Page 19 of After the Snap

My shoulders sag. “Did he send you?”

“Actually, I suspect he’d rip me a new one if he knew I was here, but I figured we could talk woman to woman.”

Reluctantly, I open the door and let her in. She walks in with her head held regally high, and her gaze sweeps over my apartment. There’s a thoughtful expression on her face that makes me wonder what she’s thinking, but I don’t ask.

“Would you like some water? I don’t have much else to drink,” I ask her.

“No, thank you. I’d prefer to not waste time and get down to it.”

“Alright,” I say, dragging the word because I’m still not entirely sure why she’s here.

“Dom told me that he wanted you for this plan we’ve got in place. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“You mean the fake relationship that’s supposed to help his image.”

She smiles and it’s back to that fake smile. “It will absolutely help his image. These sorts of things always do as long as both parties behave.”

“I already told him no,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest because suddenly it feels like a chill has filled the room.

“I know. That’s what he told me. But he’s refusing to do this with anyone else, and he needs this, Alayna. His reputation is shit right now. Jen Summers is having a field day with the press and crying on cue about how heartbroken she is over the whole thing.” She rolls her eyes, and I warm to her a little because clearly she thinks Jen’s full of shit.

“So what do you need from me?”

She watches me thoughtfully before pulling a folder from her oversized purse and moving to my kitchen table. “I need your help picking one of these women for Dom. You know him best, according to him. You’ll be able to tell me which one he might consider replacing you with because we need to get started on this ASAP.”

I walk cautiously over to the table and see pictures of five woman, each famous in their own right. I see a senator’s daughter, another Hollywood starlet, an heiress, a very popular singer, and a celebrity chef. I glance at the sheet next to each photo which has a breakdown of their strengths and why they’d be a good match. Some information has clearly been left out, and I’m only vaguely aware of a few of the scandals that would cause them to want to participate in an arrangement like this.

But I don’t need any of that information to know none will be a good pick for Dom. The senator’s daughter will remind him too much of the cheerleader he hooked up with in college who stalked him when he didn’t agree to date her. The Hollywood starlet is a known cokehead, and Dom doesn’t fuck around with people who do drugs. The heiress is a ditzy bimbo—which I hate saying about any woman, but is painfully true after I met her once—who will drive Dom crazy after thirty seconds. I thought I heard a rumor that the celebrity chef threatened to cut off her fiancé’s balls and has three different restraining orders on her. The only one who’s got potential is the singer. She’s gorgeous, popular, and would no doubt look great standing next to him, but staring at her picture doesn’t make me see anything but a haze of green.

I don’t want him to be paired up with these women. Not a single one will have his back; I know that much. They’ll be in it for themselves, and Dom needs someone who will look out for him.

“None of these women will work.”

She frowns and comes closer, looking down at the folders with me. “Are you sure? We really need to get moving on this. With the Super Bowl only a week away, we’ve got to find someone soon so we can get him some positive press before the season ends and his coaches don’t have a daily reminder of how good he is on the field and why they need to keep him.”

Fuck, she’s right. His time to save his spot on the team is running out, and there’s nothing Dom loves more than playing with Gabe, Ty, and Romel for the Wolves.

I had my reasons for not wanting to be part of this charade, but I’ve also had time away from Dom, time for myself, and that time has given me some perspective. I thought I wasn’t strong enough to pretend for six months, but I know better now. I can do this. I can be his person—one last time.

“I’ll do it.”

Twelve

“The plan is pretty straightforward. You need to be seen in public, cozying up together, holding hands, that sort of thing. Don’t make any comment to the press. We want them to be salivating and speculating, and then we’ll release a statement about how you’ve been there for Dom through all his ups and downs and he finally saw what was right in front of him. One thing led to another, and now here you are.”

I glance over at Laney, who is staring at Shawna with a blank expression. My stomach is in knots. I’m usually a pretty self-assured guy, but ever since Alayna tried to end our friendship, I feel like I’ve been on thin ice, just one step away from falling through. I don’t like it at all.

And that was before she confessed to being in love with me.

Shawna continues to yammer on about the plan—one I’ve already heard before—but I struggle to pay attention, instead continuing to slide my glance to Laney. She’s wearing a pink sweater that I remember her buying last year. But I don’t remember it hugging her breasts the way it is now. My mouth goes dry as my gaze peruses my best friend, noticing things about her I never have before. Like how her hair falls in golden waves to her shoulders, or how her blue eyes have flecks of darker blue close to the black. I’ve always noticed how she nibbles the inside of her lip—like she’s doing right now—when she’s unsure, but it’s never caused such a visceral reaction on my body before.

I subtly shift in my chair and discreetly adjust my now semi-hard dick. Reaching forward, I grab the water bottle that Shawna’s assistant put out for us and take a hearty swallow. I need to pull my shit together. Laney doesn’t need another reason to drop me like a bad habit.

What would she do if she caught me getting hard for her after she confessed her feelings for me and I sat there like a bump on a log, too stunned to say anything?

But despite my pep talk to get my dick under control, I spend the rest of the meeting fighting the urge to pull her bottom lip from her teeth with my thumb and watch her eyes widen as I lean forward and take it between my own.

Yeah, that doesn’t help my boner situation either.

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