AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ryan fought to stay focused on the PowerPoint presentation flipping across the screen as the PR team laid out the upcoming volunteer commitments they had planned for the players. This off season was going to be busier than the regular season. So much for down time.
Phone in hand, Andy walked back into the room and rounded the table, crouching down beside Ryan. “We need to head down to Kidsplay.”
Ryan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why doweneed to go there?”
“Because Carm and a bunch of wives just showed up and if I know them, they’ll be grilling Peyton about you.”
Kirsty paused the PowerPoint presentation and leaned across the table toward them. “Why would they be grilling Peyton about Ryan?”
“Fuck,” Ryan muttered. Of course, this had to happen in the middle of their team PR meeting with Kirsty there. Why had he agreed to this? It was one thing to save Andy at a party, but come on, did he honestly expect him to keep up this charade?
“Because Ryan and Peyton are dating,” Andy piped up.
Apparently so. Ryan glared at Andy, and the bastard just shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Seriously?” Kirsty sat forward in her seat. “When did that happen?” Her eyes lit up like they just told her they had a box of puppies. She pinned Ryan with her stare, anxiously awaiting his answer.
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I don’t know umm—” Fuck, he hated lying. How did this come so easily to Andy?
“I introduced them a few weeks ago, and it was inevitable” Andy looked at Ryan, then back at Kirsty and waggled his eyebrows lasciviously.
Kirsty propped her hands on the table. “Give me all the details.” She grinned. “This is brilliant. Do you have any idea what I can do with this kind of information? This is a freaking goldmine. Ryan, you never bring women around, so you dating the woman who runs the youth program the team is going to be working with. This is a PR dream.”
“Why’s that exactly?” Ryan asked. Shit, shit, shit. He didn’t want to be a PR dream. He purposely didn’t bring women around the team stuff for exactly this reason. Ryan was fine doing any publicity that related to his playing, but his personal life? No, thank you.
“First, because she is gorgeous. The two of you will look amazing in photos, which is a win. Oh, my god I can already picture you two together in the press releases we’ll be doing.” She clapped her hands together. “You have just made my job so much easier.”
“Why would he be in the press release? I was the one who went to the meetings?” Andy complained.
Ryan looked at his teammate. Unreal. He made this big production out of Ryan dating Peyton, screwed him into having to do extra PR, and then was pissed about it.
“Yeah, but come on, baseball player falls in love with the youth program coordinator and together they make kids’ dreams come true. That is gold.”
“Love?” Ryan croaked. “Umm, who said anything about love?”
Kirsty flicked her wrist. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be awesome.” She turned back to Andy. “So you guys are heading to Kidsplay now?”
Andy looked at Ryan and nodded.
“Perfect. I’ll come with you.” Kirsty turned to the rest of the team who were all watching the byplay like it was the world series finals. Ryan narrowed his eyes as he looked at his teammates. They were all just loving this. Nosey bastards.
“That’s all for today, gentleman,” Kirsty said. “We’ll meet again in two weeks when I have a better idea of what the new youth program will be like for everyone. I expect all of you to make time to volunteer in some way with the programs. So get on board.” She scanned the room and pinned the men with her stare.
Several groans sounded around the room before a few heads nodded.
“Great,” Kirsty replied, before turning to Ryan and Andy. “Alright let’s go.”
Ryan pushed his chair away from the table. Pete caught his eye as he stood up. “Seriously?” Pete mouthed.
Ryan rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I’ll call you later,” he told his best friend.
He followed Kirsty and Andy out to the parking lot. “I’ll drive,” Kirsty said.
Christ, there was no way he was sitting in a car captive for Kirsty to grill him about his relationship with Peyton before he even had a chance to talk to her about any of this. “I’ll follow you.”
“Why?” Kirsty asked.
“Umm, I just thought I might want to stick around a bit and chat with Peyton after,” Ryan replied.
