She was surprised to see Butch leaning against her car she walked out of practice. Beeping her lock open, she opened the door and threw her bag in. “Hey, Butch. You want something?”
He looked at the asphalt for a moment before looking up at her. “I think we need to talk about what happened at The Prime.” He ran his hand through his hair.
Was he nervous? “Okay, sure. It should probably be somewhere in public, can’t have what happened last time happen again.”
He smiled. “You’re probably right.” He jingled his keys in his hand.
Yep, he was nervous. Well, so was she. “How about Java Café? They shouldn’t be too busy this time of day.”
“I’ll meet you there.” He stared at her for a moment, his hair fluttering in the breeze.
Ten minutes later she was seated at a table in the back of the café, a peppermint mocha in front of her.
Butch stared at his hands wrapped around his coffee cup. “First, I want to apologize for the scene I made at The Prime.”
“No, I need to apologize,” she said forcing herself to look at him. “What happened was all my fault. I was the one who confronted you. I should have ignored your staring at me.”
He rubbed his fingers over her hand. “No, I shouldn’t have dragged you into that hallway. That kiss, now I don’t regret that at all.”
Her cheeks burned. “Yeah, that kiss was pretty great.”
Smiling, he continued, “Something in me snapped when I saw you with him. Seeing you smiling at him the way I wanted you to smile at me, it was, I just, I don’t know.” He took a sip of coffee. “I’ve had some feelings for you for a while. I’ve never felt that way about anyone else so I had no idea how to deal with them. So, I did what I always do, I acted like an ass.”
“You have feelings for me? Other than hating me for being a girl kicker?” she asked with a smile.
“I apologize for that too, especially the hazing. I liked how things were and here you come upsetting everything just by being you.”
“All I did was play football.”
He sighed. “Yes, but I didn’t want you to be on the team, I knew that would mean you were off limits and even then, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay away from you. Something drew me to you even back then. It scared me so I lashed out at you.”
“Over the years I’ve dealt with a lot of guys who didn’t want me in their football but when you did it, it was different. It hurt more for some reason.” She leaned toward him. “I think I’ve had feelings for you too. But we can’t act on them or I’ll be in breach of my contract.” She frowned as she stood. “And that’s why I need to leave. If I don’t, I’ll…” she swiped at a tear that rolled down her cheek. She had to be strong and walk away.
She turned to leave only to find Butch standing behind her, his hand on her arm. He turned her to look at him. “You’re one of the best kickers in the league and you’re definitely the most beautiful.” He kissed her cheek.
“Fuck it,” she muttered as she kissed him. “I don’t care if I get fired.”
Butch
His heart threatening to beat out of his chest, he kissed her back, only pulling back when his lungs protested at the lack of air. “I don’t want to…”
She looked at him, her lips swollen from his kiss, her eyes full of something. Did she feel the same?
“This isn’t just about the sex is it?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t reading her wrong.
“No, it’s not just sex, it’s something more.” She twined her fingers in his. “I really want to see where this goes, contract or no contract.”
“We’ll have to be careful, no one can know.” Not telling Trey would be hard but if it meant they could be together he’d do it. If she lost her spot on the team because of it he’d never forgive himself.
This could either be the best or the worst decision of his life.
Chapter Sixteen
Butch
It had only been three weeks but the sneaking around was getting to him. He’d always been someone who did whatever he wanted no matter the consequences. But now, if they were caught Rocky could lose her spot on the Legends. They’d won their first playoff game and were favored to win the Victory Trophy. They had to keep their relationship secret for a couple more weeks until the end of the season.
The last few weeks had shown him just how much he loved her. When they were apart, it was as if the world was grey and dismal, only bright and full of color when she was near. Ignoring her was harder than he’d thought. But when they slipped away together, it was magical.
