Page 49 of Tight End

Gunner: Like I’d go in there

Gordon: Did she request these?

Ryan: I have no idea. But how am I supposed to be a normal person when there’s a chance June is in my apartment riding off into the sunset on her new thrusting dildo?

Gunner: Thrusting? Good choice.

Ryan: Not helping.

Gordon: You put on your big boy pants and you pretend you never saw it. Avoidance is going to be your friend.

Dean: I agree with Gordon.

Ryan: I don’t have a choice. With Oliver in the picture, I have to get my contract renewed at the end of the season. I know we’re talking about something that’s months away, but if I don’t cement my place now, I could be across the country by spring.

Gunner: What’s the game plan then?

Ryan: I guess I need to show Nashville who Ryan Devlin is.

Ryan: Nick said the yoga videos are a great idea and he wants me to post some behind the stadium type stuff. And I’ve got to figure out how to push June out of my head so I can focus on football.

Gunner: Yeah, good luck with that.

TWENTY-ONE

June

“I’m officially mortified.I can’t look at him.” My whisper is harsh as I lean toward my sister, following her through the crowded hallway inside the football stadium. “He saw what you got me, Poppy. He saw the things.”

“Are you sure?” Poppy glances back at me, her brows raised. “I was very discreet.”

“You handed it to me in front of everyone. He wouldn’t even look at me while we were giving Oliver a bath and when I went back to my room.” I let my voice drop a few more octaves, looking between her and Kinsley, suddenly very aware of all the people surrounding us. “The vibrator and the dildo were sitting in the middle of my bed. No bag, Poppy. There was no bag.”

Poppy tosses her head back, laughing her proverbial ass off. Even Kinsley, who’s supposed to be on my side, clutches my arm as she cackles. They’re both a bunch of jerks. Big fat jerks. I bet Kinsley was in on it too.

If I had a clue where I was in relation to our seats and how to get back to them, I’d ditch my twofriendsright now. But Idon’t. With my luck, I’d be wandering around for hours and would miss the entire game. There’s no way I’d be able to find the car either.

I should have agreed to take my dad—and only my dad—when I told him about the tickets Ryan was giving me and Oliver instead of asking for two more so I could take these two assholes. At the time I thought I was being nice.

Well, I also felt better knowing the two of them would be with me in case I ran into Ryan’s girlfriend, Lexie. Which is also why I asked for stadium tickets instead of opting to sit in the family box. I can see it from where we’re sitting—thanks, Dad, for pointing that out—and that’s good enough.

I have no doubt she’d recognize me, as the yoga video kinda went viral and Ryan’s Instagram turned rabid overnight. There are already all sorts of internet speculation as to the nature of our relationship and tons of questions about how his girl, feels about it. There’s bound to be some sort of confrontation between us eventually, but the more space I can put between now and then, the better. I need a little more time to put to rest the feelings he elicits deep in the pit of my stomach.

At least I’ve had more people sign up for my class this weekend. I can only hope they’re interested in yoga and not gossip.

“You should have gotten her the eighteen-inch floppy dong you were looking at. That would have been priceless. You’d have needed an extra-large gift bag. It was so big.” Kinsley manages to wheeze this out, holding her hands about two feet apart, which only makes Poppy laugh harder.

She swipes at the corners of her eyes. “Yes . . . would . . . have been . . . so much . . . better.”

Yeah, so much better. Insert eye roll here.Although I’m tempted to ask where they found one that big, but I don’t dare. I wouldn’t put it past them to make sure it shows up on Ryan’s doorstep within the week. If he wasn’t already traumatized, he would be after finding that.

“So how did he get ahold of the bag in the first place?” Poppy takes a few deep breaths, fanning her face, and then grabs my hand, pulling me into the team store. “I made sure to hand it to you.”

What do I tell her? That I turned into a feral beast when I realized Oliver was trying to dig into the bag and flung the entire thing across the room? There’s no way. That would only add fuel to the fire, and that sucker is already burning high enough.

Instead, I mumble, “Accident.”

I’m sure she’ll believe that.

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