Page 10 of Out of Bounds

“That a boy?” he asked, doing his best to make it sound like a joke.

“Uh, no. Not even close,” she informed him.

“Then who is it? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Felicity Sutherland. She was just checking to see if everything arrived okay and if I needed anything.”

Fucking Felicity Sutherland. That was who interrupted his first father/daughter moment ever? Of course it was.

“That’s nice of her.” He could hear the strain in his own voice, trying to find something complimentary about the woman.

“Yeah. We’re making lunch plans.”

Lunch plans? Oh no no no…

“I’m not sure she’s the best role model for you.”

“Okay. I don’t know what you want me to do with that.”

“I’m just saying that there must be plenty of people in Atlanta for you to be friends with, and I’m not sure she’s the best choice.”

“Look, I know you’re new to this whole “dad” thing…which, you don’t want me to call you that, right?”

“Gunnar is fine.”

“Okay, good,” she said with a sigh. “So, Gunnar, first dad lesson. You don’t get to pick my friends. I’m twenty-two. And I’m not saying she and I are going to be besties, but I don’t know anyone here. So if the cool girl wants to take me to lunch, I’m going to let her.”

“That’s fair,” he agreed, watching her stand from the table and walk back toward her room.

Wrapping up the leftover pizza in some tinfoil to stick in the fridge, he let his mind wander back to this morning when Felicity had thrown his stats at him. That had been one of the hottest things he’d ever experienced—watching a woman as sexy as she was have that information right on the tip of her tongue. Did she know that kind of thing about every player on his team?

But for every ounce of sexy she had in her, she had an extra ounce of vinegar. Her attitude made him want to strangle her, even if she was full of knowledge. Did she have to be such a ballbuster all the time?

He had a feeling he knew the answer to that and that no matter what he did, it wasn’t going to change. She was also a Sutherland, which meant she was part of the family that owned the team. If he was going to keep this dream job of his, he was going to have to learn to put up with her.

No matter what it took.

Chapter Four

"She who does not answer my text messages does not get served,” Heather Atwell, owner of Bunz, the newest sports bar and grill in town, said as Felicity sat down at the bar. Pouring her a glass of water, the tall blonde smirked, waiting for a reply. Heather was in her midforties, but Felicity didn’t think she looked any older than she had when they’d first met almost twenty years ago.

“What are you talking about? When did you text me?” she asked her friend and mentor. She didn’t think she had missed a text, although she’d spent the last couple of days so busy making sure that everything was ready for the team to leave today for Florida that she wasn’t entirely confident something hadn’t slipped.

“Two days ago, when you told me you were nice to the wrong person,” Heather replied. “Which, by the way, if you’re being ‘nice’ to someone, it’s never wrong.”

“I responded to that, didn’t I?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. It’s been a couple of crazy days with getting the team off to training camp and then the whole Gunnar daughter thing.”

“Speaking of training camp, I thought you were going with them.”

“I’m heading down tomorrow. I was going to go with them today, but…” Felicity trailed off, her attention stolen by the devilishly handsome man who wandered behind the bar and stopped next to Heather. He had a James Dean vibe about him, not that Felicity could say why. There was just something about him that made it seem like he should be leaning against a building with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

“Oh, Felicity, meet Devlin Decker, Bunz’s new head waiter, or team lead…or whatever I’m calling him,” Heather said, pointing to the newcomer.

“Ah, you’re Felicity, heard a lot about you.”