Page 17 of False Play
“How come you need a place to live? Aren’t you engaged?” I didn’t miss the way his gaze flicked to my ring finger for a moment before meeting my eyes again.
I reached for my diet soda and twisted the cap open with a sigh before taking a sip. I wished it had some rum. Hell, I would have even settled for tequila.
It was a fair question. But I was a private person by nature. I guess working in PR had taught me to stay out of the way because when you shared too much, it’d inevitably bring consequences. But the guy was potentially going to be my roommate, so what was the point in hiding it?
I dropped my gaze to my desk. I had been avoiding people who wanted to talk about the topic. I hated the look on their faces. More than anything, I hated it when people pitied me. It irked me. I wasn’t a damsel in distress. I could survive without a man. It wasn’t the end of the world. And believe me when I say, I was better off alone. “I broke up with my fiancé recently and had to move out because the place was his, and finding an affordable place close to work has been impossible.”
The reason I couldn’t afford a place on my own was something I was going to keep under wraps. No one could ever find out. It was as embarrassing as it was stupid.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said softly.
“I don’t need your pity, Anderson.” My words come out snappier than I intended.
He frowned. “I don’t pity you.”
I snorted a humorless laugh but left it at that. The last thing I needed was to piss off the man who was potentially opening his home to me.
He scrubbed his face as he leaned forward. “I was thinking you could move in on Wednesday. It’s my day off, and that way I can be there to give you the tour and help you move.”
“I still have most of my stuff at his place.” Though it was barely anything. Clothes, mostly. The condo came fully furnished, and it wasn’t much to my taste. It was more of a bachelor pad style. His parents had decorated it as if I were a mere afterthought. I didn’t care, for the most part. We had agreed we would move and get a place in the suburbs after the wedding.
For a girl who didn’t normally let people walk all over her, it annoyed me to no end knowing I let a lot of shit fly in our relationship. Now that we weren’t together, the goggles had started to slowly lift. It was a reality I wasn’t ready to face.
“Anderson, are you sure this is what you want?”
“It’s what Captain Sushi needs. I want to make sure he’s comfortable.”
“Okay, but this will mean we will live together. I will be invading your privacy, surely?—”
“Jonesy.” He rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Are you moving in or not?”
Red flags waved in my head. But I wasn’t in the position of turning down any sort of help. I needed to swallow my pride.
After a beat of silence, I straightened my back and nodded curtly. “Yeah. I am.But”—I pointed my index finger up—“I will be paying rent. We can come up with a fair agreement later.”
He nodded as he closed the lid of his bowl and stood to his full height. “Sounds good to me,roomie.”
I groaned. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
He tilted his head back with a laugh. My eyes followed the movement of his Adam’s apple bobbing with the rumble of laughter. Had throats always been attractive, or was this something only he managed to make sexy, too? I didn’t want to know the answer. But boy, did the thought get stuck in my head.
“Probably, but I’ll make it fun, I promise.” The rasp of his voice sounded like an unspoken promise.
“Please don’t,” I retorted dryly, even though my stomach fluttered with an army of butterflies.
He gave me a knowing grin. “Whatever you say.”
This…was going to be painful.
SIX
HENRY
YOU’RE A CAT DADDY.
“What the hellare you doing here?” Hayes asked as he scratched his stomach with a yawn. “We got back super late last night. Do you ever sleep?”
After our away game in Toronto, where Coach Sloane kept his promise once again and had me warming the bench, and we lost 2-1, we caught a red-eye flight to make it back for a home game scheduled for tomorrow. Even though I didn’t play, I was completely drained. The anxiety from the whole Kennedy situation hadn’t let me sleep a wink. Thank God she didn’t travel with us this time around, because I wasn’t sure how I was going to face her and my bold lies.
