Page 109 of Irresistibly Risky

And right now, I own this.

Wynter is somewhere behind me, but I haven’t dared look in her direction since I ran on the field. I know she has questions. I owe her more answers than she’s even aware of. This involves her too. More so than ever before. But this isn’t the moment to lose focus. Not when we’re this close to victory.

She must sense that because she hasn’t come over to me since I took the field.

The extra point kick is good, and then I head back to the bench where my offense has congregated. Kneeling on the cold earth, I start going through plays and strategy, when the offensive coordinator comes over to me.

“Asher, what the hell are you doing?”

I glance up at him. “My job. Leading my team to a W.”

He shakes his head, his mouth twisted up. “You can’t go against your coach like that, man. It’s career suicide.”

“When this is all over, I won’t be the only one with things to answer for. Not by a long shot.”

And something about that seems to do the trick because suddenly, my offensive coordinator is coaching us up, running through plays with me, and that’s how we do things for the rest of the game. Joe doesn’t come near us. Not once. In fact, he keeps his mouth shut and his eyes on the field.

But I know better than to think that he’s declared defeat.

If anything, he’s resting up, recharging his batteries in preparation for our next battle. Only he has no clue what’s coming for him. None.

* * *

The game comes down to a field goal in the final seconds of the game. We won, but there’s a heaviness in the air as we all trudge into the locker room, Joe leading the pack to give the illusion that he still maintains control. I don’t answer any of the reporters’ questions, though they swarm me and Joe the second they’re allowed on the field.

I started a coup, and generally, that doesn’t hold so well in sports.

I search around for Wynter but don’t see her anywhere, and then I push my way toward the locker room, ignoring the questioning looks from my guys as we go. I will need to address this with them. With Wynter. With everyone.

I stop one of the trainers and ask about Leo. He tells me that Dr. Horowitz took him to the hospital, and that’s all he knows right now. I can only hope he’s okay.

Joe is nowhere to be found—evidently deciding to forgo his postgame speech—so I stand in the middle of the locker room and address my guys.

“I know you all have a lot of questions about today. I can’t give you answers yet, but I will. I promise. You all played a hell of a game out there today, and I want us to all send up a silent, healing prayer for Leo.”

The guys grunt and all circle around me, and then I head for the showers to get myself put together. The press conference is scheduled for after the game, and I know the press are already in there, waiting on me after what I pulled today.

In fact, I bet it’s standing room only with reporters. Hell, ESPN is less than a two-hour drive. I’m not sure what I’m going to say. I need to speak directly to Joe, and I need Wynter and the team owner, Randolph there for that.

I shower quickly and change back into the suit I wore here since the team has a dress code for us. Slipping my phone out of my pocket, I take a look and see I have dozens of missed calls and texts. But it’s the text from Wynter that has my breath stalled.

Ice Queen: Is this true?

There’s a link to an ESPN news article with the headline. “Asher Reyes Rare Mid-Season Trade Deal With LA Possibly Put On Hold With Leo Dodd Injury.”

Fuck. Chaos brews within me. I bolt up to my feet and head for the exit. How on earth did they hear about the trade? I can only imagine the thoughts going through Wynter’s head.

Me: Where are you?

The dots start to dance on the screen, and anxious relief swarms through me. At least she’s still talking to me. I should have told her. I should have talked to her this morning, but after meeting with Lenox, I ran out of time before I had to report to the field, and then I didn’t see her much, and I certainly didn’t have the opportunity to speak with her about anything this involved.

I couldn’t do that on the field. But I had planned to talk to her tonight. I was going to tell her everything.

What I hadn’t planned on was Leo’s head injury or overthrowing my coach or coming out publicly about my relationship with Wynter or her finding out about the trade from a goddamn news article.

She won’t understand this. I know she won’t, and I already know her mind is going to some very dark places.

Ice Queen: Answer my question.

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