Page 34 of Offside Attraction

“What did you just say to me?”

“What—you deaf or something?”

The silence snaps.

Without warning, he shoves me hard. My back slams into the wall, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs. His grip is iron as his hands pin my shoulders, his body crowding mine.

Strong. Too strong.

He leans in, his mouth brushing my ear.

“You don’t want to mess with me, Miller,” he whispers. “I can make your life very,veryunbearable—in and out of Crestview.”

He pulls back just enough for me to see his face, his brown eyes dark and simmering.

“And don’t forget this,” he adds quietly. “Whether you make this team or not? That’s on me.”

His grip tightens.

“So watch how you talk to me. Or I’ll make sure you don’t make it.”

CHAPTER 7

“Hiya,Coty,”Sethsaysas soon as the FaceTime connects.

I shut my bedroom door behind me, Shepard padding in after me, and glare at my phone. Seth’s on the screen in a black T-shirt, standing in what looks suspiciously like his kitchen.

“You know how much I hate it when you call me Coty,” I say, tossing my backpack onto the bed as I walk over.

Seth rolls his eyes, his gaze roaming around my room like this is our first FaceTime ever.

“How you doing?” he asks. “You look okay.”

“I’m good.” I drop onto the bed beside Shepard, scratching behind his ears. “And either my eyesight is finally giving up on me, or you’re actually in the kitchen. Cooking.”

Seth laughs, flashing white teeth as he runs a hand through his brown hair. He’s annoyingly attractive—light-skinned Hispanic, charming, the kind of guy girls fall for without meaning to. Sethhas always known exactly what he looks like, and he uses it like a weapon. New girl every week. A serial flirt. Commitment-phobic.

“You remember Aaliyah, right?”

Of course I do.

Aaliyah—brown-skinned, soft-spoken, all curves and shy smiles, and she’s had Seth by the balls from the very first day he laid eyes on her two years ago. I’ve always told him she’s the kind of girl he can’t have. She’s shy. Too pure. The kind who blushes at everything. And on top of that, she’s his trainer’s only daughter—protected like glass. The man guards her like an egg, terrified that if she gets anywhere near the guys he trains, they’ll ruin her.

But that never stopped Seth.

“Yeah,” I say. “What about her?”

“Well…” He clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.

I sit up. “Are you nervous?”

“What? Fuck no,” he scoffs. Then hesitates. “Okay, maybe a little. She finally agreed to go out with me.”

I blink. “Sheagreed?”

“Yup.”

“And you asked her on a date?” I smirk. “You, Seth? I don’t know what’s more fucked up—her letting you ruin her life, or you actually taking a woman on a real date. That’s not your thing. You throw a few overused pickup lines around and somehow they let you take them to bed.”