CHAPTER THREE
LEVI
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Boof!
I grab the tiny frame before it bounces off me, and stare down into the pair of chestnut eyes that I hoped to never see this close again.
Liar.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Kaylee rips out of my arms, her eyes turning dark as she tugs her bag back up onto her shoulder. Then straightens her outfit.
Goddamn she looks...
Don’t say it.
Do not fucking think it.
Beautiful.
She’s wearing is a pair of black leggings and a...wait a fucking minute. Over a tight white tank, she’s wearing a Hawkes zip-up jacket.
A team one.
“I’m working.”
I snort.
“Is that what you’re calling it now? Who are you fucking now, Kaylee? No one outside the team gets those jackets.”
Her face turns bright red.
I lift a brow, demanding an answer.
I’m pissed.
She’s fucking another player, and he’s clearly given her a jacket. Now I have to put up with this in my face.
“Jersey fucking chaser.” I shake my head and push past her. I left my phone in the car, otherwise I’d be doing hill sprints by now. I can’t believe she’s shown up here on the first official day of the season.
Un-fucking-believable.
And not one word of apology.
She had me right there and couldn’t drop a simple hey Levi, sorry for sucking Colby Wade's face while I was your girlfriend.
To be fair, I haven’t answered or listened to her messages. I deleted them when I was furious and then it was too late.
She gave up quickly, though.
Then the coach pulled me aside, and I needed to refocus. I knew then it was better to just walk away, despite how I felt about her. Especially when I heard she was fucking dating Wade.
Kaylee nearly cost me my career.
Now, on day one of the season, she turns up at the Hawkes training facility in a team jacket and that skimpy damn top.
As I rip open the door to my car, I curse my body. My cock is semi-hard from five seconds near her.
“Mother fucking fucker.”
“Levi Montgomery, how dare you speak to me like that?” Kaylee demands from behind me.
I spin, hit my head, curse, then glare at her. “Excuse me?”
She jabs me in the chest. “You heard me.”
I snatch her finger out of the air and tug her closer to me, bearing down into her face. “What are you doing here?”
Her breathing is labored and suddenly I’m taken back to one of the nights she was underneath me.
Naked.
Panting as my cock filled her hot, wet pussy.
I drop her finger and turn back to my car, leaning in and grabbing my phone. Then I straighten and slam the car door.
“Go home.” I stalk off and she follows me.
Is she kidding me right now?
I glance over my shoulder, sneer, and then keep walking. When I reach the door, I spin. “Kaylee, seriously. What do you want?”
She shakes her head, pushes my shoulder, then walks past me and up the stairs.
What the hell is going on here?
I realize something that sends ice through my veins. She wasn’t—she isn’t—here for me.
Fuck.
Another player, Shaun, comes through the door. “Hey man. What’s up?”
He’s got half a foot on me and is one big Black man. His white, toothy grin tells me he’s as happy as I am to be here today.
Was.
No, fuck that. Am.
“Hey.” I release the door that I was holding open and follow him up the stairs.
“You hear the new album that dropped overnight?” he asks, pulling a bud out of his ear.
I shake my head no then half listen to Shaun as he keeps talking while my gaze roams the office for the woman I can’t get out of my dreams.
Where the hell did she go?
And why did my body feel like it had just received a thousand-volt shock the moment I put my hands on her?
Even though I’ve dumped my bag in the locker room, I head in there. Technically, she can’t go in there, but as I walk around the corner and find it empty, I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Bro, first season.” Kemal slaps me on the back.
Focus.
The best thing to do here is forget I saw her and get on with practice. I really do need to get my fitness up and those hill climbs are not doing themselves.
I chuck my phone in my locker and rip off my jersey.
On the way out, the coach calls out. “Two hours, then everyone needs to go to the large meeting room. We’re introducing all the new team members.”
Fuck I’m happy to be here.
I nod and start jogging on the spot while a few of the guys call out yes coach, then when he heads back into his office, I go out to the training field.
It’s an inside setup allowing complete privacy and protection from the incoming cold weather. It’s already cooler, now that it’s September, and only going to get worse. But we can’t get too complacent. We need to be able to play in cold weather, so every morning I get up and run for at least an hour before arriving at the complex.
Coach isn’t referring to the players when he means team members. There are hundreds of people behind each team and without them, none of us can perform at our best.
I sprint up the hill and feel the burn in my calves. Two other players are doing the same nearby, all of us at different times. Thirty minutes later, I’m done and head into the gym.
“Montgomery,” one of the coaches walks over to me.
“Hey Davis,” I say, wiping my arm over my forehead.
“Want to set up a plan with you to strengthen your upper body? Focus on some push and pull exercises.”
Nice.
I’d been thinking about this last night, so I step into the conversation and for the first time this morning forget about a certain brown-eyed girl.
Ninety minutes later, we head to the conference room where everyone is gathered, and my brain freezes when I see her standing next to Head Coach Bill Waterman.
The fuck?