Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
“Nah. Cooper is usually the only one.” She points at the blond guy I’ve been watching.
Cooper. “What does he do?”
“He owns the sports center.” She looks over her shoulder toward the building Lyla works at. Interesting.
“He owns it?” I ask and look at him again. “Is he an athlete?”
“Was. Soccer. He was good, too. Played pro overseas for a while, but he had too many injuries and decided to hang up his cleats and open up Tackle to help athletes train, overcome injuries, and stay healthy. People come from all over the country.”
“What about the coach?” I nod at shit-head number one.
“Wade?” She asks. “He plays for the U.S. Soccer Team.”
“Plays?” My brows shoot up. “Why is he here?”
“He took a season off. And he has a thing for Delilah.” She rolls her eyes when she says this.
My jaw clenches.
“She’s gorgeous, sure, but I don’t see the hype.” The woman shrugs. “I hear she’s practically a hermit.”
A hermit. Ha. I saw her out. Twice. She’s definitely not a hermit. This woman probably lives in the suburbs and doesn’t know what happens in the city after dark. I look at Shit-head again. Pro soccer, huh? Pro soccer, yet Lyla’s able to fake him out easily. He’s probably a bench warmer.
“I’m Tammy, by the way,” she says after a moment.
“Nice to meet you, Tammy.” I nod politely but keep my arms crossed as I look at the field, my eyes on De-li-luh’s every move.
Beside me, Tammy’s quiet, probably waiting for me to give her my name. I don’t.
Lyla whistles three times.
“Well, the game’s over.” Tammy turns and very obviously lets her eyes roam my body. Again. “Do you want me to show you around the city?”
“No.” I look her dead in the eye. “I already have someone showing me everything.”
She looks disappointed, but smiles and walks back to the rest of the hot moms who are waiting for her. I wonder if they agreed on who would come up to me, and if they set a bet on whether or not she’d seduce me. People like to shit on men when they make bets about things like that, but when women do it, it’s fine. Annoying is what it is.
“You have got to be kidding me,” a familiar voice says behind me.
“Marissa.” I smile and turn around slowly. “It’s been a while.”
“You’re a terrible human being, you know that?” She narrows her eyes as she closes the distance between us. She plants both palms on my chest and pushes me. I don’t budge, which makes her more upset, so she clenches her fists at her sides. “Taking her back to Fairview? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I have some unfinished business there and a luncheon to attend.” I shrug.
“Why would you do this to her?” she asks. “Don’t you think she’s been through enough?”
“Oh, she’s been through enough?” I huff out a laugh. “I’m sorry, do you not remember that I was sent to the hospital?”
“Oh my. . .” She takes a deep breath as if trying to rein in her anger. “So this is you trying to get revenge on her for being the reason you were at the hospital?”
“No, this is me trying to get revenge on the person who did this,” I say. “And on her for leaving me with no fucking explanation.”
“Wow,” she says, searching my face. “You don’t love her.”
“Oh.” I chuckle humorously. “Now you’re going to tell me how I feel?”
“If you ever loved her, you wouldn’t make her go back there. You know she’s going to hate you for it,” she says.
“I don’t give a shit.” I shrug.
She looks at me for a long moment. “Do you remember the first thing I told you when it was clear that you were interested in her?”
“No, why don’t you enlighten me?” I remember damn well what she said, but fuck it. I’m just standing here anyway.
“If you fuck up, she’ll never forgive you,” she says. “If you think this will end with her taking you back, you might as well forget about that right now.”
I look away, scanning the field. The moms are still having their little meeting and glancing over every so often. The dad is still looking at Lyla. Shit-head is staying close by, pretending he’s talking to the kids, but he’s looking at her too much for that to be the case. I’m not at all surprised that she has a little fan club of men who want her. The way she acts here, the way she dresses — this Lyla is the whole package. She may not be smiling or laughing all the time, but she gives them just enough to want more. I should feel bad for them. Even if I wasn’t here to whisk her away, that would have never happened. She can’t give another man more when already gave me everything.