Page 11 of Hidden Plays (Desert Football #1)

Holding up the phone, I strode into the hallway bathroom and shut the door. I had to tell Holden to text me something sweet. Fuck, he’d think I was crazy. But there was no other way. I called him, and the phone rang a few times.

“Hello?” Holden’s groggy voice came through. “JJ? You all right?”

“I’m fine. I need you to do something, so my stupid friends will leave me alone.” I glanced at myself in the mirror, my hair tangled at the back of my head. That was from the jerk-off session. Warmth surged in my cheeks.

“Okay, what?”

“Send me a good morning text, like a boyfriend would. Something…I don’t know, not something a straight guy would send a chick.” My heart pounded in my ears. Would he fuck this up?

“What? Why?” He choked on a laugh.

“Just do it. I’ll owe you, okay? I’ll do your fucking stretches twice a day if you do.” Tightening the grip on my phone, I leaned against the door.

“Deal,” he said. “But make sure you change my name in your contacts.”

“I will. I told Casey last night your name is Harry.” I squeezed my eyes shut. This was so lame.

“Harry Cox?” He snorted. “You’ve got some imagination.”

“I’ll change your last name.” I tutted. “Hurry, the guys are getting restless, and they’ll think something is up if I wait any longer. I’ll explain the rest later.” I ended the call and changed his contact information to Harry Smith. It was all I could think of in the moment and would have to do.

My phone chimed with a text. Opening the door, I walked out, tapping the text open.

Harry Smith

Good morning, baby. I’m still hard after our grinding session on the dance floor last night. You have such a sexy ass. Can’t wait for the blowjob you promised me .

I stared at it. Jesus, fuck. What the hell, did he think all gay men were horndogs? Maybe we were, but we didn’t text like that after a date. Not unless we were only looking for a hookup. But this was over the top. He could have just sent a nice good morning, how are you, text.

“So?” Casey bounded to me and grabbed my phone. As he peered into it, his brows knitted. “Well, he’s, uh, really into your ass.”

“Let me see.” Eli stepped toward the phone, sucking sugar off his fingers. “Oh.” His gaze flicked to me. “That’s, uh, sweet.”

Malik and Tex circled Casey, Malik saying, “Dude, that’s not sweet. That’s a guy looking to get laid.”

“I thought you were a connection guy?” Tex narrowed his eyes at me. “This dude doesn’t sound like your type.”

“He’s…” Fuck, how do I explain this? I sipped more coffee. “He wasn’t like that in person.”

“How was he in person, then?” Casey ate the rest of his cupcake and licked his fingers.

“He was sweet. When other guys came around, he was very protective of me.” Only because I’d asked him to, but still.

I peeked into the pastry box. What the hell, I should have one.

“We’ll see how things go this week.” After snatching a fluffy pastry with orange filling, I bit into it.

Sweet butter with a hint of orange liqueur filled my tongue.

“Oh my God, we need more of these.” The conversation about last night was over.

I spent the rest of Sunday studying for midterms and woke up early Monday to hit the gym.

Casey had badgered me periodically about seeing more texts from Holden, but I’d fended him off for now.

I’d promised Holden I’d do his stretches twice a day and I keep my promises.

As I strolled into the almost empty facility, my gaze snagged on Holden.

Pulling a bar on a cable to his shoulders and back up, he sat on a bench, sweat dripping down his bare, muscled back. The dude was strong. He was lifting almost the entire weight stack.

We should have a little chat about his text. I’d need more, but texts that would fit better coming from a boyfriend and not a fuckboy. “Hey.” I stepped behind him. “Need a spot?”

His gaze flicked to mine, and his cheeks flushed. “No, I’m good.” He lifted the bar, dropping the stack of weights onto the machine. “What’s up?”

“I’m uh, I’m here to get my first round of stretches done, so I came in early.” My gaze fell to the bulge in his shorts, and my dick twitched. Goddamn, what did he have in there? It had felt damn good pressed against me at The Club.

“Okay, want some help with them?” He stood, grabbed a towel from the back of the bench, and wiped sweat from his chest. “I’m about done here, anyway.”

I focused on his nipples, standing at attention. “You should wear a shirt in here.” I winced. What the fuck was I saying?

“Why?” Twisting, he looked around him. “There’s hardly anyone here.” His attention shifted to me. “What are you looking at?”

His hot as fuck body. “Nothing.” I glanced at the mats in the room's corner. Focus, JJ. Talk to him about the text messages. Lifting the edge of my mouth, I said, “Hey, so the text you sent? It was too much sex and not enough sweet.”

“Yeah? You told me to text you like a gay man, not like how I’d text a chick.” He lowered his brows. “If I texted a chick like that, I’d never hear from her again.”

“Yeah? Well, a gay man looking for a relationship would find the text vulgar too.” Did he think gay men were all perverts? I hated that shit. As heat swirled in my chest, I said, “Next time, text something sweet.” I poked his chest. “Like how much you miss me or how much you love my laugh.”

He wrinkled his forehead, his mouth dropping open. “You…you want me to text you some more?”

Fuck. “Yes.” With a scoff, I said, “The guys are still all over me and want to see verification I found a boyfriend. Especially Casey.” Why were they in everyone’s business all the time?

“Okay.” He shrugged. “I can do that.” As a slow smirk spread over his lips, he said, “As long as you keep doing the stretches and resistance band workouts I gave you.”

“If I don’t get better soon, I’m not doing it.” I clenched my jaw. I still wasn’t sure I could trust him. Or was it that I didn’t trust his skills as a trainer?

“If you don’t do it, I’ll stop texting.” He stepped closer to me, his chest touching mine.

A shiver raced over my skin, and my pulse pounded in my ears. Goddamn, why did his presence irritate me and turn me on? Forcing my gaze to his, I said, “What am I supposed to do if it doesn’t work? I can’t have an injury.”

“If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else. I’ll come up with new routines for you to try.” He tilted his head, flicking his gaze to my lips for a beat. “Trust me, JJ. I can help you with this.”

Stepping back, I blinked a few times. Trust him? How can I when he ? —

“I want you to succeed. We’re not in high school anymore. You need to get over the fucking MVP award.” He grabbed my forearm. “You know, that award almost killed me.” His hand slid to my wrist.

“What? Why?” I stared at him. I’d been so self-centered I’d never asked him what happened to him after high school.

“Do you know what it’s like having your life’s dream ripped away, right when it was about to be reality?

” His eyes grew glassy. “Yes, I had a scholarship to Penn State. Until the surgeries failed and the doctors said my knee would never hold up in football. The university revoked my scholarship. That award is like a fuck you to me. Fuck you, you’ll never play football.

Fuck you, you’ll never be in the NFL. Fuck you—” With his breath hitching, he swiveled and swiped at his eyes, growling. “You’ll never amount to anything.”

My eyes widened. Holy shit, I never thought about it that way. Here I was, worried about my draft position while he was striving to discover a new passion in life. A connection to the sport he loved, even though he’d never play again. “I’m…I’m sorry.” I reached for him and then dropped my arm.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Inhaling sharply, he faced me. “Just know your success is my success, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” I peeked at the mats again. I should start and maybe be a little humbler. “How about you make sure I do your routine correctly?”

“Sure.” He followed me to the mats and fished his phone from the pocket of his athletic shorts. “What do you want me to text you?”

I huffed a snort. “How about I miss you and can’t wait to see you again ?” I wasn’t sure how long we could keep this charade up, but if my friends thought I’d moved on from Myles, I’d take it.

“Okay.” A sly smile played over his mouth. “Not, I miss your ass and can’t wait to feel your mouth on my cock ?” He snickered.

“Jesus, dude. Not after the first date.” With a chuckle, I sat on the mat. We’d come to an understanding, but how long would it last?

After a good practice and classes, I strolled into the house, my backpack hanging on my shoulder. Casey would be home, and maybe Eli. I should prepare for a barrage of questions.

I shut the door behind me, bracing myself.

“Hey, how’s the IT band? You looked good at practice today.” Casey stood in the kitchen, spooning protein powder into a glass.

“Yeah, it’s feeling pretty good.” I dropped my backpack next to the kitchen island and sat on a stool at the counter. I could use some protein myself. “Hey, can you make me one?”

“Sure.” He grabbed another glass from an upper cupboard and spooned the powder into it. “Have you heard anything more from Harry?”

“Who?” Oh shit, Holden. I needed to keep this story going in my head.

“Um, yeah. I think he realized I wasn’t looking for a hookup, and his texts are a little nicer now.

” I slipped my phone from my shorts and opened my messages.

He’d texted more since this morning, but I hadn’t seen them.

Shit, I should look before I showed Casey.

Harry

I miss you and can’t wait to see you again.

Harry

When is our next date? Let’s go somewhere special.

Harry

When are you free?

Damn, I should have replied to his text to avoid this situation looking like the farce it was. Knitting my brows, I said, “Uh, I need to get back to him.”

With a glance at my phone, Casey stirred our drinks and slid them to my side of the island. “What’s he saying?” He rounded the island and peeked over my shoulder. “Oh, looks like he’s into you. Like, really into you.”

“Yeah?” I tapped a message on my phone. How would I normally respond?

JJ

I can’t wait to see you either. I’m free on Thursday. Want to meet at Postino’s?

I loved that wine bar. It was casual, quiet and just my vibe. “There.” I set my phone on the counter. Holden wouldn’t take me seriously, would he?

Tapping on my phone, Casey said, “He wanted to take you someplace special, and then you picked Postino’s. You should have let him choose the location.” He sipped his drink.

“What?” Lifting my brows, I seized my protein drink. Did Casey think he had to coach me on dating now?

“He had a special place he wanted to go. It’s like you’re not listening to him.” He pursed his lips. “Did you do that with Myles, too? Maybe that’s why it didn’t work with him.”

I faced him, my gut knotting. “That’s not why it didn’t work with Myles. Myles had had a crush on Cooper since high school. I couldn’t compete with that. They had a history together.”

My phone chimed with a new text message, and I opened it.

Harry

Great, I’ll see you there. How about six?

I tapped on the phone. I’d have to tell Holden this wasn’t an actual date. But fuck, I’d have to leave the house on Thursday night so they’d think I was there and…Damn it, I should take photos of myself there, so they’d think it was real. This was a real pain in the ass.

JJ

Perfect, see you then.

“There, now I have a second date.” I held the screen to Cooper. “Next time, I’ll let him choose the location.” Would this satisfy him?

“Okay. Guess the guy is easygoing.” He gulped more of his drink and patted my shoulder. “It’s good to see you moving on from Myles.”

“I’m definitely moving on. Don’t worry about that.” I turned my phone over and drank my protein drink.