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“Believe me, you’re most definitely his type,” Sophie said. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Exactly,” Cami added. “You just need to show him how much of histypeyou are. Guys are dumb.”
Harley remained silent.
“That one”—Sophie hitched her thumb in Harley’s direction—“is currently in la-la-love-land.”
Harley tsk’d. “No, I’m not.” When Sophie cocked her head to the side, Harley conceded. “Okay, maybe a little. But at least I didn’t fall at his feet. Well, I did, but I meant figuratively.”
Not sure exactly what she was talking about, I went on to defuse their excitement. “It doesn’t matter because, again, I’m his teammate… so, off-limits.”
Cami insisted, “Still doesn’t change the facts—”
“What facts?” Mack’s deep voice made me jump. He plopped down on the opposite end of the sofa, where the chair was.
“The fact that men are dumb,” Sophie eagerly replied.
He nonchalantly shrugged. “Whatever. It sounded like I interrupted something. Who are we gossiping about?”
Mack had a lightness about him that changed the mood and made me instantly like him. For a big tough football player, something told me that deep down he was a teddy bear.
“Not gossiping. We were just telling Charlie that she was beautiful,” Cami offered as an explanation. “Don’t you think so?”
My gasp rang out louder than I wanted it to. When I looked at Mack, he didn’t agree or disagree. Instead, he took a sip of his beer. Whatever. It wasn’t as though I was attracted to him—nor should I be. Still, it didn’t do much for my libido… not that mine was active by any means. I could say it was akin to a dormant volcano that hadn’t erupted in a century. Fine, maybe a hundred years is an exaggeration, but it didn’t feel far off.
“Um… here’s the thing. She’s a teammate.”See. My point exactly,I wanted to shout. “Whether she’s pretty or not is irrelevant. Plus, Collin would kick my ass if I did say that I thought she was stunningly gorgeous.” He winked at me, and I couldn’t prevent the upward tug of my lips and the heat that filled my cheeks. His comment about Collin was a bit confusing, but I let it slide. No way did Collin think the same as Mack. “I’ll promise you this, Charlie, if anyone gives you any trouble, they’ll be in a world of hurt.”
“Amen to that,” Lucas said with Collin trailing behind him, assessing the situation that they had walked in on.
My eyes darted to the guys, and theirs were instantly on me. Glancing at Collin, I took in a deep breath, and he tightly grinned.
Lucas tipped the top of his beer bottle toward me. “Practice starts next week. Get ready, rookie, because all eyes will be on you.”
“Babe,” Harley scolded in the sweetest way possible. “Don’t make her nervous.”
Nervous? I could barely swallow. These guys were great because they were friends with Collin. But what would the others think? Did I care? Yes. Not for any other reason than they would be my teammates. And the fact that Collin’s life would be hell because of me.
Harley was the first to stand and break the sudden tension in the room. “We should get going.” Everyone else followed her lead, we all said our goodbyes, and Collin walked them out. When he came back in, I was busy cleaning the kitchen.
He took a few glasses that I’d rinsed, put them in the dishwasher, dropped in a detergent pod, closed the door, and turned the dishwasher on. It whirred to life, and I leaned against the counter, filling an awkward silence by making it even more awkward by asking, “Do you think they liked me?”
“Yes, I’m sure they did. What about you? What did you think of tonight?”
“It was nice meeting people. Before now, you and Reese were the only people I knew. And Gail from the diner, but that’s not really knowing someone. Even us. It’s been years since I’ve seen you. Actually, the last time I did, I’m not even sure you acknowledged me.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. It was a long time ago. I just need to get my bearings, and then I’ll be okay.”
“I get it. Moving around is tough, but it’s part of the business. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you are. You can still be traded to a different team.”
I knew that to be true. During my studying of the Thunder’s roster, I knew that had happened to Trent Archer after an injury. And following the departure of Trent, a year later the Rockets’ tight end, Jackson Cartwright, was traded to the Thunder. Although they only moved from DC to Virginia, it may as well have been the same place. My heart sank at the notion of playing here without Collin.
“What are you thinking?”
Not wanting to tell him my previous thought, I spoke a different truth. “I’m thinking that I hope I don’t suck.”
“Is that all that’s bothering you?”
