AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If I was a ref, I’d be throwing a defenseless receiver penalty because… Fuck. I did not expect to spend the night stuck with Senator Xavier, and this sounds like absolute torture on top of it.
“I don’t think Cooper has time for that.” Bea tries to run interference for me.
“Well, you’re only here for a couple of days, so he’ll need to make time.”
“Again—”
“It’s fine. I’d love to chat more. I’ve heard so many good things, and I’ve been hoping to get a chance to meet you, sir.”
“Then it’s settled. Glad we can get all of this out of the way and enjoy the rest of the evening.” Senator Xavier’s face lights with the smile that tells me he’s used to getting his way, so I start mentally preparing myself for the gauntlet I’m about to enter and reminding myself that Trix is one hundred percent worth it.
After going more than seven rounds in the ring with Trix’s father and his political colleagues with their opinions on everything from sports to the current weather, I finally see Trix crossing the room like a guardian angel come to save me.
“Thank fuck,” I whisper quietly when she comes up and wraps an arm around me.
“I think you’ve proved you can hold your own. Ready for a little break? I can give you a tour of the house.”
“Anything that gets me out of here. Do I get to see your bedroom?” I smirk.
“That can be arranged. As long as you don’t judge too harshly.”
“Scouts honor.”
She grins and then takes my hand, leading me through a maze of hallways and staircases until she pushes open a large mahogany-colored door. I turn around in her room, and it’s everything I expected and then some. The photo wall of friends, the numerous ribbons and trophies she gathered over her childhood for being an overachiever, and the aesthetic that’s stuck somewhere between prep school princess and slightly rebellious fangirl.
When I see the football sitting on the shelf, I raise my brow and turn to her, picking it up out of its place and turning it over in my hand. Despite the fact it’s been sitting here for years, there’s not a speck of dust, and I’m going to guess that’s thanks to one of the maids I saw dodge through a back hallway earlier. Her parents keep everything in here like it once was in hopes their old daughter, the one from their imagination who didn’t date football players and spend all of her time on their careers, comes home and wants her old spot back again.
“Xander’s not the only Xavier hoping to go pro someday?” I muse.
“Ha. I wish I could have played. I have zero coordination with a ball. Can you imagine my dad’s face if I’d said I wanted to play too? It might have killed him.”
“I bet you have more coordination than you give yourself credit for.”
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “It’s not mine though.”
“Whose is it?” I’m wondering if it’s my brother’s or hers.
“Craig’s.”
“Uptight Craig from downstairs?” My grip tightens on the ball. I haven’t liked the way he’s been following her around all night. Although I suspect it was part of the plan, right along with the Senator holding me hostage.
She looks at something on her desk before she answers, shuffling some paper there like she’s trying to distract herself.
“Yep. Like my dad was saying, he grew out of the things he thought he liked as a kid.”
“Grew out of them or just wasn’t good enough for college or the pros?” I hold it up, and she studies the ball for a moment like she’s reliving a memory.
“He wasn’t bad in high school.” She nods to the ball in my hand. “That was a game-winner.”
“And he gave it to you?”
She gives a sheepish smile and shrugs. “I asked for it. He was going to give it to Emily. This girl who was all but his girlfriend already. But I said if he gave it to me, I’d put in a good word for him with my dad for a summer internship. The rest is history.”
“You liked him?”
Another shoulder rises and falls, and she shakes her head. “He was cute at the time. I liked him well enough.”
“Enough to cockblock Emily.”
