Dirty Player (The Montgomery Billionaires #3)

CHAPTER TWO

KAYLEE ROSE

SEPTEMBER

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Honk!

I glance in the rearview mirror and curse. I probably am driving weirdly, but I’m nervous, which is silly. I’ve been around NFL players a lot.

Heck, I’ve dated one of them.

For five seconds.

Colby Wade.

Familiar regret laces through me, but I push it away. I’m nervous enough about starting my new job as the new assistant physio for the Philadelphia Hawkes without thinking about him.

And I don’t mean Colby.

I mean Levi Montgomery, the newly drafted quarterback and my ex-boyfriend.

Being hated was never on my vision board, not least by him, yet here we are. Every time he looks at me, there’s so much disgust in his eyes it makes me wince.

I deserve it.

I kissed Colby Wade while we were still together, and there’s no excuse for that.

Even if...

No, there’s no excuse.

I was drunk, but I could’ve pushed him away. I’d been a huge fan of Colby’s, and so had my dad, for years. To meet him in real life was a big deal.

I don’t think I was flirting...he said I was.

He dragged me down the hall and told me I was pretty...

I remember thinking in that moment about how Levi had been pulling away and not invited me to his family event. Which, not to sound like an insecure girlfriend, but I guess that’s what I was being.

Something was off...I felt it and still to this day don’t think I’m wrong.

We all knew Levi was going to get drafted, and he has been. Back then, I wondered if he was planning to break up with me when we graduated.

At Jackson’s party, he’d been distracted with the players and mostly ignoring me. When he walked off with Jackson and a few of the players, I wondered if this was the beginning of the end.

“What’s up gorgeous?” Colby said as he danced with me and the girls. “Lover boy ignoring you?”

“He’s excited to join the team. Hopefully,” I’d replied.

“You know you’ll be competing with all the groupies, right?” His eyes ran down my body. “If you were my girl, I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”

He usually didn’t.

But tonight he had.

And Colby was right. This was the beginning of the end.

“My dad is a huge fan,” I said, not wanting to discuss it with him.

“Yeah? You want to take him a signed cap? I have some in my bag,” he offered.

My eyes widened. “Really?”

I knew Dad would love that.

“Come on,” he said and wrapped an arm around my lower back, leading me down the hall.

That was my first wrong move.

Before I knew what was happening, Colby turned, tugged me up against him, and kissed me.

Second wrong move was me not stopping him.

My stupid drunk self just stood there, shocked, as his tongue pushed inside and devoured me. Next minute I’m against the wall and his hands are in my hair, and all I knew was that I wanted him to stop.

He did.

When I glanced away, I found Levi staring at me.

The look on his face is something I’ll never forget. The betrayal and pain.

I felt sick to my stomach and shoved at Colby to go after Levi. I desperately needed him to know it was a mistake and didn’t mean anything. I don’t even think I could say I gave him permission.

I never kissed him back.

Except Levi never gave me a chance to explain. Or apologize. The next day I tried to call him seven times. He ignored all of them. Even cutting them off after the first ring.

Which left me with only one conclusion: my prediction that he was going to call it off and wasn’t serious about our relationship was correct.

But I saw on his face that I’d hurt him.

I would’ve been heartbroken if I’d caught Levi doing the same thing, so after crying myself silly in the shower and telling my parents that we’d broken up, I stopped calling him.

“What happened?” Dad asked. “The rich boy thinks he was too good for my daughter?”

I was too ashamed to tell my father what I did.

So I just shrugged.

We’d only been dating for a few months, so nobody considered it seriously.

I guess I was the only one.

The first few weeks we’d done everything together. I slept with him on the second date, and OMG the sex! Levi was a rough lover and had taken me by surprise with his dominance, but what was even more surprising was how much I liked it.

How much I craved it.

We were insatiable.

When we weren’t going to a movie, or to one of his wealthy friends’ parties, or having lunch at Penn State together, we were at each other’s houses having wild, amazing sex.

Mostly though, our lives had consisted of classes, study, Levi’s training, and going to his games.

I was happy.

I thought we fit together.

I was studying toward my Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree to become a sports physio. It was a passion. We’d even joked about me being his physio when he went pro.

And here I am.

When I saw the position with the Philadelphia Hawkes after graduating, I hesitated. Levi had already been drafted, and I knew it would be awkward if I was successful.

We couldn’t see each other.

There was no way that could happen. So, after chatting with my best friend, Stephanie, about it, she hit me with some reality.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kaylee, but Levi Montgomery is likely well over you.”

Ouch.

“You cheated on him,” she reminded me.

One kiss.

Which I didn’t exactly have the ability to stop at the time.

“Then dated the guy, and images of you and Colby were splashed over every social and media channel.”

It was two dates. One of them because he rang me up and said he was sorry for breaking us up and wanted to give me the cap for Dad.

I stupidly agreed and met him at a restaurant. When we walked out, the media went insane. Then... I guess I was feeling rejected, and Colby was really into me.

I’m not dead. The guy is one of the hottest players on the planet.

Levi didn’t want anything to do with me.

So I went out with him a second time and didn’t even sleep with him. The media made it sound like we were in this full-on relationship. Which was totally untrue.

After our dates, I realized I didn’t feel anything for him.

Let me tell you, the depression of losing Levi because of Colby was bad.

“Then you dated Jimmy Gage from the Chiefs.”

I held up my hand. “No, I went on one pretend date with him as a favor because that crazy ex of his was stalking him.”

“Fine, but I’m just saying you don’t have anything to worry about. Levi has moved on.” Stephanie shrugs.

I realized she was right.

“Is he dating someone?” I asked. Steph also attended Penn State, and her brother knew Drew, Levi’s close friend.

She snorts.

“Girl, seriously. He’s been drafted. You know what he the Player was like at Penn State. He’ll be a thousand times worse. He’s always been more interested in the game than you.”

Steph tried to tell me not to date Levi when we first met, but he charmed my socks off and there was no way I could’ve turned him down.

I’d flopped back onto the sofa and nodded. “Yeah. What a fuckup.”

She did the same beside me, then turned her head. “You probably should’ve dumped him before making out with another guy, but I know he’d been distant, and things weren’t great.”

I turned to face her. “It was the family dinner, you know. Like, why didn’t he invite me?”

Stephanie shrugged. “Dunno. But it’s a message. He wasn’t serious.”

“So why does he glare at me like I’m the devil incarnate when he sees me?”

Stephanie climbed off the sofa. “Men. Egos. You hurt his pride. And in front of his idols.”

Which I regret. But if I could just explain to him what happened. It didn’t play out like everyone thought. Even Steph didn’t buy my story.

Which wasn’t a story.

But going on those dates with Colby after completely discredited me.

What did it matter? Levi had given me absolutely zero opportunity to explain. Or he’d listened to my messages and not cared.

I park my car and stare at the Hawkes Complex—a state-of-the-art NFL practice and training facility built for the Hawkes—and let it sink in. This is a big deal. Getting this job is a dream and has secured my career for the rest of my life.

Unless I mess it up.

My parents worked hard to help me attend Penn State. Unlike most of the kids attending, my parents were blue-collar workers. My scholarship paid for most of the cost, but they made up the difference allowing me to focus on my studies instead of getting a job.

So there are expectations.

From them.

And from myself.

I’m the first person in my family’s history to get a degree and do something worthwhile. My dad’s words. Plus, he is an NFL fan, so he’s invested.

“Just keep away from the Montgomery boy and you’ll be fine,” Dad said. “He thinks you’re not good enough, aye? Well, he’s not good enough for you.”

Every time he’d say something, I’d feel guilty about letting him think Levi dumped me.

But telling my father I kissed another guy was not something I wanted to get into.

He’d be ashamed of me.

A silver Jaguar pulls into the parking lot. I watch as they park near all the other luxury vehicles. These players earn some of the biggest incomes in the United States. While I know some of them, working with them is going to be a whole other ballgame.

Pun intended.

I’ll need their respect to do my job, and I hope Levi will be as professional as I intend to be. We both need to put what happened behind us and focus on our careers.

We have too much to lose if we don’t.

He may be pissed about what happened, but so am I. I told Colby he had no right to kiss me, and he apologized.

If Levi had just taken one of my calls, we might have been able to fix it. Or broken up amicably. Or maybe he wanted it over and was happy for me to feel like the asshole.

I’m not going out of my way to be nice. Professional, yes. Friends...no.

That ship has sailed.

I climb out of the car, stride across the parking lot, then pull open the door to my future.

And slam into a solid, football-jersey-covered chest.