“It’s true.You all have girls throwing themselves at you.Even Dylan and Knox still have women lining up, and they are both going to be tying the knot in the coming months.Clay is just a manwhore…and well, the others on the team are…”
“Just because we have girls throwing themselves at us doesn’t mean we take advantage of that.Besides, those women are so shallow, and while they can be fun, we look for the real side of people.To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I even went on an actual date.”
“Whatever…” I said, rolling my eyes.
“It’s the truth.I’ve been single for so long I actually made up a girlfriend just to get my mother to stop asking me if I were seeing someone, and now all she does is bug me to bring her out to see her?”
“Why would you lie to your mother if you don’t remember the last time you dated someone?”
“Because she wouldn’t take the truth as an answer.So, I made one up.”
“That’s ridiculous.What are you going to do when she demands to meet her?”
“I was using work as the reason why I could get home, but now with the knee injury and she knows I’m not playing, she won’t take the work excuse much longer either.I’m screwed.”
“Lucas, that is horrible.You should be ashamed of yourself, using work as an excuse to not see your own mother.”
Lucas gave me a sexy grin.“It’s not because I don’t want to see her, but because I have no one to take with me.Like I said earlier, I’m painfully single, just like you.”
It was then my phone rang again, and when I looked at the screen, I rolled my eyes and let out a huff.
“What?”I said through clenched teeth as I answered the call.
“Will you be bringing anyone?”I heard Layla ask.
“Doubt it.I’d probably have to pay someone to go with me,” I barked.“Talk later.”I quickly hung up, putting my phone down, meeting Lucas’s eyes.
“You know, they say stress is horrible for a person, especially outside stress that is interfering with the workplace.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, which makes me think you could benefit from a vacation,” he said.
I frowned.“A vacation?”
“Yeah, you should take some time to talk to your father, see if he can’t give you a little time off.”
“No, thanks.I’m not sucking up to Daddy because I’m having a hard time.”
“Okay then,” Lucas said, digging back into his meal.With the fork halfway to his mouth, his eyes lit up, and he looked up at me.“Okay, what if it were a free vacation?On the weekend?”
I studied Lucas’s eyes, trying to see where he was going with this, and when he gave me that stupid, sexy, shit-eating grin he normally had, I put it all together.
“You aren’t serious?”I questioned.
“Sure am.An all-expenses paid trip out to Vegas for the long weekend.All you need to do is pretend to be my ever-so-loving girlfriend, again, in front of my mother for a few days.It will give you the time you need to sort yourself out, deal with all this stuff you’re carrying, and let loose and have some fun.What do you say?”
I looked around the room, wondering if one of the other players had put him up to this.
“What about my father?”I questioned.
“I won’t mention it if you won’t.”Lucas shrugged.
I thought for a moment.The photoshoot for the campaign wasn’t for another couple of weeks, and this would give me the time I needed to go over things with him.Plus, he might be right; it might help me unwind and relax if I got out of the city and away from everything.
“You said all expenses paid?”I questioned.
“Yep, everything: flight, food, accommodation, all covered.”
