Page 2 of Invaluable

Her face brightened. “I love football. I grew up a huge Dallas Wranglers fan, but I also love the San Diego Wildfires.”

She was refreshing to talk to—I loved a woman who loved sports. “I guess we have the love of the sport in common.” I paused. For a moment I wanted to tell her the truth. But I never told anyone the real reason I’d quit football and joined the Teams.

Not my friends, nor my family.

Not even myTeam.

And I made it a habit to never tell anyone my current job. Even if it was guaranteed to get me pussy.

“It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you’re happy. That’s my motto.”

I dug her northern Texas accent. Most girls started asking a ton of questions once I mentioned pro ball, but not Sara. Maybe she didn’t care about my money and actually wanted to get to know me. That would be nice for a change. I was going to find out if she was bluffing.

The waitress brought us our drinks. A new song began. The music boomed, and I could barely hear a word of what Sara said from there on out. Vic tried to talk to Maya but neither of them seemed all that interested. That shit was brutal to watch. And I wasn’t into audiences. It was time to make mymove.

I lightly brushed Sara’s hair off her face, letting my hand linger at the nape of her neck. “It’s too loud in here. Tell you what—I live down the street. You want to go back to my place? Hang out there for a while?” I smiled. I definitely had balls.

She blinked rapidly and crossed her arms. For a second I thought she’d decline. She looked at the disaster happening to her right then back at me. “I’d love to,” she said under her breath.

Well I’ll be damned.

Sara hugged her friend and whispered something in her ear. Maya squinted, and her face showed a disapproving scowl.

I signaled to Vic to help a brother out. Poor dude had to take one for theteam.

Vic turned to Maya, “I’ll give you a ridehome.”

Maya gave a reluctant nod, and we said our good-byes. I found it funny she’d judge her friend at the drop of a hat for going home with a complete stranger, but had no issues with getting a ride from one. Unreal. But she wasn’t my problem. I put my arm around Sara and led her out of the bar past the bouncers. A gentle breeze from the ocean was a welcome change from the stale air and sweat from the club. The neon lights of the other marquees glowed in the distance as we walked toward the beach.

It always boggled my mind a girl would honestly go home with a man whom she’d just met in a club, especially knowing what had happened to Annie, but I wasn’t complaining. And let’s face it, Sara was safer with me than she would be with any other man, though there was absolutely no way she could be certain I wasn’t a serial killer or rapist.

I hadn’t had a full conversation with this chick and didn’t even know her last name, but it didn’t matter—this was going to be a one-night stand. I was only in town for the next month before I deployed again, but she didn’t need to knowthat.

All she needed to know was I thought she was the sexiest girl in the club, and I planned to ravage every inch of her body tonight.