Page 13 of Only Between Us

Is there a neon sign above my head?Gullible man found here. Come get him while he’s hot.

Whathadshe been doing on the field? Am I really supposed to believe that I ended up locked in a room with Thomas Ivers’s ex-girlfriend by complete coincidence?

I think back to how thrilled she’d been when she supposedlyfigured out who I was. How quickly she asked for that picture together. And now, we’re all over the internet.

How thefuckdid I manage to attract another Naomi into my life?

“Did you know who I was, down there?” I ask quietly.

Despite mounting evidence of my own naïveté, I hate myself the second the question leaves my mouth. But I’ve been through this before. Naomi and her insatiable desire for that WAG title. No matter how many athletes she had to fuck to keep it.

Siena glances up from her phone and plucks the lollipop from her mouth. “What?”

“On the field.” Have I ever sounded so cold in my life? I didn’t know I was capable. “Did you know who I was? Did you get me up here alone on purpose?”

The smile fades slowly off her face. “Youbrought me up here.”

“You weren’t supposed to be down there at all. Then you ask for a picture with me and turn around and post it.”

“Youchallenged me to post those pictures.” Her brows pull together. “Just so you’re aware, it sounds like you’re accusing me of either jersey chasing or stalking.”

“Why not both?”

She scoffs, eyes widening in disbelief. She sweeps the room, as though she expects to find someone with which to exchange a stunnedare you hearing this shit?

“Did you do this on purpose? You figured out I was training here, found a way onto the field—”

“Wow. You are so full of yourself, it’s almost impressive.” Siena gets to her feet, brushing the back of her overalls and dumping her half-done lollipop into the trash.

I stand and do the same with my candy. “It’s all a little convenient. You’re telling me I just happened to get locked in a room with Thomas Ivers’s internet-famous ex?”

Her eyes pierce mine. Not in that cute way, either. In a way likeshe wishes her stare was made of actual daggers, stabbing me in the face. “Besides the fact that I don’t fuck around with athletes—”

“Unless they’re on a roster, right? And the face of the league.”

Her mouth twists furiously. “Well, that disqualifies you, doesn’t it? Seeing as you’re neither.”

Siena’s words hang between us, a low blow kicking me right in the sternum, filling my veins with the kind of hostility I haven’t felt in years. Not since my ex calmly explained that she’d been fucking my teammate for months before she left me for him.

I catch a flash of regret on Siena’s face before she smooths it right out. She unzips her purse with such force, I’m shocked the zipper doesn’t fly off its track.

I force a breath into my body. “We need to talk.”

“I think we’ve done more than enough of that. What we need to do is get the hell out of here. Never see each other again.”

“Sadly, that’ll have to wait.” I rub my face roughly. “We’re stuck together until I get a contract with the Rebels.”

Siena freezes, hands still on her bag. “Excuse me?”

Going off on her right before asking to date her probably wasn’t my smartest move. “Turns out the internet loves us together. So do the Rebels, who, until a few minutes ago, refused to touch me based on my apparent inability to settle down in life. One look at that picture of us together, and they’re hot on me again.”

“And why am I supposed to care?”

I have no desire to get into the story of Naomi, so I give her the half-truth. “I went on a bender after my injury, partying and… trying to cope with my retirement in all the wrong ways. It poses a bit of a problem for the Rebels.”

Understanding seems to dawn. “Because they’re known for signing strait-laced, family-friendly players.”

“Meaning they’ve shut down any talk of my coming back, unless I can prove that I’ve changed. That I keep my…” Why did Igesture at my dick like that? “Point is, it’s supposed to look like I’ve settled down since then, and this picture of us makes it seem like I’ve settled down with you.” I throw out my arms. “Congrats, Cece Pippen. You just bagged yourself a fake boyfriend.”

---