I'd expected to see a group of people waiting for us with accusations in their eyes, but the hallway was empty.

He motioned for me to hurry, so I grabbed my cleats and water in my hands and was about to walk past him and out into the hallway when he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"I'm not playing around with you, Kinsley. I want to be with you," he whispered in 376/890

my ear before releasing my arm. I stumbled into the hallway, trying to gather my wits.

What was I supposed to do now? Go wash my mouth out and get ready for practice? I could still feel him sliding his hand over my skin. I needed a nap and a cigarette.

Too bad I didn't smoke.

Becca was the first person to see me standing there motionless in the hallway.

Her eyes went wide. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the locker room. I didn't say a word to her, but she knew what happened. She knew I'd tell her about it later.

She unwrapped the protein bar and untied my cleats like I was her little kid.

"Thanks, mom," I joked as I bent down to lace them up.

377/890

"Dude, I cannot wait to hear about your morning," she whispered before pushing up off the ground and moving to finish getting ready herself.

That’s when reality first sank in. What the fuck was I doing? We couldn’t be so stupid as to think we could meet up in the field house again. I’d wanted to see him so badly—

to prove there was something real between us— that I hadn’t stopped to consider what would have happened if Coach Davis had walked into that office while I was on my knees.

I’d be cleaning out my locker right now and kissing my future goodbye.

Practice passed surprisingly quickly. We didn't split up into our positions, but Liam still stuck close to me. I'd get a drink of water 378/890

and find him watching me, finish a drill and look up to see a heart stopping smile aimed right for me. That smile was quite a good motivator, but I couldn’t push past the fear sinking into the back of my mind.

Just before he had to leave to head to the LA Stars' practice, he came to stand by me on the sidelines while I rested.

"Any regrets, Bryant?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking out onto the field.

"About this morning?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the field.

“About us," he clarified.

I laughed nervously under my breath and shook my head. "Ask me that again in a few weeks," I said before jogging back into practice.

379/890

…

"You gave him a blow job!? When I was like two feet away in the locker room?! EW!"

Becca exclaimed when we were in my room later. Emily was downstairs eating dinner so she wasn’t able to hear Becca squeal.

"Oh my god, keep your voice down," I warned, pointing to the door.

"Sorry, sorry. But seriously, was it hot?

I've never given one, and I can't even imagine doing it to Liam Wilder. You should get access to an exclusive club or something."

I groaned. "Can we not highlight the fact that I'm now part of a very large group of women that have gone down on Liam Wilder?"

380/890

"Oh, crap. Yeah, I'm sure it was special to him though.” She tried to recover from her slip up.

"Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes, recalling his words as I’d slipped past him into the hallway. “He said he wanted to be with me though, and he sounded really serious. I'm not sure what that means, but it felt good to hear after everything we'd just done." Even if he didn't mean it.

I really wanted him to mean it.

Becca nodded. "You should give him the benefit of the doubt. The media has painted this playboy image of him, but so far he seems like a surprisingly grounded guy."

"Wow, Becca. That was wise."

"Thanks, I feel smarter than usual today.

Now can you tell me all of it again?"

381/890

She was referring to the events from that morning in Liam's office.

"No perv, go get your own secret affair."

She scrunched her nose. "Ugh! I haven't heard anything from Penn since Saturday.

Not a peep!"

"Well does he have your number?"

"No..."

"Give it time. He's probably just as busy as Liam."

"So he's probably also getting blow jobs before practice?"

I gave her a pointed stare. "You know what I mean."

She laughed and then rolled off the bed.

"I'm going to order pizza. Do you want some?"

382/890

"Yes please, you know how I like it," I answered, reaching for my laptop.

"With a side of Liam's coc—"

I cut her off. "Becca! That's just crude!"

She laughed the whole way out of the room.

Chapter Fourteen

As the rest of the week passed, I realized just how complicated our situation was. Liam couldn't come to my house and I couldn't go to his unless there was a party or something.

We couldn't chance fooling around in his office again; we’d barely gotten away with that the first time. We couldn't go out to eat or really go anywhere in public because of the paparazzi.

As the rest of the week passed, I waited for the inevitable, "this isn't worth it"

speech. He would have worded it perfectly, explaining that it wasn't me, it was the situation, but the idea still wore me down. I'd lay in bed at night, exhausted from practice, but I still couldn't fall asleep. I'd wonder what he 384/890

was thinking, if he was moments away from sending the text that would break my heart.

I was getting ready for bed Friday night when he called.

"Come outside," he said as soon as I picked up.

I peered through my window but didn't see his car.

"I'm around the block so your teammates won't see me," he answered as if clarifying my train of thought.

"Okay, hold on, I'm in my pajamas," I explained, unable to wipe the giant smile off my face.

"You can stay in your pajamas..." he suggested, and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

385/890

"Pfft. Yeah, right. I'll be down in a second." I hung up and threw my phone on my bed.

"Becca!" I shouted, knowing she was down the hall watching an episode of Parks and Recreation. She had a love for Amy Poehler that was deeper than most normal human relationships.

A second later, she was standing outside my door. "What is it? Amy and I were bonding."

I gave her a pointed stare. "First. You are not on first name basis with Amy Poehler.

She actually doesn't know you exist. Second, help me get ready." I paused and whispered the next part. " Liam is downstairs waiting for me."

386/890

"God, that's romantic," she mumbled, stepping into my room with her standard onesie on. This one had penguins and a hood with a penguin beak.

"Have I told you yet how awesome you are today?" I asked, stepping over toward my closet.

"Yeah, whatever. This penguin onesie is going to waste since Penn hasn't bothered to contact me."

"Want me to ask Liam about it?" I offered, throwing my pajamas off and grabbing a purple t-shirt dress that was soft from too many washes. I threw on some brown sandals and pulled a jacket out just in case it got cold in his car.

"Only if you can do it without him thinking I'm desperate. Just a casual mention, 387/890

okay?" she asked, grabbing my bracelets off my night stand and bringing them to me.

"All right, I promise I'll make it seem casual."