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“Her,” I finally answered him.
Noah nodded in my peripheral. “Regular sex can be worth it, but that’s never been a motivating factor for you.”
I gritted my teeth as my tired muscles strained. “It’s not about sex.”
He laughed. “It’s always about sex on some level. What’s the difference between what you had before and what you have now?”
Sex. Sort of. But that was only a difference as of last night. I frowned up at him. “How did you know things had changed between us?”
Noah raised his hands in surrender. “It was an assumption. You’re not usually late for training, and she’s never stayed the night before.” He didn’t mention Riley’s absence from the weight room, but he didn’t have to. She hadn’t missed a session until today. “Have you thought about why she’s willing to risk so much to be with you?”
I hadn’t, not really. I’d thought a lot about the risks themselves, but her motivation hadn’t factored in. Something else I should probably talk about with her.
“What do you think about the risks?” I asked him.
“I think it’s none of my business what you do with your free time. It shouldn’t be anyone else’s business either. If Duke can bounce from ball bunny to ball bunny, certain concerns are a little more pointed than they need to be.”
“Amen,” I muttered.
“But…” He glanced at the other guys again. “Respect is hard to earn back once it’s lost.”
I wanted to argue that whoever Riley decided to fuck should have nothing to do with her spot on the team. Like he’d said, Duke had a new lady every night. No one questioned his man whore habits.
I didn’t.
We both knew that wasn’t how it would go down if the public found out about me and Riley. It would be hot news across the college football world. Playing was Riley’s life, and I refused to make her choose between me and something she loved. Mostly because I’d probably lose.
Talk about complicated motivations. As long as she played for this team, she should be off-limits, but I couldn’t stay away.
My thoughts dredged up guilt I wasn’t sure how to deal with, so I changed the subject.
“Why didn’t you come get me this morning?”
Noah snorted. “I know better than to mess with a locked door. Remember that time D’s sister came to visit for the weekend? I knocked on his door to remind him about training on Monday, and Chloe answered in nothing but a t-shirt.”
I grunted as I slowly moved the weights up and down. “I remember Chloe visiting, but D wasn’t late for training. He was never late for training.”
D had been a great captain. He’d really cared about the guys, not just the team, and I tried to live up to his legacy. He’d also been a hardass about things like showing up on time and putting in maximum effort.
“That’s because he was at Nadia’s. Chloe decided to take advantage of having the room to herself to invite some asshole from the hockey team in for a sleepover.”
Noah sounded pissed about the hockey guy, but I couldn’t work out why. We didn’t have a rivalry with the hockey team. It was a little insulting that she’d chosen a guy from a different sport, but D would have kneecapped anyone on the team who messed with his sister.
I couldn’t imagine Noah getting in the guy’s face when we’d given Chloe free reign of the apartment while she stayed with us.
“What’d you do?”
Noah helped me rack, refusing to meet my eyes. “Nothing.”
Bullshit. Something had happened, but I’d have remembered Noah beating the shit out of a hockey player in our apartment.
I wouldn’t ask, though. He’d tell me if I needed to know.
Noah wiped his hands on his shorts and took my spot on the bench. “Think about it, Shaw. Football isn’t everything.”
I frowned at him as he lifted the bar off the supports. My gut said Riley would disagree, but my heart hoped last night meant she’d made space for me next to the game she loved.
* * *
