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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

JACK

“ L ooks like we’re paired up again.” Archer throws his towel on the weight bench beside the one I’m using.

“Do you believe in clothes?” I ask him. “Or maybe just a shirt.”

He lifts up his cap and replaces it backward. “Does it make you feel inadequate?” He drops his gaze to his pecs and tenses each one in turn, making them dance.

“Does that impress the ladies or something?” I say, sitting up to straddle the bench and swiping my water from the floor.

His grin is cheeky. “Speaking of, how’s your sister?”

I shake my head on a gulp. “Those kinds of questions are ill-advised when her brother is about to spot you. All it would take is a slip or loss of concentration, and fuck knows where that Olympic bar could end up.”

A snicker from neither Archer nor me joins the conversation.

“Quit bothering my winger, will you?” A shirtless Sawyer rests his arm against the bench press machine. “Besides, aren’t you seeing Chelsea? ”

I pop the cap on my bottle and lie down, ready for my next rep. “Who’s Chelsea?”

Archer shakes his head at our captain, and for the first time, I see an emotion other than playful. “Where did you hear that? I haven’t seen her in months.”

Sawyer shrugs and thumbs over his shoulder. “Couple of the guys said they thought they’d seen you leave with her that night in Lloyd’s.”

I’ve lifted the bar around an inch when I set it back down and sit up again. “The same night you were flirting with Darcy?”

Archer twists his lips, a doubtful expression on his face. “I wouldn’t say I was flirting with her. Just trying to make her feel welcome.”

“Uh-huh,” Sawyer adds.

Archer throws his hands out to the sides. “What? I wasn’t.” He pauses and rubs the back of his neck with a towel. “She did tell me all about Liam though.”

“Seriously?” I side-eye him, not believing a word, convinced he’s trying to goad me. Although how else would he know her boyfriend’s name? “Why would she tell you about him?”

Archer nods once. “We got talking and she opened up to me. Seriously, he’s kind of a prick.”

Sawyer bursts out a laugh. “Of course you’d think that. He was the only reason you didn’t get what you wanted that n …” He trails off and looks at me.

I glance between them both and pinch the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes slowly to will away the thoughts. “Archer, do you want to fuck my sister?”

Silence. He should be denying it straightaway.

I open my eyes and pin our goalie with a glare. “I’m not kidding around. Do you want to fuck my sister?”

He holds his face still before he doubles over in laughter. “Oh my God! I had you. You were ready to lay me out, weren’t you?”

I’m not laughing. Not one fucking chuckle leaves my mouth. Eventually, Sawyer joins in .

My head darts to my captain. “Anyway, you can talk.” I clear my throat and go for my best Southern American accent, pulling it off to perfection. “ Jack, is she okay? Maybe she didn’t get home all right. Can you check on her? No, actually, don’t check on her. That would be weird. Instead, I’ll sit here and be all broody and shit and pine over the pink-haired girl and pretend I can’t recall her name or the fact that she blew me off when I offered her a lift.”

“ My name is well known around here ,” Archer adds on a wheeze, holding up his hand like he needs a minute. “Jesus, when you said that to her and she said she didn’t accept lifts from strangers, I nearly collapsed with secondhand embarrassment.”

Sawyer crosses his arms over his chest and raises a single brow. His face is stoic as he continues to watch on as we laugh like a pair of hyenas.

“Jesus, if only you trained your bodies like you do your mouths, we’d be buying an extra trophy cabinet.” Jon comes to stand in front of us.

He looks as unimpressed as Sawyer, and gradually, our laughter trails off.

Jon tips his chin at me. “How many reps have you done, Morgan?”

Leaning down, Sawyer wraps his hand around my upper arm. “Not enough. It’s kind of skinny.”

Archer starts up laughing again, and Jon swivels his head to him.

“At the risk of overstepping my coaching boundaries, you do know she’s not just your winger’s sister, but technically, she’s my stepdaughter too. Jokes aside, that’s pretty fucked up. Even for you.”

Archer blushes—full-on fucking blushes—as he tries to pass it off as nothing. “Ah, I’m just messing around with the rookie.”

“You know how it is, Coach,” Sawyer adds.

Jon looks doubtful as he clicks his tongue and pulls his iPad from under his arm. “At some point, do you plan on heading for the massage you booked in with the trainer?” He raises his other arm and looks at his watch. “Fifteen minutes ago.”

“Shit!” Archer announces, grabbing his towel and hightailing it toward the exit.

Jon shakes his head and takes a sideways glance at me as he makes his way around the gym, continuing his observations.

I lean back on the bench. “Since I lost my spotting partner, fancy teaming up?”

“Sure.” Sawyer rounds the rack and comes to stand behind me. “How are things going with Kendra?”

He passes me the bar, and I pump out a few reps before he takes it back and gives me a breather.

I can’t lie; she’s been a little different over the past couple of days. Initially, I chalked it up to her being nervous since she has a wait until the team USA squad is announced in the next couple of days, but when she told me she was feeling okay about that, my mind started to wander. When she gave me the insane blow job in the elevator, she told me she hadn’t had the words to describe what an asshole my dad was, but she did make it clear that she could see I was nothing like him. Maybe she isn’t so sure now.

I push away any doubt.

“We’re good,” I answer, taking the bar back and moving through my set before Sawyer increases the weight.

“I’m thinking about asking her to move in,” I add.

Sawyer pauses with a weight, and I swivel around to face him.

“But you already live together?”

“Is it Groundhog Day or something?”

I close my eyes at the sound of Tyler’s voice. Not again.

“What do you want, Tyler?” I ask, turning to look at him as he stands at the end of the bench, hands propped on his hips.

He bites on the inside of his cheek. “Why don’t you have the balls to tell me stuff to my face? Everything I’ve found out is because I overhear you. ”

I shrug and rub my hands together, wiping some of the chalk from my palms. “I don’t tell you because it has nothing to do with you.”

“So, you’re living together?”

I nod. “Since her apartment was condemned and she needed a place to stay.”

He steps forward until his shins press against the end of the bench. “Wait, so you’re telling me you invited her to live with you before you started dating?”

I nod again, not giving a fuck at this point. I’m in love with his ex-girlfriend, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure she feels the same. There’s fuck all he can do about it.

“Yeah, right after you split.”

His face twists with the usual anger I hope Kendra’s never seen. “It all makes sense—all of it.” He leans forward, pure hatred flowing off him. “You’re nothing but a predator. You waited until she was at her most vulnerable and then decided to strike.”

Yeah, I mind that.

I leap from the bench and head straight for him. “Say that again, asshole!” I spit as Sawyer grabs my arms from behind.

I look to my left and see that Jon has left the room—thank fuck.

“Predator,” he repeats calmly, a smug smile on his lips.

My anger boils, and I know if my hands weren’t pinned behind my back, they’d be in his face right now.

“You don’t know the first thing about me and definitely not the girl you lost. You can’t stand the fact that she’s moved on and upgraded to a man who doesn’t just make her happy, but who she’s also falling for. That’s right, Tyler; she loves me. She can’t get enough of us and the way I make her smile.”

I know he wants to hit me, but he can’t. Not if he values his career.

“And guess what, Einstein.” I smile brightly, my dimple popping good and well. “I’m so far gone for her that I’m going to ask her to turn my apartment into our home. Then I plan to fuck her on every surface we own together.” I blow out a relaxed breath, mocking him and his dead-ass depressing situation just a little more. “Then, when the time is right and she can’t even remember your name, I plan on giving her mine.”