Page 6 of Mr. Irrelevant
“Try to keep your wrist like this,” she says quietly. “Nice and straight, all the way through the release.” A shiver works its way up my body, and I do everything to suppress it so she doesn’t notice, but it’s futile with how close she is. I’m grateful when she doesn’t sayanything, because while it is slightly chilly outside, there’s no way she can’t feel the heat radiating off my skin, even through our thick sweatshirts.
“Got it,” I reply as she backs away, allowing the fog in my brain to dissipate so I can focus. Like before, I fake the snap, paying special attention to my wrist and making sure it doesn’t bend as I bring it up, aiming for the middle of the uprights and launching the pass. It sails through the air in a tight spiral, cutting the goalposts right in half before bouncing off the grassy hill with more power behind it than last time. I huff an incredulous laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. “Wow.”
“What?” she says, and I turn to find her with her arms crossed over her chest, hip popped, and a smug look on her face. “Surprised I actually knew what I was talking about?”
This girl.
In this moment, I make a promise to myself. I’m not going to be like the other players she’s dealt with before. She very clearly has a high football IQ, and I don’t have room to let my toxic masculinity keep me from soaking in every bit of advice she’s willing to offer. I want Livvy Grant’s help so that together, we can give this city a renewed sense of hope when it comes to the Renegades.
“Nope,” I reply with a grin. “What’s next?”
SIX
LIVVY
“Just do it,”I say to Maddox as I bend over in front of him, ready to make the snap. We’re on week two of our midnight meetups. Sunday’s game went better than the last few, but in the end, they just couldn’t come away with the victory. On the bright side, I was able to highlight some of the mistakes that were made, and we’ve been hard at work on them ever since. Yesterday, we worked on pressure throwing drills in hopes that he’ll be more confident making quick decisions when the defense is on him. We’ve gotten more comfortable with each other, and he’s taken all of my instruction graciously after our minor hiccup the first night. At least, until right now.
“Uh-uh,” he replies, and I can practically hear his brain rattling in his head with how fast he’s shaking it. “I’m not doing this.”
I stand, turning his way and narrowing my gaze. “Why not?”
His eyes go wide, and he extends an arm betweenus, gesturing at my pelvic area. “Because, Livvy. I’d have to touch your…” He juts his chin forward as if I’m supposed to know what he’s trying to say. Which, I do, but if I make a big deal out of it, we’ll be here until the sun comes up, and he’ll never get the snaps he needs.
“Mywhat?” I ask, raising a brow. His jaw drops, the vein in his neck pulsing in sync with the motion, and I swear I have to hold back my laugh as he struggles to find the correct words.
“Your…bits.”
A boisterous laugh bursts from my chest, making his cheeks heat with embarrassment. “What are you? Five? Mybits, Maddox? You’re making a big deal out of nothing. I just want the reps to feel more realistic, so you develop muscle memory. The only way to do that is for me to act as your center. You do this every day with your teammates. Why am I any different? I’ll even give you a cool-guy nickname for the full effect.” I purse my lips, thinking carefully for a moment before snapping my fingers and pointing his way. “From now on, I’m calling you Mad Dog. Problem solved, right?”
He scoffs. “You’re joking, right? I’d hardly call putting my hands between the owner’s daughter’s legsnothing. This whole situation is anything but.”
“Oh my God,” I reply, throwing my head back in annoyance. “Stop reducing me to that title. I’m more than that—especially on this field. My dad isn’t here, Maddox. It’s just me, wanting to give you some repetition so you don’t look like a scared chihuahua every time you get the ball.”
His head jerks back in surprise. “I don’t look like a—”I watch as he grips the football tightly in his hand, his expression morphing into one of rage as he steps closer, not stopping until I have to crane my neck to look into his eyes. His chiseled jaw ticks, and I swallow the lump in my throat as he lowers his voice darkly. “Bend the fuck over, Olivia.” His gray stare burns into mine, and suddenly, every part of my skin feels like it’s been set on fire. Maddox has been anything but firm and demanding so far, but right now? It’s like the tables have been completely turned.
I clear my throat, slowly taking the football from his outstretched hand before obeying his order in a way that should feel wildly unnatural to me—but somehow, it doesn’t. I’m not usually one to take kindly to being told what to do, but the way he was looking at me like he wanted to tear me limb from limb had me going lightheaded. I can’t explain it since my logical brain is telling me that Maddox Dane is the very last person I should allow to affect me like this. I’m here to build his confidence. Not to get turned on by his dominant tone.
Shaking the thought from my head, I make a mental note to swipe through my dating app later. Clearly, I’m in need of some type of attention if I’m acting this way right now. It’s been an embarrassing amount of time since I’ve hooked up, and it’s obviously impacting my ability to work
Bending at the waist, I ready myself to make the snap. Now that I’m not facing him, the fog begins to slowly dissipate from my brain, but it doesn’t last long. Seconds later, I feel Maddox’s knuckles graze my center over the seam of my leggings. I flinch at the contact,even though it’s exactly what I asked him to do, but it’s clear that I definitely didn’t think things through when I came up with this plan.
I can practically feel the heat of his body behind me as my palms begin to sweat against the ball beneath them, and I release a shaky exhale, doing everything I can to ignore the way my clit is throbbing from such a simple touch. I’d like to chalk it up to the subpar sex I experienced with my ex, followed by a pretty impressive dry spell since my dad bought the Renegades. With all the commotion of the draft, welcoming players and their families to the city, and soaking in every bit of information I can to be ready when it’s time to take over, there hasn’t been much of an opportunity for anything else. Whatever the case may be, I’m all out of sorts with the backs of Maddox’s fingers pressed right behind where I’m suddenly—and very inappropriately—aching.
“Is this what you wanted, Dimes?” he grits out, sounding almost pained as he adds more pressure. I bite my lip, willing away the moan that’s fighting its way up my throat. “My hand shoved between your thighs, dangerously close to somewhere I shouldn’t be? Still feel like nothing to you?”
I don’t reply, unable to trust my own voice. I’m sure he can already see and hear the way my breathing has become more labored—the last thing I need is to awkwardly choke on my words to prove that he was right when he said this wasn’t a good idea. I wanted to get him more comfortable once the ball is in his hands,but all I did was show him just how desperate and easily worked up I am.
“Make the snap, Liv…before I get myself in trouble.” His gruff warning pulls me from my haze, and I lift the football from the ground, placing it directly into his open palms. When he rolls back, I miss the warmth of his body too fucking much for my own good, watching as he launches the pass toward the throwing net I set up in the end zone. It drops right where it should, hitting the bullseye before falling into the woven mesh bag with a quietwhoosh. Initially, my plan was to repeat this drill until it was time to leave. But now there’s no way we can do that.
I turn slowly, expecting him to be angry with me for not listening to him in the first place. I can’t really blame him if he is, I guess. But when my eyes connect with his, anger is the last emotion I see. His stare burns into me as his chest rises and falls rapidly with every deep inhale. The hands at his sides ball into fists, and maybe I’m seeing things, but he flinches for a split second when I worry my lip between my teeth—as if he wants to pull it free but restrains himself before he can reach out.
“I think that’s good for tonight,” I say, waving my hand in the air in an attempt to look unbothered as I avoid eye contact. If I don’t, I’ll end up staring at him like a creep for the next few hours. Maybe it’s the horniness talking, but I didn’t realize before how truly beautiful he is with his smokey gray eyes and jaw so sharp it could cut glass. But he’s still off-limits, which means Ineed to reel myself in and treat him like an athlete—not a piece of meat. “We’ll work on your footwork tomorrow night, then you can take Friday off to rest since you leave for Nashville on Saturday morning.” Without another thought, I spin on my heel, taking off toward the tunnel that leads to the back of the facility. The only thing on my mind is getting out of here so I can think straight—and remind myself that I’m here to do a job. But I only put about five steps between us before a strong hand wraps around my arm, tugging me back.
“Whoa,” he says, making me turn back to face him. The conflicted expression he was wearing moments ago is long gone, replaced by a cocky grin as he looks down at me. “Where are you running off to so fast? Got a hot date? After what we just did?” He places his free hand over his heart in faux shock. “I feel so used.”
I roll my eyes. “I hate you.” His face lights up as he chuckles, yanking me into his hard body and wrapping his arms around my much smaller frame. I playfully push at his abdomen, but he only holds me tighter, until I finally give up the fight and rest my head against his chest with a groan.
“No, you don’t,” he singsongs. “You like me. Especially when I do that thing with my han—” I cut him off with a slap to the shoulder, and his laugh becomes infectious, making it impossible not to join him. As annoyed as I am that my plan backfired the way it did, I’m grateful that he isn’t being weird about it—even though I kind of am.
