Fair Catch

by Kandi Steiner

She loved football, plain and simple. Always had.

I didn’t care if she hated me. In fact, I was glad she did. It made it easier to keep my focus on protecting her and off the temptation to claim her for my own.

She wanted to storm away from me just as much as she needed me to comfort her.

I used to be that person for her, me and Gavin both, and though she hated me now — and for good reason — I was the only person she knew on the team.

“Hey,” I added, noting the worry she was trying to hide. Her brows bent together, and I reached out, squeezing her shoulders. “It’s all good.”

I leaned into her, voice low in her ear. “Enjoy talking about how tough it is being a girl for an hour.”

“Cool.” Her eyes found mine next, and she pointed right at me. “Stay out of my room.” I held my hands in mock surrender, and then she rounded us and headed straight for the door.

Mostly because they already knew if they touched her, they’d have me to answer to.

I had no problem playing the protective big brother role.

“I’ve got her back,” I promised him.

“Nice kick, Novo,” Clay said when I slipped past him, elbowing me playfully. “You do that shit in a real game, and you’re going up on my shoulders.”

I stopped to talk to a few of the reporters, all the while keeping an eye on Riley as she was swarmed in the same manner. She was much smaller than the rest of us, and I could see the panic in her eyes as the space around her filled, the air becoming thinner.

“What was that?!” “A free ride out of the media circus,” I said, tapping her nose. “You’re welcome.”

She pinned me with a sarcastic glare and purse of her lips as I remembered how Jaylie and Victoria had called her a bitch. She must have missed how I defended her the next instant and warned them that if they said another word about her, I’d kick them out.

I eased a bit going back to a sideline that greeted me with claps on my shoulders and atta girls that made me feel like I redeemed myself.

I wondered what she’d do if I did, if I stepped right up to her heaving chest, peeled that towel open and let it fall to the floor and asked her if she was sated or if she wanted more.

“Whatever you say, Mouse. I’m yours to torture.”

Zeke sat down next to me, so quietly that I didn’t notice until his knee brushed mine. His pants had grass stains already, and he balanced his elbows on his knees, eyes on the game as he said, “You good?”

“Whatcha doing?” I asked Riley in the locker room after a night practice the following week, snatching the phone out of her hand before she knew I was even in grabbing range. “Hey!” She jumped, trying to get it before I hiked it higher than she could reach.

She flipped me the bird, and then swayed off to the showers with a smile and a soft shake of her head.

I forced down the bile rising in my throat at the thought of her trying to find a guy for the sole purpose of getting off — especially considering I was a guy and knew exactly the kind of creeps who got on those apps looking for the same thing.

Yeah, sure, that’s why you’re mad. Because she might get hurt. Not because you can’t stomach the thought of someone touching her.

“And what, you’re her bodyguard?”

“Because I’m a girl? You all walk around here shirtless all the time. Do you ever see me drooling or popping a fucking boner?”

I caught Riley by the elbow and pulled her into me.

Kyle made a face. “And if I win?” Riley shrugged. “I’ll have sex with you.” The locker room erupted, and my blood boiled over as my arm shot out for her again. She tore away from me before I had the chance to pull her in, her eyes connecting with mine only a brief second. “I got this,” she mouthed.

I caught his gaze and gave him a wink, just like he did to me that first game.

He just shook his head. “If you didn’t, I would have gone to jail tonight.”

I’d never come so close to murdering someone in my entire life than when I saw Kyle shove Riley to the ground.

I’d never felt my heart beat like that before, never felt that… possessive.

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I feel like I’m going to vomit.” “Well, if you do, do it over there,” Clay said, pointing toward the sideline. “I just cleaned these sneakers.”

But before I could finish the sentence, Zeke rushed me in equal measure, closing the distance between us. Shock washed over me like an earthquake, sudden and unexpected, and the words died on my lips as I watched him descend on me. His heavy footsteps echoed in the chambers of my heart. His hot breath silenced any attempt of me telling him to stop. His hands slipped into my hair, tugging tight and tilting my chin up. And then his mouth claimed mine in a kiss of thunder that beckoned the storm inside me to rage.

“Because I am scarred by the fire you started in me. Because you have reduced me to fucking ashes.”

“Because I ache for you,” he breathed against my lips next. “And I’ll end anyone who touches what’s mine.”

“You’re in control,” I told her, kissing her long and deep as I waited.

“I think I kind of love when you hate me,” I teased, arching a brow.

Of course, I also wondered if that high was from football, or from the way Zeke watched me from across the locker room.

But I never had the chance to breathe life into a single one of those questions, because as soon as I made it through the doorway, I was wrapped up in Zeke’s arms and carried back to his bed.

Clay stood close, barely touching the spot between my shoulders from time to time just to let me know he was there. And in the middle of all my teammates, I realized I felt… safe. Taken care of.

I latched onto everything I saw in those flashes — Zeke’s fingers wrapped around mine, the muscles of his back as he guided me, the curve of his lips as he eyed me over one shoulder.

He helped me stand, panting, his thumb tracing my lips before his hand splayed the length of my throat. I swallowed. And he cursed, dropping his head to mine with a salacious smile as I savored the taste of his surrender.

All I could think about was how she was mine, whether she knew it or not.

One moment I was inside her, savoring every touch and breath and kiss like I’d never have it again. The next, I was pretending to be normal with her around the team, trying to tease her without looking too long, without letting my touch linger. Then, I was mad with jealousy, watching my teammates flirt with her just like they always had.

And just when it was too much, when I felt inches away from ripping one of my teammates to shreds or saying something I’d regret, Riley would calm a storm she didn’t even know was raging.

What was mine was hers, and what was hers was mine.

There was no way to avoid the cold, hard truth of it all. I was addicted. And like any addict will tell you, it didn’t matter that I knew in the back of my mind that we were playing with fire. It didn’t matter that one day it all would have to end, that one day I’d have to go through withdrawals and peel myself off the floor. Right now, I had her. And though she told me she couldn’t give me more, I pretended like this would always be enough.

It had been Riley’s idea, of course, and as much as it wasn’t my favorite way to spend a day off, there was no way in hell I could ever say no to that girl.

To me, she was the art more than the portrait that held her attention.

He stood there now, leaning a hip against the frame as he crossed his arms and took me in.

I smirked, but when I tried to pull away, Zeke held me in place. His eyes searched mine between bent brows, his jaw firm. “You okay?”