Page 33 of Secret Love

“So Clara informed me that you're football players!”

“You really didn't know who we were?” Rhodes asks, with a mock hurt face.

“No idea.” She laughs.

“I love this.” Sadie laughs. “Bet that never happens anymore, does it, guys?” She’s still laughing as she hooks her arm in Weston’s.

Tru looks at me and the smile on her face nearly does me in. Damn. I don't know what to do with this. Why now? Why her?

Time to bury whatever this is I’m feelingwaydown.

CHAPTER TWELVE

FIRESIDE CHATS

TRU

I don't know why it surprised me when Henley showed up at the party, but it was a nice surprise.

He looks so good in his shirt and hoodie, unzipped. Relaxed and oh, so hot. Those broad shoulders make it hard to look away. It doesn't help that every time I make eye contact with him, he's looking at me, his brown eyes assessing and playful.

When I texted Mom that the guy I’d met at the grocery store and then had a run-in with ended up being a professional football player, she wanted to know more details immediately.

Mom

HENLEY WARD?!

She’d texted in all caps.

Mom

ONLY YOU COULD GET HIT ON BY THE MOST WELL-KNOWN WIDE RECEIVER OF ALL TIME AND NOT KNOW IT.

I don’t even know what a wide receiver is.

It’ll be a long time before she stops teasing me about meeting someone famous and being clueless.

Everyone I’ve met tonight has been great. I absolutely love Sadie and Felicity, Weston’s sister. I find out that Sadie and Weston are engaged and deep into planning their wedding. I also find out that Sadie is not their adorable little boy’s birth mom. I don't know the full story there, but he is clearly obsessed with Sadie, who he calls Mama.

But he worships the groundUnca Henwalks on, which I have to say does something to my ovaries.

We sit around the fireplace and make s’mores, the handful who are left. Several other players from the team and their spouses left, and it's just me, Henley, Weston, Sadie, Felicity, and Penn. Bowie had to get home to his daughter and Rhodes had to get home to his son. Couches surround the fire and they’re roomy, but these guys are large, so it makes the space feel smaller than it is. Henley is next to me, close enough that his side is touching mine. I’m hyperaware of every move he makes.

It’s dark and cozy now, the firelight flickering across each face. We all chat for a while and then conversations shift and I interact more with the girls while the guys talk about something that happened at the gym.

I love the way the guys all talk about their kids and the way they tease each other. They seem like a really close-knit group and I can tell they adore Sadie too.

Henley stretches his leg out, bumping mine, and I tense. I’m glad it’s dark out here because I have no doubt that I’m flushed.

“Sorry, I’m not trying to hog the couch.” He laughs.

“No worries. It must be hard to know where to put those long legs all the time.”

Ugh. Did I just say that?

He chuckles. “Your long legs must deal with some of that too.”

My heart feels like it’s going to thump out of my skin. Knowing I should stay away from this man while also thinking he’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen is doing a number on me.

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