Page 123 of Forever Offsides

“I’m glad.” She arches up onto the balls of her feet and plants a kiss on the corner of my lips. “Wanna come over for dinner and sex?”

I bark out a laugh and take her in my arms. “Yes. I definitely want to come over for dinner and sex. And sleeping? What about that?”

“You can stay over.” She makes a feigned sarcastic noise. “I guess.”

I kiss her lips. “Do you remember me coming home last night?”

She gives me a sheepish look. “Barely. Sorry. I totally broke into your house with the key I never gave back and like a little stalker slut, got naked in your bed, touched myself with your pillow over my face, and fell asleep.”

And now I’m hard as stone. Awesome. Making it through dinner without mauling her will be a miracle since I haven’t really kissed her, let alone had her, in nearly two weeks.

“I was planning on waking up and climbing on top of you when you got home, but yeah, that didn’t happen.”

So she didn’t hear what I said. It wasn’t her pretending she was asleep to evade it. I’ve already told her that I’m falling for her. She knows I’m more than a little enchanted by her spell. She asked that we wait until the end of the season, and given everything that’s going on, it’s smart.

But it doesn’t mean it’s easier this way.

“You can make it up to me. I’m ordering pizza though.”

“Pepperoni for you and mushrooms and olives for me.”

“I’m on it. I’ll see you there.”

I give her a quick kiss and follow her home. This time, she doesn’t fall asleep until she’s sweaty and smiling. Until we’re both sweaty and smiling. And the moment she falls asleep, I tell her again. Because not saying it is becoming more and more impossible.

38

QUINN

“So… friend hang out tonight?” Russel asks, making me sigh. Inwardly. Outwardly. All over the damn place. He told me he had nothing to do with that video Intertainment posted and that he only said those things about me because they were all true. He claims coming back to Boston and seeing me again has truly reprioritized his thinking and that he regrets ever letting me go.

But with that, the press has been lingering off and on outside my house. Not while the team was away, thank goodness, but since they’ve been back, yes. It makes seeing Rhett tricky. But it’s more than that.

I don’t want to be in the spotlight again.

Certainly not for something that isn’t real but manufactured. It’s like déjà vu, and it’s made me unsettled and edgy.

“Can’t tonight.”

“You say that every night.”

I hitch up a shoulder. “Then you’d think you’d get the hint already.”

He moves in front of me. “You’re the one who offered friends that last time.”

He has a point. Not my smartest play. “I’m not a publicity stunt.”

He shifts and glances away for a beat, his hands going to his hips. “I don’t think of you as one. I think of you as the woman I’d do anything to have a second chance with.” His fingers graze my chin, and I jerk away.

“That’s not friends.”

A sharp whistle whips through the air. “Russel. On the field. Now!”

His eyes narrow and his jaw locks. “We’ll talk more about this later.” In a beat, he’s back on the field before I can tell him I’m all set with that.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out.

Hayes: *Video of Robin Williams singing “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” from Mrs. Doubtfire*