Page 43 of Rookie Move

Desmond walked out of Bugsy’s office, his brain and his heart at odds. He knew he wanted her, but were the consequences of dating him fair to her?

He’d told her he’d come by after practice, so he had thirty minutes to figure out what the hell he was going to say.

He just wanted to do the right thing for both of them.

Chapter 11

Desmond:Heading to your place now, if that’s okay?

Rylie:See you soon.

She started tapping her fingers on the counter and trying not to freak out. It’d been hours since Desmond had walked out of her house. He’d had a practice that he couldn’t miss, and she wondered what her dad might’ve said to him. Her dad had seemed to be coming around to the idea of her dating Desmond when he left, but she was so nervous and hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything.

She flopped down on the couch, pushed her hair up into a messy bun, and went back to tapping her fingers, this time on the arm of the couch.

Get it together, Rylie. Get it together.

She popped up when there was a knock at her door and all but bolted over to open it.

Taking in a calming breath, she opened it. He met her gaze, looking as nervous as she felt.

That did not bode well.

“Hi,” she said, gripping the edge of the door.

“Hi,” he replied, his hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels.

“Want to come in?” She stepped back and he walked into the house.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“How was practice?” she asked at the same time.

“I’m sure you can imagine that your dad was hard on me.”

“I’m so sorry, Desmond,” she said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water for both of them.

“It’s fine,” he said, accepting the bottle. She struggled to get a read on him and that fired up her nerves even more.

“Is everything okay?”

“Want to sit?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” she muttered, twisting off the cap on her water and taking a big gulp—and then coughing.

“You okay?” he asked, patting her back.

“Yep. Fine. So, this is awkward and I hate it and what happened with my dad at practice,” she rambled out, gripping her water.

“I won’t lie to you. He was on my ass about every tiny mistake at practice, but I understood where it was coming from.”

“I’m so sorry it happened like this,” she said, not sure how much of herself she was ready to give him. She still hadn’t figured out if he’d come over here to end it.

“He also gave me a lot to think about,” he said.

Rylie sat down on the barstool at her kitchen island, dread already filling her lungs. “Desmond…”

“No. We never talked about what could happen when this got out. How it could damage your career. What it would look like to the rest of the team and the front office.”

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