“I asked Penny if she wanted to go on a date with me.”
“Shit, I did hear you — you didwhat?” Dax stared at Jack as if he had just announced he had eaten his favorite stick. “What the hell for?”
“Because I like her,” he replied, shrugging before taking a sip of his non-alcoholic beer. “More than anyone in a long time. Including you.”
Dax snorted and shook his head sharply. “That’s professional suicide, Jack!”
Yeah, he was probably right. It wasn’t professional to ask his boss if she wanted to go out to dinner with him and do a lot of dirty things. But, then again, it wasn’t professional to make her come on the side of a pool, either. So, they might as well just agree that he was unprofessional and loving it. Period.
“What should I do, Dax?” he asked with excessive patience in his voice.
“Forget about her!”
“I tried. But I can’t. Besides, did I mention that I like her? Do you know how long it’s been since I liked anyone who wasn’t my teammate or my sister? A long time!”
“’A long time’ isn’t an accepted unit of time,” Dax muttered impatiently. “Have you ever thought about what it would mean for her to go out with you?”
Jack lowered his gaze and gnashed his teeth. Honestly, that was all he was thinking about.
“She’s already not taken seriously!” Dax continued, unperturbed. “Imagine what it’ll look like if she dates a player!”
Jack’s jaw clenched. He wanted to say something to refute Dax’s arguments — but nothing came to mind. He knew his brother was right. Penny was right, saying the same thing. But he also knew he was at his wits’ end. He couldn’t sleep without dreaming about Penny and waking up hard. She had taken control of his mind. And he felt like the only way to deal with it was to take control of her body and soul in return.
It was absolutely ridiculous, but hey, he had told himself worse lies. And God, hewantedher. On every level. Heart, mind, body.
“What are you talking about?” Leon Alvarez asked, coming up to their table at the Ice Lounge with Lucy, Fox, Moreau, and Matt and a variety of pitchers of beer. The players and Lucy squeezed into the booth and looked at Jack and Dax expectantly as they passed out fresh drinks.
“Oh, about what an idiot Jack is,” Dax replied lightly.
“Uh, I love that topic!” Matt said enthusiastically. “I have so much to add.”
Jack snorted and Austin Fox clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Pull yourself together, Matt. Jack scored two of the five goals today. He deserves a break from your bullshit.”
Matt made a grumpy face. “You know I don’t like getting reprimanded when Leon is around. It means I’m an even bigger idiot than he is at that moment and that thought is disturbing.”
“Hey!” Leon complained sharply. “Jack is the idiot. Didn’t we just establish that? Besides, I only get reprimanded all the time because Fox is such a killjoy.”
“One of us has to be sensible,” their team captain stated matter-of-factly. “And one can definitely not expect that from you monkeys.”
Nobody felt called upon to contradict him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Leon said, annoyed, dismissing it. “By the way, Jack, you’re being stared at.” He nodded to the right toward the nearby bar.
“What?” Confused, Jack turned his head and sure enough, a pretty blonde in a tight red shift dress was looking over, her eyes fixed on Jack.
“Hey, why can’tIbe the one getting stares?” Dax complained.
“First, a lot fewer women look at you in bars since you got a steady girlfriend,” Leon cleverly replied. “And second, because Jack is much more handsome than you. Haven’t you seen the photos in Sports Illustrated?”
Jack grinned. “Yeah, for real, Dax.”
His brother glared at him. “I swear if anyone starts with that Sports Illustrated thing again…”
“Hey, it was a stroke of marketing genius on his agent’s part to land the deal,” Lucy chimed in, halfway through her beer. “Almost as good as Matt signing up with Maddie’s dating agency.”
“Still!” Dax replied angrily. “The blonde might be staring at me. Jack and Iaresitting next to each other.”
His girlfriend rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Dax? You’re offended because instead of pining groupies, you now have me, the love of your life?”
