Chapter 2
Gage – a football player who’s fascinated with a singer who doesn’t know who he is
Gage
I grunt as I push the weight into the air. My arms tremble with the movement.
“Someone should have spent more time lifting weights and less time chasing girls,” Tanner teases.
I finish the rep and drop the weight on the ground. “Are you serious? You’re the one who’s in massive trouble for your last situation with a girl.”
Tanner is a goofball and one of the best damn wide receivers in the NFL. He’s also a troublemaker who thinks he can talk his way out of any situation. But not the latest one. He’ll be lucky if Coach Knox can keep him on the team, let alone out of trouble.
“What girl?” Brock asks.
“There’s no girl,” I claim.
Addy isn’t some girl. She’s a woman. A woman with luscious, round hips, high breasts, and puffy lips I want to taste. Preferably while I sink my fingers into her wavy red hair. I bet it’s silky soft. I wonder if her light brown eyes darken when she’s turned on.
Brock scowls at me. “You need to be careful about fooling around with anyone on the island.”
Tanner flicks his ear. “Don’t be Mr. Grumpy.”
The fullback doesn’t know how to be anything other than grumpy. If my girlfriend decided she didn’t want to be a mom and left me with a kid to raise on my own, I’d probably be grumpy, too. It’s amazing his son, Jace, is a fun, goofy kid considering his past.
“Touch my ear one more time and I’ll tell the entire world what you did.”
Tanner inches away from Brock. “Mr. Grumpy strikes again.”
“It’s not being grumpy to tell my teammates to be careful about fooling around with anyone on the island.”
“Too bad your warning came too late for Nolan.”
Nolan pales before narrowing his eyes at Tanner. “Stop trying to stir up shit.”
Huh. I wonder why our star quarterback paled. Nolan usually tries to set a good example for the rest of the offensive line. The rest of the entire team, actually. He’s a good person and a good leader. None of which will stop me from giving him shit if he gets himself in trouble.
“But I’m bored.” Tanner sticks out his bottom lip in a pout.
“We can spar if you’re bored,” Corbin offers.
Panic flashes in Tanner’s eyes before he waves away Corbin’s offer. Which is a good thing since Tanner is the leanest of the key offensive players on the Steel City Seals’ team, whereas Corbin, as a tight end, is one of the tallest and the heaviest of our group.
“I’ll run on the treadmill.” Tanner scurries to the treadmills on the other side of the gym at the Hideaway Haven Resort.
As an NFL player, I’ve spent a lot of time in hotels. But I’ve never seen a gym this big and well-equipped before. Of course, the owner, Hudson Clark, used to be a wide receiver on the Seals until he ruptured his Achilles’ tendon and was forced to retire.
I admit I was skeptical about staying on a tiny island across the water from the university where training camp will be held.
I thought the island would be boring. Even so, I agreed to join my friends and fellow offensive line players, Tanner, Nolan, Brock, and Corbin, when they decided to come to training camp a month early.
Best decision of my life. How else would I have met Addy? Addy, the sexy little singer who doesn’t have a clue who I am. I can’t wait until we become better acquainted.
“Can you spot me?” Brock asks.
I stand behind him as he presses the barbell above his head.
“I’m serious,” he grumbles. “You need to be careful about fooling around with a local.”
“Says the man who’s crushing on his son’s teacher,” Tanner shouts from across the room. How he heard Brock while running on the treadmill is beyond me.
Brock grunts. “I don’t have a crush on May.”
“Who’s May?”
“She’s the surfing instructor,” Nolan answers.
“I’m not interested in May,” Brock claims. “But if I were, it wouldn’t matter. This is my last season. I’m retiring from the NFL next year. I don’t have to worry about trying to keep a long-distance relationship going.”
“Good point,” Nolan mutters. Weird. Nolan never agrees with Brock. There’s something going on with him.
Tanner claps before jumping off the treadmill. “Mr. Grumpy spoke in actual sentences instead of grunts.”
Brock glares at him. “Maybe you want to spar with me instead of Corbin.”
Tanner gulps. Brock is bigger than Corbin. And he can be pretty terrifying when he growls at you. “I didn’t finish my run.”
Brock chuckles as Tanner scurries back to the treadmill.
Tanner’s just goofing around. He’s not actually afraid of Brock or Corbin.
Neither one of them would ever hurt him.
But the goofball loves his drama. Which is good since drama is heading his way once the news of his latest indiscretion breaks.
“I’m hungry,” Brock declares.
I roll my eyes. “You’re always hungry.”
He shrugs. “Who wants to go get some lunch?”
Actually, lunch is an excellent idea. After Addy ran away from me last night, I drilled the bartender about her. Apparently, she works at Five Fathoms Brewing and the restaurant serves lunch.
I gather my stuff. “I heard of a good place.”
“I’ll drive,” Nolan says.
Corbin shakes his head. “No way. You drive a tiny sports car. I can’t fit in a sports car.”
“I’ll drive,” Brock says.
“You brought your extra-large SUV?” At Brock’s nod, Corbin grunts. “Good. I need space for my legs.”
“I’m tall, too,” Nolan insists.
Corbin pats him on his head. “You’re cute.”
“Cute? I’m over six feet tall.”
“Really?” Corbin raises his eyebrow. “Should we measure?”
“What are we measuring?” Tanner asks. “If it’s height,” he points to me, “we know who the shortest is.”
I raise my hands. “I’m not involved in this conversation.”
It’s true. I’m the shortest in this group. I’m six-foot-two, which is normally considered tall, but not in a locker room with Brock and Corbin, who are both over six and a half feet.
I wonder how tall Addy is. She’s a short little thing. I bet she fits perfectly under my arm. I bet I can bury my head in her neck when I bury myself deep inside her.
My cock twitches. It thinks this is an excellent plan. It gets half-hard every time I think about her.
I don’t know her very well, but Addy fascinates me. She’s beautiful, can sing better than an angel, and didn’t hesitate to give me shit. And not knowing who I am? Not throwing herself at me when she learned my name? It’s the icing on the beautiful, curvy Addy cake.
Tanner snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Gage. Earth to Gage.”
I slap his hand away and he barks out a laugh .
“Someone was dreaming about his girl again.”
Addy isn’t my girl. At least, not yet.
“I’m hungry. Are we going to eat lunch or what?”
I lift my chin in a thank you to Brock. Once Tanner latches onto a subject, it could be years before he gives up.
We make our way toward the door but it opens before we get there. The offensive line coordinator for the Seals, Coach Knox, steps inside.
“Where is everyone going?”
“To lunch, Coach Cha-Cha,” Nolan answers.
A muscle in Knox’s cheek jerks at the nickname. Knox hates it. I would hate a nickname I got because I fell down while dancing during a friend’s wedding reception, too. At least his concussion was minor.
Knox crosses his arms over his chest. “You’ve barely been working out for an hour.”
“It’s off-season, Coach Cha-Cha.” Tanner dances toward the door.
“Training camp starts in a few weeks. Are you at your goal weight?”
Tanner freezes. “I’m not exactly at my goal weight, but I’m close.”
“Good.” Knox motions toward the scale in the corner. “I’ll do a quick weigh-in to check.”
“Do I have to?”
Knox shrugs. “Or you can finish your workout.” His eyes narrow. “Less gossiping and more working out.”
“I finished my workout,” I say .
“You have?”
“I got here an hour before everyone else.”
Tanner laughs. “Because he’s lovesick and couldn’t sleep.”
I launch myself at him. He’s correct. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about Addy. But I can’t let him get away with teasing me too much. I can’t let him think it’s okay to give me shit all the time.
Brock grasps my t-shirt to stop me. “Let it go. You hate bloodstains on your clothes.”
I glance down. I’m wearing white. Bloodstains are a bitch to get out of white.
Knox claps. “Excellent. It’s decided. You’ll work out for another hour before eating a healthy lunch.”
“But we were going to eat at Five Fathoms Brewing. ”
Knox frowns at me. “You can eat there another time. When you’re not watching your weight.”
He waits for me to nod before leaving the room.
Brock pats me on the back. “We’ll go see your girlfriend for lunch tomorrow.”
“How do you…”
I trail off. There’s no sense asking how anyone on this team gets their information. The members of the team gossip more than frat brothers. Besides, he’s right. We can go to Addy’s restaurant for lunch tomorrow.
My body hums in anticipation. Addy can’t claim to not know who I am now.