round, perky cleavage. But I managed to keep my eyes above shoulder level. Mostly.
“Whatever you want.”
“I don’t even like you,” she said.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.” Bailey drew in a breath and paused, watching me.
I said nothing. Just watched her back and waited her out.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she let out a defeated sigh. “Fine.”
I’d received warmer receptions from women, to say the least.
We weaved through the parking lot at a pace that was, fortunately, much faster than last weekend’s drunken excursion. I always ran hot after games from the physical exertion and metabolic boost that followed. Combined with the unseasonably warm fall weather and my dark suit pants, I was running at a thousand degrees. I loosened my tie as we walked and slipped it off, followed by my suit jacket. I hated the fucking dress code for games. What was the point?
“Are you stripping now?” Bailey asked dryly.
“I can if you’d like.” I unbuttoned my collar and rolled my sleeves up to my forearms. I was roasting. Was I nervous or something? What was going on? “But then you’d have to pay me, and I don’t come cheap.”
“That’s not what I hear.”
Bailey came to a sudden stop in front of my truck instead of getting in. She looked at me, to the vehicle, then back at me. Her expression hardened.
“I changed my mind,” she said, planting her hands on her hips. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you want to go back inside?”
“Well, I can’t now. You blew up my life.”
Really? Seemed to me like her life blew up, oh, approximately last Friday. It had just been raining shrapnel ever since. But it was easier to blame me, I supposed.
“I think you’re overstating things here.”
“Not even a little. Everyone is going to be pissed at me.”
I snorted. “For what? Moving on? Morrison sure did. Though it was a downgrade, if you ask me.”
Almost imperceptibly, she flinched. I immediately regretted what I said, even though it was true—that girl Morrison was with had nothing on Bailey. Not even in the same league. But tact wasn’t my strong suit, and she seemed vulnerable in a way I wasn’t used to dealing with.