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“Never better. Good game, Dexter. Glad to see you earning the millions the team pays you.”
Ignoring her, he finally gave Ashley his full attention. It was hard to do it without looking like a simpering idiot, but he wanted to drink her in without the entire world knowing his business.
“Did you have a good time?”
She blushed, which was weird because she’d never seemed shy with him in the past. Maybe she thought a guys’ locker room wasn’t such a good place to meet, even though this wasn’t the real locker room. This was the meet n’ greet one, used for press and visitors.
“Yeah, it was great. You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble, though.”
“It wasn’t any trouble.” He turned to her daughter. “Hey, Willa, what’s the word for the day?”
“Pernicious. It means having a harmful effect, in a gradual way.”
“Like O’Malley’s lack of focus until this point in time. Hi, Ashley,” Kershaw said, inserting his bone-headed self into the conversation. “Great to see you again.”
“Hey there, Theo. How’s Bacon?”
“As naughty as ever, but he’s so good with Hatch.” Hatch was Kershaw’s two-year-old kid. He and his wife Elle had just had another one, a little girl named Adeline. “You nailed it there. Excellent choice.”
“Well, I love matchmaking for animals and their fur-parents. I knew Bacon would be a great fit with your family.”
“Speaking of great fits, how’s our boy doing?” Kershaw put his arm around Dex’s neck and gave him a squeeze. “Keeping his nose clean? Whatever you’re doing with him is definitely making him play better. Keep it up.”
Ashley dragged her teeth along her lower lip in a way that made Dex’s groin tighten. “That’s all Dex, nothing to do with me. He’s his own man.”
That’s what he would have thought before. No one had the capacity to influence his game or inspire him to a higher level. He had inner resources he could call on to ramp things up when needed … except that he rarely called on those resources. Maybe because he liked the idea they were in his back pocket, for when he needed them most.
Or maybe they were illusory, just a smokescreen so he could justify why he didn’t need anyone. But tonight he felt something different.
Pride in his play.
Pride that someone he cared about was there to witness it, and not just his teammates. Of course he wanted to make them proud, but they all seemed to have different motivations for their own stellar game. People they loved, families they adored, legacies to build.
And now he realized that he cared about Ashley. He liked her more than was good for him and he’d fucked it up by coming on strong. She thought he was only interested in sex or getting a good grade before his court case, and nothing else.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friends, O’Malley?” Foreman cut into his negative musings.
“We just met your wife,” Willa said to Foreman, so damn excited about everything. Dex loved her enthusiasm, especially when he was on the receiving end. “She’s amazing!”
Foreman’s face went soft. “Yeah, she is. Not sure what she’s doing with a lug like me, but as Petrov is fond of saying, we never deserve the women who’ve graced us with their favor.”
Petrov was such a fucking drama queen. Dex glared at his teammate, not needing that vibe in the room. “Anyway. This is Willa and Ashley. You’ve met Tara.”
Tara and Cal had once dated, but Dex didn’t hold that against him. In fact, right this minute he didn’t care if Tara had dated the entire team and everyone else in the visitors’ locker room. She was happy and he was happy for her, and he had something else in the hopper.
Someone else.
Only he had no idea how to approach this. How to win Ashley.
And he realized in the moment that he wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything before.
“Thanks for the game tickets and the limo and the Skittles.” Willa leaned in and kissed him on the cheek from her seat in the back of his Escalade.
Ashley turned to her daughter. “Honey, could you go inside so I can chat with Dex for a second?”
“Okay.” Willa opened the car door. The blast of cold air from outside should have dampened his senses, but it seemed nothing could do that these days. “Bye, Dex! See you soon!”
“Bye, Sparkle,” he said as she shut the door.
