Page 1 of Hell Hath No Fury
THE END GAME
KISS TO CONQUER—BONUS EPILOGUE
ANNA B. DOE
CHAPTER ONE
Hayden
“That was a good game, Rookie,” Mac, our quarterback, slaps me on the shoulder as he passes me by on his way to the showers.
“Rookie, seriously?”
He looks over his shoulder at me and chuckles. “I guess now that you’ve started for the first time, I can’t call you that any longer, can I?”
This is my second season with the Patriots, and while I’ve started in some pre-season games, today I played my very first full game since our starting wide receiver got injured last week and is temporarily out of the game.
I feel sorry for the guy; being injured sucks majorly, but a part of me is excited because this is what I’ve been waiting for, what I’ve been training for, and I plan to use every damn second out on that field to show everybody—my coaches, management, and all of the fans—that I deserve to be out there.
“That last catch was a thing of a beauty, Watson,” Eric Reed slaps me on the ass with the towel, not in the least bit self-conscious about his naked ass being out in the open. Then again, when you spend years in the locker room with guys, you just stop caring after a while.
“Thanks, Reed. That interception wasn’t too shabby either.”
Reed and I were both drafted the same year and have become fast friends during training camp. Since one of the linebackers retired at the end of last season, Coach picked him to fill in that spot, and he’s been killing it since the beginning of the season.
Pulling open my locker, I grab my phone, scanning over notifications and messages until I get to the one I’ve been looking for.
Angel: That was an amazing game! I’m so proud of you.
A smile spreads over my lips at her message. I wanted to ask her to come, but between the project she’s working on, upcoming midterms, and volunteering, she’s had her hands full. Besides, it’s her senior year, and I didn’t want to mess it up for her. But damn, it would have been good to know she was out there watching me play.
“Missus?” Reed wiggles his brows exaggeratedly, laughing.
“Yeah.”
“I know,” he smirks. “It’s written all over your face.”
“It’s that lovesick puppy look he has on whenever he’s talking about her,” somebody yells, making a few guys laugh.
“You all are just a bunch of jealous assholes.” Rolling my eyes at them, I type back:Thanks, Angel. I miss you. Call you when I get home.
“She out there?” Eric asks.
“Nah,” I shake my head and drop my phone into the bag before starting to take off my dirty clothes. I didn’t even get a chance to clean up before I was shoved in front of the reporters, and the damn thing took forever. “I was thinking of inviting her, but I know she has exams.”
“I still can’t believe you guys are doing this long-distance thing.”
He isn’t the only one either. The guys gave me so much shit in the beginning, but I didn’t care. I know what my end game is,whomy end game is, and there isn’t anything I won’t do to make it happen.
“Just a couple more months. Then, the season is over, and when the next one starts, she’ll be here.”
Eric’s eyes widen in surprise. “You asked her to move in with you? You didn’t say anything? What the hell?”
The image of Callie living with me, waking up next to her every morning and going to bed next to her every evening makes my heart ache. It’s sappy, I know, but I can’t help myself. I got a taste of it my junior year, and it was taken away when I was drafted later that spring. It was hard walking away from her, but I kept reminding myself I was doing this for us. For our future.
I shake my head. “Not yet.”
“Getting cold feet, Hades?”
