Page 4 of Filthy Player
I felt his eyes on my ass as I walked away so strongly it felt like his hands were already on me.
CHAPTER TWO
BEAUX
“Crash and burn, huh baby Hale? Man, that sucks. Probably doesn’t happen much does it.”
I shoved Kolby’s elbow off the table, pushing him away from me.
“In your dreams. And who are you calling a baby?” But damn, he was right.
When was the last time I’d gotten such a quick brush-off? I’d seen the interest in our pretty waitress’s eyes when she first saw me. It was impossible to miss the way her cheeks turned pink or how her breath went soft.
All of that happened about point two seconds before my dick hardened when she stepped close to me. She was fucking gorgeous and it wasn’t the first time since I’d been in to Ride’Em Rough I noticed her.
She’d tried to hide it, but I’d had enough women throwing themselves at my feet over the last few years to recognize the signs.
I was also getting sick of it. This summer’s vacation, one I took every year to blow off steam before I had to report back for pre-season training, had made me realize how tired I was getting of the fan-girling. The boobs thrust into my face, the autographs demanding to be signed, the constant touching my body like they had a right to it just because I was on television for three and a half hours every week.
Whatever happened to common decency?
I’d cut my trip early when I found myself missing my sister and the guys on my team who had become more like brothers than teammates more than usual.
Not that Shannon had missed me much. She’d fallen in love with Oliver Powell, our tight end and resident asshole team captain.
Fortunately, he’d fallen for her too. They were now engaged, planning their wedding for as soon as this season was done.
As much as I might have been tired of women shoving their boobs into my face, being so quickly rejected by a woman who blushed and went breathy in my presence was something new.
I kinda liked it.
Grinning, I rubbed my bottom lip and took a drink of my water while we waited for our drinks.
“I know what you’re going to be dreaming of later tonight,” Brian Matthews said. He was our center, and he and I were tight. Had to be considering I shoved my hands near his balls on every play of the game. He was my first in line protector and every time he saved me from a sack on a blitz, I owed him my life.
“Fuck off,” I growled. God, I was strung tight. There was stress pressing down on me from all sides this season, more so than last, and the press conference earlier had cemented everyone’s expectations for us. “Besides, there’s no fun in the victory if there’s no work in the fight.”
Matthews fist-pumped me and nodded. “That’s right, man.”
The table erupted in a round of affirmations, but I didn’t need them.
I didn’t become the best quarterback in the NFL by luck. It was part skill, a whole hell of a lot of effort.
It helped that my body was built for speed and strength, something I’d worked on honing since I was twelve and had my first taste of a youth football championship.
I worked my ass off every day for what I wanted, never giving up, never giving in. If our pretty little waitress thought one rebuff would work on me, then she didn’t know who she was talking to.
“Two pitchers of Freaky Nature.” She stood on the opposite side of the table, as far away from me as she could get, and set down the pitchers. “Do you gentlemen know what you’d like to eat?”
I was beginning to. On further inspection, she wasn’t only beautiful, she also seemed tired and worn down. Light purple circles were under her eyes, but it was the shining brown hair that swooped across her forehead in chunky bangs I was looking at. Slim fingers brushed them aside and I got the first peek of her eyes.
Beautiful almond-shaped, hazel eyes, chocolate hair, and shimmering pink lips.
Oh, yeah. I knew exactly what I wanted to eat.
“I’m ready,” I crooned, my intent clear in the thickness of my voice.
Her eyes fluttered up and for a moment, I sat there, stunned at the depth I noticed in her eyes.
