Chapter Five
Boners in public are sooo fourteen-year-old me.
Brody
Spring was my favorite time of year in the Metroplex. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. In April, it was still cool enough to run outside. Soon enough, life would revolve around workouts, my diet, OTAs—Organized Team Activities, or unofficial training camps—and two-a-days.
Sitting in damp grass, I stretched my hamstrings while I waited on my running partner.
Sun warming my face, my eyes slid closed. It was like Lily’s ass had been tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. Dear God, those khaki pants of hers had been screaming pull me off, Brody. Pull me off!
I would have moved out of the doorway if she’d asked me to, but, goddamn, did she rise to the challenge.
I had, too. When her hand brushed over my semi, I went full hard-on and had to trap my dick in the waistband of my shorts.
There was so much more to Lily than her appearance. She was confident and smart, commanding even. She’d never been intimidated to talk to me or tell me her opinion because she was afraid I might disagree.
Instead, she met me head-on and shot straight. Something I truly appreciated.
“Brody. My man.”
I rolled my lids open with effort. “Hmm.”
“Are we running, or are you going to continue to sit here and think about whoever is giving you that semi?” Once upon a time, Hayes Walker was one of the best tight ends in football. Unfortunately, this was a young man’s sport.
I’d rounded thirty this year myself. I felt it in every bone of my body, too. Even before I’d dislocated my shoulder last year, I was in so much pain, I was having cortisone injections in that shoulder right and left.
But Hayes had a few years on me...
He was a great sounding board, and an even better player. But midway through last season, the organization moved him back on the roster to make way for a younger version. The stats didn’t lie. He wouldn’t be getting his starting spot back.
Hands on his hips, he proceeded to give me shit. “Now, don’t get me wrong, bro. I’d much rather plop my ass in the grass next to you and see who can get the biggest hard-on, but we really oughtta go for that run, don’t you think? Plus, we both know I’d win.” He stuck out a hand and helped pull me off the ground.
“Dude, you killed my wood the minute you said you eyeballed my dick.” We took off, feet padding the ground at a pace comfortable for talking.
Hayes squinted into the sun. “The trail is a little over three miles. Howsabout we take it easy. My hamstring has been bugging me.”
I nodded my agreement.
“So, you going to tell me who you were thinking about? Not sure I’ve ever seen you that way before.” Hayes’s side-eye was accompanied by an asshole grin.
“What way?”
“You were thinking about a woman you obviously haven’t fucked, but you want to.”
“How do you know I haven’t nailed her already?”
“If you have, and you’re sitting on the ground with a hard-on like a park perv, then I’d be even more worried. Once you hit that, you don’t backtrack. Not that I blame you. Andra was a piece of work. I’d go strictly hit-it-and-quit-it too after someone like that.”
Sweat crept down my back as our feet struck the crushed granite path and the day warmed.
Andra .
Most people—including Hayes—seemed to think that Andra had broken my heart and I’d never recovered. That wasn’t it at all. I don’t think I ever really loved her. I think deep down part of me knew Andra wanted a lifestyle, not a partnership. She wanted me to let her run wild with my black card and live in a penthouse downtown. She’d slipped right under my radar. That’s why I didn’t do relationships anymore. Because she was someone I thought I could love who’d played me like a damn fiddle. I brushed away the thoughts.
“It’s my new dog trainer. She’s someone I really, really shouldn’t touch.” It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell anyone I had a thing for her, either. I wouldn’t have if it had been anyone other than Hayes, especially after the owner’s granddaughter. But Hayes was a vault. Leak proof like Rubbermaid.
That girl... I had no idea who she was, and she came on to me. Not the other way around. At the time, I assumed she was any random jersey chaser—she’d hidden the crazy-obsessed thing entirely too well. Plus, I made it clear from the outset it was one and done.
She thought she was the exception, because when I didn’t call her, she told granddad we were in love.
Now, I was at the top of the owner’s shit list and climbing up the GM’s, too. Throw in my shoulder, and if I didn’t walk the line, they’d trade me in a heartbeat.
“Shaawww,” Hayes dragged out my last name. “You’re not supposed to be touching anybody .”
I huffed out a breath. “Damn, how stupid do you think I am? I’m capable of keeping my dick in my pants.”
My running partner pushed out an inelegant snort before he grabbed my elbow and pulled me to a stop. Overhead, the live oaks provided shade with the small leaves of spring. Bending at the waist, Walker reached for his toes and hissed. The hamstring obviously didn’t hurt enough for him to stop giving me shit. “I know you, brother. I know you didn’t wade into that orgy. I mean, I love my teammates, but you and I both know some of those guys will stick their dicks anywhere. Following one of them, even suited up, you’d be asking for a case of the crabs and a round of antibiotics. But you’re not exactly known for self-control in that area, Brody. You’ve been known to nail a different woman every night. I’m just saying... I know you don’t screw around anymore, but...now is not the time to end up with some girl posting pictures of your naked ass to TikTok. It’s not worth risking the rest of your career, my man.” He righted himself.
I felt my molars grind together. That had actually happened. I’d slept with some random girl, and the next day my bare ass was on the social media app in a video the girl set to Saweetie’s “My Type.” It was pretty much the last straw. The women, the lifestyle—constantly worrying about who I could trust, be it a one-night stand, or someone I could see myself with long term. It wasn’t worth it anymore.
I’d stopped manwhoring a few years ago, but apparently the gossip rags hadn’t gotten the memo. They wrote whatever the hell sold magazines and dredged up my past as proof.
Funny, the media never really bothered me before. Until I discovered it was possible Lily believed the bullshit. Yeah, that...irked me for some reason.
Because you like her. Is she someone you can have more with?
That was a stupid fucking thought. She was the one person who could get me traded or fired, and frankly, I didn’t know Lily well enough to be sure she could keep even a one-nighter a secret. “Thanks, Dad. You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to risk losing my job.”
“Hey, I’m only reminding you what’s at stake. You’re the one with the something to lose here.” Hayes poked me in the chest. “Don’t scratch this itch, my man.”
We set back to pounding the path. “I knew I never should have gone to that hotel room. Jesus, I love my teammates, but some of them...” I shook my head. “I don’t want my dick anywhere near where Peterson’s dick has been. That thing...last year after a practice, he came up to me, opened his towel, and says”—I put on my best Alabama accent—“Shaw, do you know what this is? It itches like a motherfucker and it hurts to take a piss.’”
Hayes half tripped as he burst out laughing. “What did you say?”
“I told him he better cover up his gnarly knob. That it was a goddamned petri dish of VD and hooker glitter that was going to fall right the fuck off.”
Hayes snickered. “I’m glad I stayed home. I’m too old for that shit, anyhow.”
“I should have, too. Just kept my ass at home and watched Moose and Squirrel take on the monster of the week.”
“You know that’s a chick show, right? Like, ninety percent of their viewers are women.”
“Shut your cakehole. You don’t throw shade at Dean Winchester. Bitch.”
“Jerk.”
“Ha! I knew it.”
Hayes’s arms pumped in a relaxed rhythm as he executed the combination eye roll/head shake of disappointment. “How’s things coming with the dog? You get bit yet?”
“Nah. She’s a good girl. She’s not a Pit Bull like I thought. She’s a Cane Corso. I did some research. They were bred as guard dogs in Italy, but have a bad rap because people get them without understanding the breed and don’t do right by them.” I lifted my shirt hem to wipe the sweat off my face.
A woman who probably did cross-fit nine days a week and could kick my ass wolf-whistled as she passed us going the other way. I turned, gave her a little salute, but she wasn’t my type. Lily was my type. Soft in all the right places and strong where it counted. “This trainer knows her shit. CC lies on my lap now. She’s jumping into bed with me at night and follows me around the apartment. Hell, she sits outside the shower while I’m in it. Apparently, the breed tends to form a very tight bond with one owner.”
Hayes eyebrows rose. “CC?”
“That’s her name.”
“She sounds loyal.”
“Very. It’s nice for a change. Having a loyal woman in my life. Besides my mom, that is.”
A flash of something crossed Hayes’s face. I didn’t know much about his family, but I knew it was a sore spot.
“She’s a smart dog, too. She learned her name in no time and she’s getting the hang of housebreaking. I worry, though. The one time I told her no a little too loud when she tried to snatch food off the counter, she cowered and hid in her kennel for an hour. I think someone’s probably hit her.”
When it happened, I’d texted Lily. I felt like a douche. Lil told me not to worry, that she’d come back out when she was ready, but not to reward her for the reaction by plying her with treats inside the kennel. That was hard. All I wanted to do was comfort her. But she would think it was praise for the behavior and continue to do it.
When she finally came out to see me, I heaped on the love. Dogs were much more resilient than people gave them credit for. Didn’t help me feel like any less of an asshole.
“What are you going to do with her when the season starts?”
“Not sure yet. Maybe my neighbors will keep her for camp and away games. I think Lily would choke me if I tried to board her somewhere this soon. She’s not ready for that. I could ask my mom. She can’t say no to me.” My grin spread wide.
“Do you know how lucky you are to have played all your ball for your hometown?”
“Jealous much?”
Sticking out a hand, he gave me a shove before he took off at a sprint.
“Sonofabitch.” Huffing out a breath, I set out to chase him down. Finally caught him stopped at a water fountain.
When he lifted his head from the spout, water ran down his chin as he wiped the sweat from his face. “Lily, huh? This wouldn’t be Dick’s stepdaughter, Lily the dog trainer, that I’ve seen you mooning after before, who also happens to be Billy Costello’s kid, would it?”
Fuck. I hadn’t realized I’d said her name.
He shook his head. “Wow, Shaw. You do know how to pick ’em.”
Truer words.