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I inched closer, keeping my steady gaze locked with hers. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never used it before. Because I never say a thing I don’t mean.”
Her expression flitted with shock, then her face flushed with pink as a pleased smile curved her lips. “Um…” She shuffled her feet nervously. “No, we haven’t met.”
“Prentice,” I said, moving just a tad closer, so I was invading her space but not touching her.
“Naomi.”
“That’s a beautiful name. It suits you.”
Naomi dipped her head as she blushed again. “Thank you.”
I played football in high school, was recruited by Notre Dame for college, then was drafted when I was twenty-one and spent the past eleven years playing for the Nighthawks. I’d done hundreds of press conferences, speaking engagements, and numerous other things that required me to talk. But for the first time that I could remember, I felt tongue-tied.
Before I could come up with something to say, our wide receiver, Hale, and his wife, Lisa, stopped to say hello. I nodded in response to their greeting and gritted my teeth in frustration while they introduced themselves to Naomi. After a few minutes, they said goodbye and I breathed a mental sigh of relief.
“So who are you—”
“Naomi!” Dana, the girlfriend of one of our rookies, called out. “See you at the club!” I frowned, irritated at yet another interruption, and wondering who the fuck she was going to a club with.
Once they were gone, we were finally left alone, and I opened my mouth to try again. But clearly, our win was the only luck the universe was going to give me that night because Nixon, one of our newer defensive linemen, came barreling into the room and right up to Naomi.
“What a game, Mims!” He shouted as he picked her up and spun her around. “We crushed the other team!”
I clenched my fists so I wouldn’t snatch her from his arms. She laughed at his antics, and jealousy burned in my chest. I ground my jaw, telling myself not to be a bastard—I had never been the kind of guy to go after another man’s woman. But Naomi had me questioning my ethics.
Nixon put her down after a couple of twirls and dropped his arm around her shoulder. “Hey, Prentice,” he greeted me with a grin. “I see you met my baby sister, Naomi.”
Sister?Thank fuck she wasn’t there with anyone else.
However, considering how young Nixon was, I couldn’t help wondering if she was legal. I doubted he would bring his sister around if she were under eighteen. But the worry lingered.
3
NAOMI
It turned out that my concerns about being uncomfortable while waiting for my brother in the post-game room had been unnecessary. Sally had taken me around to introduce me to everyone, and I’d fit right in. Only nobody warned me that Nixon would be one of the last players out of the locker room. Or that I wouldn’t care how long he took because I’d have the best distraction in the world.
It was difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that I’d been having an actual conversation with Prentice Wright. And that he was even hotter in person, which shouldn’t be possible. Not when he was already insanely attractive in all of the commercials and magazine spreads that he’d been in.
Prentice was the epitome of masculine beauty with his dark hair, beard, brown eyes, chiseled jaw, and muscular body. I was five-foot-five, and he was a full foot taller than me. I loved how feminine I felt standing next to him.
But what I appreciated the most was the way his attention was wholly on me while we talked. How a muscle in his jaw would jump and irritation would flash in his eyes anytime someone interrupted us. Including my brother.
Even though I was only here because I had wanted to see Nixon play, I had felt the urge to stomp my foot in frustration when he came rushing into the room.
And I could’ve sworn that I had seen a flash of jealousy in Prentice’s dark gaze when my brother had spun me around, then flung his arm around my shoulder. But that was probably just wishful thinking on my part, considering he was way out of my league.
“You ready to hit the club?” Nixon asked.
At first, I thought he’d been talking to Prentice, but then I realized his focus was on me. My excitement about going out to celebrate their win dimmed at the thought of my time with Prentice coming to an end. “Are you coming with?”
Before the sexy quarterback could answer, my brother shook his head with a laugh. “Nah, he’s old and has to go home. It’s past his bedtime already.”
Prentice scowled at Nixon, and I assumed it was because his response had pissed him off until he growled, “Is your sister old enough to go to a club?”
His question was deflating since he sounded more like a protective big brother than a guy who might be interested in me. The last thing I needed was another sibling…and certainly not the only man who’d been able to bring my libido to life.
“Nope.” My brother let the P at the end pop as he grinned, dropping his arm from my shoulders. “But you know they’ll let her in if she’s with me. They’re not going to turn us away after a win at home. Or even a loss. Having players show up and get photographed is too good for business.”
