Page 17 of Power Play

“Good.” Lexi sits up as the team starts to make their way onboard in their suits and ties. Coach requires business casual whenever they’re in front of the media, but the second they get on the plane, their clothes start to come off. “Morning, boys. You all clean up well.”

“Morning, ladies.” Connor McKenzie, our backup center, tips his chin our direction. “Don’t look at the shiner on my face. My eye is still purple from Monday’s game.”

“You probably deserved it,” she says, and he flips her off. “Hey, Riley.”

Riley looks up from his phone. His cheeks turn crimson and he waves, giving her a smile before nearly tripping over his bag. “Shit. Uh. Hey, Lexi. Piper.”

“Morning, Riley,” I say, chuckling as he walks away. “I swear every guy on this team is in love with you.”

“God, no. I think of them like my brothers.”

“Please tell me you at least realize Riley has a crush on you.”

“Riley? He’s cute. A little young for me, but cute.”

“Who’s cute?” Maven plops in the seats in front of us, out of breath.

“Riley,” I say. “Poor guy almost tore his Achilles tripping over his bag when Lexi said hi to him.”

“Stop,” Lexi groans. “We should be focusing on Piper and her attempt to get back in the dating game.”

“No dating,” I say, correcting her. “Sex. Casual. Fun. Big difference.”

“Whoa. Who’s having sex?” Maverick slides his sunglasses up into his hair and stops to look at the three of us. “Did one ofthe rookies do something stupid and get himself in trouble? Kids these fucking days. I never acted like that.”

“Don’t even try to lie to us, Miller. We know what you were like before Emmy came around.” Maven sticks out her tongue. “You hit onme.”

“I did not hit on you. I was testing your allegiance to my best friend.” He smirks. “I saw the way you checked me out the first time you met me, though.”

“Delusional.” Maven sighs and plays with her wedding ring. “Your ego is definitely making up for something else.”

“Hey, we can stand here and talk about my di?—”

“Will you move?” The deep voice comes out of nowhere. I peer around Maverick’s shoulder and find Liam taking up too much space in the aisle with his broad shoulders and thick thighs. “Some of us want to get to our seats and go to sleep. Hearing about your dick at seven in the morning sounds like a nightmare.”

I hide my laugh with a cough, and Liam’s eyes snap over to me. I wave, and he tilts his head to the side, more of a greeting than I usually get from him.

I didn’t mean to stumble into a conversation with him on the balcony at team dinner, but I’m glad I did. It’s hard to get him to open up, to give away any part of himself, and hearing about his sister’s wedding and seeing the way he lit up when he talked about her was the highlight of my night.

“I forget how grumpy he is before he’s had his coffee.” Maverick rolls his eyes and steps into Maven’s row. “Morning, big guy.”

Liam’s attention moves from me back to the captain. He scowls and yanks his suitcase past our rows. “Don’t fuck with me, Miller.”

“Yes sir.” Maverick salutes him, and I don’t bother to hide my laugh this time. “He’s just telling me he loves me.”

Lexi snorts. “Sounds like he was plotting your murder.”

“That’s how Liam shows affection.” Maverick hikes his bag up his shoulder and starts toward the part of the plane where the players sit. “You ladies behave. I’m going where the real fun is. Try to keep it down.”

When he leaves us alone, Lexi turns to me. “How did your date go?”

“Oh.” I laugh and shrug, trying to play off the discomfort from thinking about two nights ago. The way I sat at the bar for thirty minutes, then forty-five, checking the door every time it swung open and coming up empty-handed. The later the evening went on, the more my heart sunk in my chest, mortified and exhausted from believing I could actually have a successful interaction with a man. “He, um, stood me up.”

“You’re joking.” Maven spins around and glares at me over the top of the seats. “He didn’t show? Theballson him.”

“No text or anything. When I went to send him a message and make sure he was, you know,aliveand not dead in a ditch somewhere, I found out he blocked me.”

“This is why dating sucks. Men think they can pull this kind of shit without any repercussions,” Lexi tells us. “Are you okay?”

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