Page 11 of The Game We Played

Gage chuckles. “They weren’t violent until you arrived and riled them up.”

I bow. “Thank you. I do my best.”

“One of these days, you’re going to piss off the wrong person and there will be consequences.”

My heart squeezes, and my chest tightens. Has my time for consequences already arrived? Did I go too far this time?

I shove those thoughts away. There’s nothing I can do about it now anyway. I waggle my eyebrows at Gage. “The same way you pissed off a certain red-headed singer?”

Gage was practically drooling over one of the singers at karaoke the other night. He went after her but she claimed she didn’t know who he was before rushing off. It was hilarious.

“Do not speak about Addy.”

Ah, the singer has a name. And Gage is already enamored by her. Maybe this summer will be fun after all.

“Why not? Did she get a gag order against you?”

He cocks an eyebrow. “You know all about gag orders, don’t you?”

“Me?” I feign clutching my pearls. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Your manager didn’t issue a gag order for you not to discuss your latest snafu?”

“Nope. The word gag was never mentioned.”

“Are we going to work out or gossip all morning? If we’re going to gossip, I have places to be,” Corbin says.

Corbin is a tight end on the team and he is very serious about his football career. He needs to chill out. Unfortunately, chill is not a word in his vocabulary.

“Oh, sorry. I forgot you need to search for another apartment since your landlady hates you.”

He growls. “Siena doesn’t hate me.”

“Didn’t she say you’re an oversized gorilla who should be kept in a zoo for observation?”

“I’m done talking about this.”

“I’m with Corbin,” Brock says. “If we’re not going to work out, I have places to be.”

I tap my chin. “Where would those places be? With May, the sexy surfing instructor?”

“May is my son’s instructor. Nothing more.”

“But you wish there was more. You wish you could spend as much time with May as your son, Jace, does.”

“Women are not to be trusted,” he grumbles.

I understand where he’s coming from since Jace’s mom abandoned him and Brock. But I’d go further. People in general aren’t to be trusted. Especially family members. Family is supposed to love you – unconditionally. Ha! My family invented theword conditional.

At least my fans love me. As long as I can catch a football and score a touchdown, they love me. But will they stick around if the football disappears? And will my football career disappear if Sam drops me?

“Hey now,” Nolan says. “Not all women are bad.”

“Even if they turn you down when you hit on them?”

He snarls at me. “Mind your own business.”

“But it’s not often I get the chance to witness our big, bad quarterback being rejected by a woman.”