“I know.”
“Where did you even meet her?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing he was going to lay into me. “Pipes.”
“Jesus, Maddox! Are you fucking kidding me? Pipes? Everyone knows who you are there. And it’s no secret that’s our main hangout. Chicks flockto that place specifically to shoot their shot with the players. How many times have you hooked up with a bunny you met there?”
“Too many.” I sighed. “But you don’t get it. Women have given me a wide berth since the injury. The way she looked at me—” I paused, picturing her beautiful face as she’d devoured me with her eyes, then later when she begged me to spank her perfect ass. “She saw me as simply a man, instead of the former shell of the player I used to be.”
“It’s your first day as head coach. You can’t do this. Tell me you’re not going to keep seeing her.” Jenner tried to be the voice of reason.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You could lose everything.” He gave me a stern glare.
Throwing my arms wide, I challenged, “Haven’t I already?”
Jenner softened. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I muttered. “It’s true. But to settle your anxious little mind, she just spent the last half hour crying in the bathroom, thinking her career was over because of last night. She begged me to keep it quiet.”
“Shit,” he said under his breath as he rubbed a hand over his chest, near his heart. I knew he was thinking of his ex-wife, Evie. His Achilles’ heel was his empathy toward emotional women. It hurt him to see them upset for any reason, and his marriage had ended because he couldn’t stand to see his wife suffering. The tradeoff was that he was forced to let her go, but he had never stopped loving her. I hated it for him.
“So that means”—I made sure he looked me in the eye before continuing—“this stays between us.”
Jenner nodded in confirmation. “Got it.” He let out a low chuckle. “Leave it to you to kick off this new gig with a bang.”
I rolled my eyes, but he was right. Throughout my career, I’d been known to have a flair for the dramatic. I was the one out there hyping upthe crowd, mixing it up with the other team to provoke a reaction. And more than once, I’d caught myself in a sticky situation with a girl.
I guess old habits die hard.
Chapter 9
Maddox
After our run-in outsidethe executive floor bathroom, Bristol kept her distance. She was present for all press conferences but never asked any questions. I had to assume she was using my responses to her colleagues’ questions for her daily articles as training camp rolled on.
As much as I hated it, I had to respect that she wanted to set clear professional boundaries. Bristol was serious about her job, and I felt like an ass for suggesting otherwise.
But damn, if I didn’t make it a habit to scan her delectable body each time we crossed paths. A smile curved on my lips, noting she still kept her neck covered, holding the secret knowledge of my mark on her skin.
I still wanted her, but I knew she needed her job. You didn’t break down in the bathroom if you weren’t desperate to hold onto something. I only wished I knew why.
There was a heightened awareness when she was near. My skin buzzed with electricity beneath the surface, and my heart raced, only calming when she came into view.
I craved her presence. It was the damnedest thing. I’d never reacted to a woman like this before.
Of course, this had to happen with a woman I shouldn’t want—for so many reasons.
We worked together.
She was far too young—in my research, I’d uncovered that she was twenty-three, twelve years my junior.
She was still hung up on her ex, or at the very least, dealing with the emotional fallout he’d caused.
All signs told me to stay far, far away from Bristol Cooper, but my traitorous mind couldn’t stop thinking about her. And my body was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
By the last day of our first full week of training camp, I’d reached my breaking point.
