Chapter 6 Declan #2
“Ah, look. Hammer is getting all mushy on us.” Bitterness laces Wolf’s voice.
The coach nails Wolf with a hard look. “A real man isn’t afraid to love, Connor.
” He turns his gaze to the rest of the group.
“During this monthlong period, there aren’t going to be any pranks or bad press.
Not one of you, as you call it, will be players—with women.
Do you understand? Bonus points if you can settle down.
Now, get out of here. I have work to do. ”
Various sounds of resigned affirmation come from the guys as we exit the office.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Coach calls. “At the end of the month, there will be a ball.”
“A what?” Grey asks.
“A football?” I ask.
Hammer chuckles. “Something like that.” Then he picks up the phone, dismissing us.
We form a huddle in the hallway, all of us locked and loaded with complaints. When you spend this much time with a bunch of dudes, you learn to read their body language almost better than the words they use. No one is happy.
Grey levels us all with his gaze. “Listen, you know what this team means to me. We’re going to follow orders.”
“Good luck keeping Wolf away from women,” I say.
“You’re one to talk,” he fires back.
Chase ignores this. “You heard him. If one of us screws up, we’re all off the team. We’re going to approach this like we would a game. We need a playbook...of rules.”
Wolf shifts away, never a fan of rules. Me neither, for the most part.
Chase tugs him back to the huddle. “This is serious. I’ll repeat what Hammer said. If one of us screws up, we’re all out.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re waiting to get married.”
Chase shrugs. It may not have been a popular lifestyle choice, especially among the football team, but he honors his faith.
My hand wanders to the chain around my neck and hidden under my shirt. “It’s just a month.”
“The playbook rules: no kissing, no touching. Eyes up, hands off. No flirting, no dating...” Grey starts.
“You’re no fun,” Wolf says.
With a glance at the desperation hidden in Grey’s eyes, I say, “I’m with Chase. The rules apply unless you fall in love.”
“And ask her to marry you,” Chase adds.
Wolf raps me on the back of the head. “Thought you’d be on my team.”
“We’re all on the same team,” I say, even though, in this circumstance, it pains me to do so. I don’t quite have Wolf’s reputation, but I’m not a stranger among the ladies.
Chase extends his hand. Grey sets his on top. I toss mine into the center. Wolf groans and reluctantly follows suit. Then we chorus, “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin.’”
Grey’s phone pings with a message.
As we walk down the hall, Wolf says, “All things considered, you have to admit I have a good butt.”
“I’m not saying anything about your butt other than that I’m going to kick it if you so much as breathe in the same room as a woman during this month,” I warn.
“You can thank yourself for getting us into this situation,” Wolf retorts.
“The mooning prank was all your idea.”
“No, if I remember—”
We start bickering.
“Forget about it. What matters is that we’re going to a public relations etiquette program and we have to—” Chase starts.
Grey interrupts. “More like reform school.”
“Charm school.”
“Probation.”
“No women. This is the worst,” Wolf says as we turn the corner.
“It’s not prison. I’m sure we’ll have some free time.
” My phone pings in my pocket. For the briefest moment, I wonder if it’s Maggie.
Haven’t seen her in too long—our texts don’t come close to the feeling I used to get when I’d see her smile or hear her laugh.
I’d get kicked in the shins if I revealed to the guys that I miss my best friend—and not because I’m being mushy like Hammer.
More because they don’t believe a male and female can just be friends without an undercurrent of attraction.
Pshaw. Maggie and I wrote the book on guy-gal friendships. We’re pros.
So why haven’t I seen her? Circumstance? Because it’s hard to say goodbye each time? She has a new job and I travel a ton. Plus, the public appearances and the never-slowing pulse of my career. She’s busy too.
Despite what the guys said, My Maggie-loo just gets me.
But I regret drifting apart for the last few years.
I can’t quite remember the last time we saw each other in person.
But she’s my person, and the image of her with a ponytail and bright smile is forever etched in my mind, no matter how much time passes.
I dismiss the message that looks like info about our politeness probation penalty because the only person I can talk to about this is Maggie and now probably isn’t a good time to call.
“Did Hammer say camp or glamp? Maybe it’ll be at a luxury spa,” Chase says.
“You’d like that,” Wolf ribs.
Chase’s phone pings and he swipes to his email. “I just got the travel info from the secretary. I think this is a school of some sort. Finishing school.”
“Like old-school etiquette?”
“Like sipping tea with pinkies turned out,” Chase says.
Grey swats him.
“What? I had three sisters. You’d better believe they made me sit in on their tea parties. Maybe this isn’t going to be half bad...” Chase says.
“But it’s not the same as the field time and practice that’s going to get us ready for the season,” Grey says.
“It says here that we’ll still be training. They’re sending a specialist or something,” Chase says, reading the email.
“Yeah, I feel special,” Wolf says darkly.
Chase claps him on the shoulder. “Good. We have just enough time to go home, pack, and meet up to take the flight to the finishing school in a remote country called Concordia. Ever hear of the place?”
I nod, but the others remain silent because this just got all too real.