Page 65 of Wild Catch
“Sorry,” she mumbles, realizing as much.
“Hmm.” I stuff my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants and keep going. She matches my stride without much effort, considering that she’s a pretty tall woman. With spectacular legs, if I might add.
Finally, I point to the left where I have to go, sure that she needs to veer right back to marketing. She nods and we stare at each other for a moment. Me, trying not to let my eyes wander below her cropped sweatshirt. Her, studying my face.
Since I’m the king of finesse, I just give her a nod and turn to the left corridor. After a moment, her steps echo behind me, moving away from me. I check over my shoulder as she walks away, hands joined at her back over her butt. I have to make use of my willpower to not keep staring and resume the use of my legs.
Back at the gym, I work out so hard that Franklin, the head trainer, has to order me to go cool down before everyone else.
I grab a towel and sit by my locker, my heart still thumping in my temples. The heavy workout isn’t even the reason. “Shit,” I whisper to myself. This thing with Rose is starting to go from objective awareness that she’s an attractive woman to something different. Something that makes me exert myself at the gym as a coping mechanism.
That’s not good.
“Whatcha mumbling there, buddy?” Rivera asks, strutting into the clubhouse along with his best bud and others.
“Buddy my ass,” I mumble this time.
“Speaking of asses,” he says as he stops way too close for someone whose locker is clear across the room. “I got something for you, my favorite ass.”
“Go away, Rivera. I’m brooding.”
“This will cheer you up,” Starr says, his mouth trembling. “I helped him pick it.”
“Then I know I definitely won’t like it.” I get on my feet and turn to open my locker so I can grab my uniform. But there, where my purple socks should’ve been, is a different pair. Slowly, I lift my head and turn. “You did not.”
The two clowns burst into a fit of giggles, comparable to five-year-olds.
“C’mon, Kim. Show us what you got.” Brown grins from beside me.
Maybe I need to really speed up the trade process, focus less on finding a high bid and more on acquiring mature teammates.
But then I spot someone who doesn’t belong here, someone with curls that frame her face and a grin the size of the moon. She’s recording the scene like she was in on the whole thing, and I wouldn’t put it past Rivera and the rest, especially because they think that the social media manager and I are a thing.
And if so, I can’t snub her or her work. Not especially when she seems to be enjoying it, even if it’s at my expense.
Sighing, I put up a big show of grabbing the gift and unfurling it before the camera. A pair of the most absurd socks—long, stark white except for the two tiny alligator feet at the knees—makes the whole place erupt in laughter.
Where normally I’d be bristling at being made fun of, I can’t help but staring at Rose as she guffaws, her face bright with how hard it is to get air in, and how much her eyes twinkle when she looks at me.
And that’s how I finally realize that I’m toast.
CHAPTER23
ROSE
Iprobably sound like a hyena but I can’t stop laughing. The look on Logan’s face is epic—deep annoyance, yet no surprise that his teammates have targeted him for the next silly prank. I wonder if this makes him want to leave even more, or the opposite.
And that’s a sobering thought.
Not about Logan leaving. Rather, about him staying.
I guess that’s a possibility, especially since he didn’t jump to sign with any of the offers. But I don’t know what it would take for him to stay when he’s already made up his mind. I certainly can’t ask him to consider it for my sake.
He keeps looking at me, not at Lucky or the others. I can’t help but wonder if we’re going to get to do theSPORTYcampaign together after all.
As my laughter ebbs away, my grip is steadier in recording the guys chantingwear themat Logan. I’d pay decent cash to see him put on the silly socks, but there’s no way he will. In fact, he wraps the long socks around his left hand and?—
Starts walking over.
