Page 41 of Necessary Roughness

Over the past couple of days, I had finally acknowledged to myself that I felt something more than unbridled hatred for Luke; I kind of liked him.

An innocent crush. A fleeting attraction. Nothing serious.

Right, I thought with a sigh as I reached for my phone,keep telling yourself that.

Much to my… surprise? Horror? Extreme joy? It was Luke.

As in, Luke Dalton, the man I had spent the past few days obsessing over.

Maybe I’d even snuck a look through my closed blinds the previous night. That was neither here nor there.

What mattered now was that he had just texted me.

Presumably, to chew me out for even daring to speak about him again on my podcast—even though I had given him glowing reviews.

I picked up my phone and unlocked it, bracing for the worst as I read his message.

Luke: Stop by for a drink?

Short and to the point. Not surprising for Luke.

For me, on the other hand, it was shocking.

Why on earth did he want me to stop by for a drink, as if we were two buds catching up over a boring weekend?

Part of me wanted to throw my phone into the ocean and run to the darkest corner of the mansion to hide. Somewhere no one could find me, where I could pretend I hadn’t just been invited to the home of the biggest crush of my lifetime.

Suddenly, the phone rang, shaking me from my thoughts.

Shit, he’s calling.

But it was Claire.

“What the hell do you want Claire?”

Her silence told me I had been too harsh.

“Sorry.”

Claire scoffed on the other line. “Um, attitude much? Who pissed in your breakfast cereal today?”

Vulgar as usual.

I frantically paced the floor. “Claire, I’m in trouble.”

“What did you do now?” she asked. “Did you forget to hit record on your podcast and talk to yourself for an hour again?”

I rolled my eyes, then remembered that Claire couldn’t see me. “I got a text from Luke.”

“Oh no, not a text! Did it bite you? Should we call an ambulance?”

“He invited me over, Claire.”

“So, what’s the problem? Did he ask you to bring your own food? Because that’s psychotic.”

“No! It’s… ugh. What if I screw it up? What do I wear? This is one of the greatest NFL stars of all time. I can’t just show up and talk about the weather.”

“You could,” she said. “It would be hilarious to watch him realize he fell for an overgrown man-child.”

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