“I appreciate that, Coach. Who’d we lose on the squad?”
“You’ll find out tomorrow, after they do. Luca, to be clear, I can’t do much for you if you don’t give me a thousand percent at all times. Especially at this upcoming preseason game.”
“I will, Coach. How you do anything is how you do everything.”
Oh, my heart.
“That’s right. Good man. Now, get some good sleep. You’ve got an important practice tomorrow.”
“Yes, Coach.”
A few more muffled words are exchanged, followed by the sounds of the door to the room opening and closing.
“He’s gone,” Luca reports. “You can come out now.”
Trembling, I emerge from the bathroom. Luca’s massive boner from earlier is gone, his iPad is now sitting on the bed, and the earlier, frenetic energy in the room has disappeared, now replaced by the stark realization of how close we came to getting caught. What was I thinking? If Raul hadn’t shown up to throw cold water on my horny ass, I’d be riding Luca like a cowgirl and shouting “Yeehaw!” right this very minute.
My gaze averted from Luca’s, I quietly shuffle to the bed, pull my shirt out from behind the pillow, and start putting it on.
“No, don’t do that,” Luca says. “Chelsea, no.”
“I never should have kissed you.”
“I kissed you.”
“Okay, and then I hurtled myself at you like a missile and ripped my shirt off like it was on fire.”
Luca smiles. “That felt like my birthday, Christmas, Easter, and the Fourth of July, all rolled into one.”
“I need to go.”
“No, you don’t.” He’s following me to the door like a puppy. A very big, athletic, and insanely hot puppy. “There’s no need to get spooked. Nothing’s changed.”
“Yes, it has, because I’m thinking clearly again.” I turn to face him at the door. “I was momentarily willing to break all the rules for some fleeting pleasure, but I’ve got my head on straight again. You need to focus every ounce of your energy on having the game of your life on Sunday, and I need to get out of your way and let you do that.” I take a deep breath.“Watch some film or study your playbook for an hour after I leave and then get some good sleep.”
“Don’t worry about me. Now that I know your hopes and dreams are riding on mine, there’s no way in hell I’ll let either of us down.”
The earnest expression on his face makes my heart ache. “Get yourself into an ice bath right after tomorrow’s scrimmage, okay? Knowing you, you’re going to work harder than ever when you see Moriarty suited up, and your muscles will need extra help to recover.”
He smirks. “I wish I could get into an ice bath right now.”
I try to return his smile, but it’s an impossible task. “Good night, Luca.”
“Kick ass coaching Moriarty tomorrow.”
I sink my fingernails into my palms to remind my horny ass this is the right call, and then I fling open Luca’s door and force myself to march away from the hottest, sweetest, best kisser alive without looking back—the same way I did seven long years ago.
CHAPTER 21
Luca
ASIAMBLEonto the practice field in full pads surrounded by several of my defensive teammates, the summer sun is still low in the early-morning sky, which means the heat will be relatively bearable for the beginning of our second-to-last scrimmage of training camp.
Today’s going to be yet another make-or-break moment for me. With Moriarty signing his big deal last night, there’s now only one spot on the roster for my specific position, and four of us fighting tooth and nail to get it.
Some of the players I came here with stop to sign swag for the fans lined up at the security barricades, but I don’t bother joining them. None of those people came here to see me. In fact, they didn’t come to see those guys, either. They came to see Moriarty walk onto the practice field for the first time at training camp.
So far, their favorite player hasn’t shown his face. Not officially, anyway, although I glimpsed him briefly at the crack of dawn this morning during his one-on-one session with Chelsea.
