Page 41 of Power Play

“Who says she can’t do both,” Mom challenged.

Joey placed a few slices onto his plate and the food seemed to break my parents’ concentration on my love life, or lack thereof.

We ate and the topic changed to summer plans. Since the season was finally over, I had a few weeks before I needed to start training and practicing with the team again.

“Do you want to come home?” Dad offered. “We can do some fishing or go camping.”

That was a tempting offer. I didn’t have a reason to say no, except … Except, the small part of me that was stupid and insane and sadistic enough to wonder what might happen if I stayed here and continued to run into Taylor.

I would never admit that aloud, especially to my family, but everything my mom said was true. We were each other’s first loves. That feeling never completely went away from me. I didn’t deserve her, her love, or her forgiveness but I was also incredibly selfish.

Not only did we run into each other in a random city hundreds of miles from where either of us lived, but now she was here. She integrated herself into a major piece of my world. She lived with Brandon and Sydney. She was quickly becoming friends with the women of the Pride. It wasn’t that far-fetched to think we would continue to see each other.

Sure, she would likely still be here when I got back from my parents’ house, but did I really want to wait that long? What if I was too late at that point? Or she met someone else?

I couldn’t watch that happen.

Oh no. What if I left, and the Pride set her up with one of the other guys? And they fell in love. And got married.

I couldn’t live with that. I’d be begging for a trade.

“Jason?”

I glanced up to see my dad waiting. “I’ll think about it.”

He smiled and continued eating. Now I was going to have to visit, at least for a long weekend or something.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to see my agent calling. I let it go to voicemail while we finished eating. It was too soon for him to have news about my contract, so there was probably some press he wanted me to do. That could wait.

Maybe I could talk the guys into taking a trip this summer like they did last year to Mexico. And somehow convince Taylor to come along. A neutral, romantic setting would help me out.

15

Taylor

This whole situation wasn’t bad at all. I spent half of each day sending out my résumé, following up on previous calls, and––if I was lucky––having a phone or video interview. Once I was caught up on all the new job listings and emails, I joined Sydney and the boys in the pool. They loved having someone new to play with, and she said she was grateful for another adult to talk to. Brandon was able to join us twice, but he had photoshoots and press things to attend to. Plus, he worked out for a minimum of two hours a day, so depending on when his teammates wanted to meet up at the gym, he couldn't make it to the daily pool party.

“Anything new today?” Sydney asked while she kicked her feet in the water. She was holding a water bottle in each hand, trying to get the boys to drink between each of their turns on the slide.

“Only two.” I slipped into the water next to her and cheered as Milo came down on his stomach.

“Chloe said she’ll be over with some ideas today.”

That was good news. As much as I loved this leisure lifestyle, it couldn’t last long. Unfortunately, one needed money to survive, not just popsicles and sunlight.

“Do you guys have any summer plans?” I probably should have asked before accepting her invitation to stay there. What if they were traveling, and I had to leave?

“The boys’ mom gets them for three weeks, but we’ll see if it happens.” Sydney shook her head. “We haven’t mentioned it to them because we don’t want them to be disappointed if she cancels. Other than that, we’re planning on sticking around. I’m going to take the boys on some hikes, but Brandon hasn’t mentioned any trips.”

“You sound disappointed.” I smiled at her slight frown.

“I’ve been hearing the stories of their great Mexico adventure since I started working for Brandon. I hoped it was an annual thing, but no one’s mentioned anything yet.”

“Maybe you can spark the idea?” I tried not to be jealous. A vacation sounded amazing. The past two weeks were the closest thing I’d had to one since graduating high school. I worked every summer through college and went home on the breaks. I’d been so focused on making my résumé as competitive as possible, that I never allowed myself to slow down and relax. Even for a week.

Finn and Milo ran past and she made them stop to each take a few sips of water. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“A bad idea? What did I miss?”