Page 55 of Worth the Risk

So I hug her and don’t say a word.

17

HUDSON

Ithrow my water bottle to the side in a fit of anger. The assistant coaches around me take a step back as we walk along the field in the late-morning sun.

“I want to see Lewis in my office this afternoon. Is he not following workouts in his own time? He’s out of shape and doesn’t seem to have studied any plays at all. This isn’t the standard I expect.”

“I’ll set up a meeting,” Arnold our team manager pipes up.

“Good. I want him off the field for the rest of practice. He’s a distraction and needs a rest.” I rub the back of my neck in pure aggravation.

Lewis, my second season linebacker is pissing me off, and unlucky for him it’s on the wrong day. Ever since Piper told me the other day about April, I’ve been conflicted.

I wanted to reach out to April, but from my understanding, only Piper knows, which means April would know Piper and I are in contact. As much as I don’t care that April knows that fact, I am sensitive to April’s moment of despair. But this means we’re stuck in a holding pattern until April finds out.

Yep, unlucky Lewis for pissing me off on the wrong day.

“Kimberly is here,” one of the assistant coaches announces.

Ugh, just what I need now, the team’s new PR coordinator who focuses on social media. She just graduated from college, and her idea of building buzz is creating little videos every day and posting them online. When she asked if she could take a video of what my lunch was, that was the day I almost lost faith in humanity.

I roll my eyes before I rub my face when I witness her clearly flashing an overly sweet smile at one of my players as she walks my way.

“Hudson!” she calls out with a little wave. “We need to go over the calendar.”

“Can’t this wait? I want to do one more drill with my guys.”

She looks down at her tablet. “The schedule says they should have a break now.”

I hear Arnold chuckle under his breath, and I give him side-eye. “You handle the team; I’ll get this over with.”

He slaps a hand on my shoulder. “Just remember that sponsors love the shit she spews out.”

“Don’t I know it.” I turn my attention to Kimberly, cross my arms, and smile politely. “What’s on the agenda today?”

She flings her hair behind her shoulder. “Well, we need to finalize details for the pre-season team dinner, the charity BBQ, and the press conference coming up. I think you have the press conference under control, but I need you to confirm how many guest seats you want for the dinner and BBQ.”

“You know I do those things solo.”

“I know, but someone from the events team mentioned sometimes a Drew and Lucy come?” She studies her screen, clearly having no idea who they are.

“It’s okay, Kimberly, they’re my son and daughter-in-law. We don’t actively advertise that fact.”

She smiles genuinely. “Oh, okay. Well, let me know if they’ll be coming. Which brings me to the other question.” She attempts to hold in her smile. “Do we need to plan for a plus-one for your upcoming functions? Otherwise… damn it, why do they make me do this,” she mutters to herself, and I appreciate that we’ve established enough trust that she can curse in front of me.

“Spit it out.”

“Marketing wants to know if they can agree to a feature on you that may emphasize that you’re a bachelor. They think it draws in the female demographic.” I can tell she doesn’t enjoy being the messenger.

I’m quick to answer. “Plan for a plus-one.”

“Really?”

I glance over at the guys setting up for a scrimmage. “Yes.”

“So… there is someone?”

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