Page 30 of Rowdy Hearts

He was flirting. And a little ball of heat exploded in my gut when I realized I wanted to flirt back.

But should I?CouldI? I couldn’t remember the last time I’d flirted with a guy. The last time I’dwantedto flirt with a guy. Taking care of Krista and building my career had consumed my life for the past six years. The moment the nurse had put her in my arms, I’d known my life was going to change. And it had. There were so many good things about my life now. But a man was not one of those.

It’s not like you’re going to marry the guy. Just loosen up and have a little fun.

Taking a breath, I deliberately looked him up and down. “Will you look that good?”

His smile slowly widened into an all-out grin that made my stomach flip and my core clench.

“If you think the rookie looks good, you’ve never seen a real man.”

I was beginning to think he was right. Not that I’d tell him that, but damn, I’d love to see Rowdy in his underwear. Oh, hell, I’d totally prefer him without the underwear.

“Sorry to ruin your little fantasy world, but I have seen naked men before.”

“Rowdy! You’re supposed to be making sure the rookie hits all the bathrooms. Not talking to the beautiful lady.”

I turned to find the entire team watching us. And grinning. A few of them were outright laughing. And wow. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a group of men this…big. Like lumberjack big. Tall. Broad. Muscular. Handsome. So many good-looking guys. Maybe they only hired the handsome ones.

Then again, I’d never been around a lot of athletes before. I spent most of my days with child actors and their parents. None of them looked like these guys. Not a single damn one.

“The rookie ain’t back yet.” Rowdy yelled over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off of me. He crossed his arms over that broad chest. “So you wanna see me naked?”

When he arched his brows even higher, I began to laugh, which turned into a snort when I tried not to snort. Covering my mouth with my hand, I just shook my head while Rowdy chuckled, looking pleased with himself. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of movement and turned to see Denny sprinting up the hall behind me, carrying…something.

“Y’all are sadistic motherfuckers.” Denny panted as he stopped next to Rowdy. His well-muscled chest heaved, six-pack abs clenched. “Sorry for the language, ma’am.”

Rowdy burst out laughing, as did the rest of the team.

“You get them all, rookie?” Rowdy had to raise his voice to be heard over the whoops from the rest of the team.

Breathing heavily, Denny raised his right arm, gripping something in his hand.

“I wanna know who put that last one in the damn trashcan.” Denny scowled. “You’re a sick bastard.”

I couldn’t tell what he held right away, then had to take a second look to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

I leaned a little closer to Rowdy, so he could hear me. “Are those…”

“Yes, they are,” Rowdy said, his amusement clear.

My nose wrinkled. “Ew.”

“Hey, at least they’re clean. The sadist who came up with the Toilet Run made sure they came straight from the dirty laundry.”

Denny clenched six jock straps in his hand, still breathing like a freight train.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with them now?”

“Well,” Rowdy said, “now you have to keep the one that fits and wear it tonight for good luck.”

Denny’s whole face scrunched, making me cover my laughter with a cough.

“All right, Devils.” Rowdy clapped his hands. “Let’s go. We still gotta do the offering.”

Breaking off into smaller groups, the guys turned and headed back toward the locker room, herding poor Denny with them. A few of the guys turned to give Rowdy the eye but kept moving, leaving us alone.

I looked up at him, smiling. “Is it like this all the time?”

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