“Did she really?” Will asks and again I just shrug because what else am I going to say? I really liked this girl and tried all my usual moves and so far she’s been immune? My rep would be destroyed. “Wow, has that ever happened to you?”
“No, it hasn’t, and she hasn’t rejected me outright. I still have a shot.” I don’t really know if my words are true, but I’m hoping if I say them out loud, they’ll come true.
“Sure you do,” King says mockingly. “If I didn’t have a shot, you sure as fuck don’t.”
I roll my eyes, accustomed to the size of King’s ego and letting it roll off my shoulders.
“I’m getting food, you want anything?” he asks as he gets out of his seat and makes his way into the aisle. When Will and I both shake our heads, he shrugs, making his way toward the concession stands.
“Well, hello there, boys,” a female voice purrs from the seat King just vacated.
When my eyes track up her body and land on her face, I realize it’s the girl from across the court, the one that was eye-fucking me, thinking it would get her somewhere.
“Mind if I join you?” she asks as she sits down, not bothering to wait for an answer.
“Would it matter if I said no?” I ask, looking at Will to save me, wanting to get this girl as far away from me as possible.
When you play a professional sport, there are obviously hookups. I’ve dabbled once in a while, but after years and years of practice, you can pretty much spot a crazy from a mile away. And I can tell that this chick next to me is going to cause me nothing but grief if I don’t nip this in the bud.
Will just shrugs his shoulders, pretty much telling me that I’m on my own as I glare in his direction, hoping one day karma will allow me to repay him for this.
“So…” she starts, crossing her legs suggestively. “I saw you staring at me earlier and I thought I would come over and introduce myself. I’m Angela.” She holds out her hand and I wonder if there’s a polite way to tell someone to fuck off. She eyes me expectantly and I realize that I haven’t moved or spoken in a while, so I hold out my hand to hers.
“I’m Jo—”
“You’re Josh Anderson,” she interrupts, confirming my suspicions that this girl will only be trouble down the road. “I recognized you right away. I’m a huge fan.”
I bet she is. It takes everything in my power not to roll my eyes at her expense.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Angela.” I keep my eyes on the game, hoping she gets the point as her hand slips onto my thigh. I look down, watching as her fingers spread across my jeans and grip me tightly. I know I’m supposed to feel something when a beautiful woman grabs me so close to my dick, but I feel nothing.
“Look, Angela,” I say, my eyes meeting hers as my hand takes hers off my thigh. “I appreciate you trekking all the way over here, but—”
She holds up her hand to stop me. “I get it. I’ll go back to my seat and let you get back to watching the game.”
I sigh, a wave of relief washing over me, so I give her my signature smile.
“Thank you, I really appreciate that.”
“I’ll see you soon,” she whispers in my ear, sending a jolt of fear through my system. I’ve become wary these past few years after hearing some stalker horror stories from some teammates, and from what I’ve seen of this chick, she checks a lot of those boxes.
Once she’s out of sight, I peer over at Will who just mouths “Wow,” and smiles into his beer. We both know that I just dodged a bullet with that one.
8
Harper
“Cole seriously showed up at the gym?” Mel is sitting on my couch, waiting for me to join her as she berates me about what happened this morning. I texted her after Josh left and she kept texting me nonstop until I agreed to a girls’ night so I could divulge all the details.
My apartment is small, but the second I saw it I fell in love with it. Usually when people hear my last name, they question why I live in a place like this when I can afford a mansion and everything that goes with it, but I’m not my father’s money. My mother, on the other hand, lives off the money that was left to her and is thriving because of it. Me? I love renting a small place. It allows me the freedom to be the person I want to become outside of my father’s shadow. Will I buy a house one day? Of course, but I’ll leave that for when I decide to expand my family.
The layout is mostly open concept, with the living room flowing into the kitchen. I decided, against Mel’s advice, to paint the walls yellow, because I saw on an episode of HGTV that yellow brightens up a room, and since I only have one window in this space, I needed the light. I’m currently standing in my kitchen, watching Mel from the island and holding two wine glasses and a bottle of our favorite rosé.
“And the hot guy from the bar, aka Josh fucking Anderson, was there and witnessed the whole thing?”
God, my life sounds like a really bad telenovela right now.
“Yes, and before you ask, yes it was just as bad as you think it would be.” I pour each of us a glass, adding a bit more to mine for good measure.
“So what did Josh do? Did he say anything?”
I shrug. “Not much, he told me not all guys are like Cole, blah, blah, blah.” I look up from my glass just as she gives me a knowing look. “What?”
“He likes