Page 23 of The Secret Play

“Maybe.” I thought about it. In fact, it was all I’d been thinking about. Looking at my comment section had been a distraction from it, but in the back of my mind, the question had lingered. “He isn’t like anyone I’ve ever dated before, Meg.”

“How so?”

“There’s no games, no guessing. He’s…direct.”

“Well, yeah. He used his phone for a phone call.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if I like that. It’s weird. I mean, what’s wrong with texting?”

“Nothing,” I said, shrugging. “But there’s something charming about a guy who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to say it to you.”

Megan stared at me for a moment, then leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. “You’re really into him, aren’t you?”

“I think I am.”

She let out a dramatic sigh, shaking her head. “I don’t know how to process this. You’re dating a guy old enough to have a landline.”

I tossed a pen at her. “Stop. He’s notthatold.”

“Okay, okay,” she said, her tone more serious now. “So, are you going to tell me who he is?”

My stomach sank. But if I couldn’t trust Megan, I couldn’t trust anyone. “The coach of the Atlanta Fire.”

Her mouth dropped open. “The guy you interviewed? The guy who coaches your brother’s team?Thatcoach?”

“Yeah.”

She blew out a breath. “Are you sure this is a good idea? That could get messy.”

“I know,” I said, my smile fading. “But we’re keeping it quiet for now. Just until we figure out what this is.”

She nodded slowly, though she still looked skeptical. “Okay. But if Nico finds out and loses his mind, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Noted.” But the memory of our rainy night sex hit me hard. “Meg, this is bad. I can’t stop thinking about the sex.”

“Need me to distract you or do you want to talk about it some more?”

“He just…the way he kisses, the way he touches me, it’s electric. It took all the strength I had to leave him that night, and after the sex, I had almost none to speak of.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“Well—”

“No, I meant in a good way.”

I laughed. “Yeah. Definitely.”

Just then, my phone buzzed on the desk, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Casey’s name on the screen.

“Speak of the devil,” Megan said, smirking. “Are you going to answer?”

“Of course,” I said, picking up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Casey said, his voice warm and steady. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, not at all,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking about our next date,” he said. “Maybe this time we try something a little less…disastrous.”

I laughed, glancing at Megan, who was now pretending to type furiously on her phone to give me some privacy. But I knew she could hear everything. “I’d like that,” I said. “What did you have in mind?”

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