Page 5 of Roughing the Princess

“Let me know how it goes!” he called after me.

Okay, fine.I was smiling a little. And maybe I took the stairs two at a time. I opened the door to my bedroom suite. After Jasper’s wife passed away a little less than a year ago, I’d moved in to help him out with Olvia. And then I just never left. I liked being around for them. They needed me. Besides, I’d broken up with my last girlfriend around the same time. And I never liked living in an empty house.

I closed the door behind me and grabbed my cell phone off my desk. I had a million texts and calls. And just like Jasper said…tons of shows wanted interviews.

I sat down on the edge of my bed. I scrolled and scrolled through all the messages and missed calls, looking at each name. But amongst all the texts and messages…there wasn’t a single one from Tova Saber.

Fuck me.I sighed and tossed my phone onto the bed. And then I flopped backwards and stared at the ceiling. I thought her denying me at her concert was bad. This felt worse. Because this was public.

I was used to getting what I fucking wanted. But Jasper was right. Tova was out of my league. I’d had a crush on her since high school. And I’d waited a lifetime to finally pursue her. After my first Super Bowl ring…I almost tried. But she was in a relationship. And maybe I chickened out a bit. Now I had two rings. It wasn’t a million Grammys, but it was impressive. Still not good enough for Tova though, apparently.

I sighed. This girl was driving me crazy. But there was nothing I liked more than a challenge.Game on, Tova.

Chapter 3 – Total Bad Boy Vibes

Talon

One Week Later - August

Jasper glanced over at me and laughed again. He was barely even peddling on his stationary bike. Apparently his laughter was enough of a workout today.

I dropped my weights onto the ground. “Just spit it out already.” I’d been waiting all day for him to give me shit. Instead he just kept looking at me and laughing. I cracked my neck to the side, trying to get rid of some of the tension.

“I can’t believe you actually shaved off your beard for her,” he said.

“For who?” Mav asked. He was the quarterback for our team and also my best friend. “Tova?” At least, hewasmy best friend. If he started messing with me about this too, his status would be up for debate. He was stretching on the ground between me and Jasper. And it almost felt like this was some kind of weird set up to poke me.

“I shaved it off for preseason,” I said. “It’s my preseason stache. I do it every year.”

Mav pulled one of his knees to his chest. “Do you?”

“Yes. Always. For good luck.”

“Do you though?” Jasper added.

“Look up pictures. I do.”

They both laughed.

“I swear to God.” I grabbed my phone and tried to find the evidence.

“She still hasn’t texted you, huh?” Jasper asked.

I ignored him.

“I bet she will now,” Mav said. “I heard that she loves going for mustache rides.”

“Have you two been kibitzing about this?” I asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mav said. “I’m pretty sure I read it somewhere.”

"It was in a Cosmo article,” added Jasper.

Yeah, they’d definitely been talking about this. I didn’t read Cosmo like these weirdos, but if it had been in an article, I would have heard about it. Not that I stalked Tova or anything. I wasn’t a nutjob. I just thought she was sexy as hell. And I loved to fantasize about her lips wrapped around my cock. “Ah! There.” I showed them a picture I found of me rocking an awesome mustache during last year’s preseason.

“I still think you did it for her,” Jasper said.

Honestly?I did. A little. I didn’t believe either of them about her loving mustaches. But I was willing to go the extra mile for this girl. If she wanted to go for a mustache ride, I’d give her the ride of her fucking life. Just thinking about it was making me hard. “I’m gonna go hit the showers.”

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