Page 16 of Personal Foul (The San Diego Storm #3)

Carson was scowling at me when I jogged up. “Asshole,” he muttered under his breath.

I grinned and bumped his shoulder. “You love my asshole.”

Carson shoved me away, making me cackle. “Not anymore.”

“Liar.”

When we lined up on the line of scrimmage, Carson barked over at me. “Remember, no hands after five yards until he catches the ball. After that, it’s a penalty.”

I rolled my eyes at Evan, who smirked back.

Carson lined up at center and snapped the ball to Lennox.

When Evan took off, he pushed me away, knocking me off balance, then sped down the field.

Right before he caught the ball, I tackled him to the ground, just like he’d said.

The ball bounced away, leaving me to jump up and scurry after it.

Grabbing it up, I took off toward Lennox and Carson.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Carson yelled, running after me. “You can’t do that! The play’s dead.”

“Wanna bet!” I yelled as I ran around him.

I slowed down, giving him time to tackle me. Our bodies crashed to the ground, reminding me of his weight on me. While I loved the contact, he did not.

“You can’t do that!” he yelled.

His gaze was feral as he bore into my eyes, then down at my mouth. I wanted to reach up and slam my mouth on his. He was magnificent when he was angry, and I wanted all that pent-up rage turned toward me.

Lifting himself up, Carson got to his feet and stomped around. “I know all the rules,” he mocked in a terrible Australian accent. “You just want to fuck this all up. Flannery was right.”

Anger burned through me at his accusatory words. I got to my feet and faced him, nose to nose, hands on hips, and spitting mad.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I growled.

Carson’s eyes darted back and forth between mine. “If you know the goddamn rules, why would you do that back there? The receiver can’t be tackled before he has the ball. That’s a fucking pass interference penalty that could cost us a touchdown.”

“I know that! I’m not drongo!”

Carson narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I’m not stupid, Carson. I know that was the play that would draw a penalty.”

“Then why would you do that?” He poked me in the chest. “If you purposely fucking screw this up for us, I’ll ship you back to Australia myself!”

I stared at him, then dropped my tone, refusing to look away. “After everything, you think that little of me, Carson?”

His anger tapered off as the intensity of his gaze lessened. Carson took a step back, giving us room to breathe. Staring down at the ground, he shifted his attention to where Evan and Lennox had disappeared. Relaxing, he turned back to me.

“No,” he said softly. “I just don’t understand why you would make that kind of play if you know the rules.”

Sighing, it was my turn to stare down at the turf. “I wanted to get under your skin. I may be an asshole, but I’d never hurt the team like that. I don’t know what your friend has told you, but I’m not here to destroy your life. Why would I do that when I obviously want to be part of it?”

Carson looked up at me with a pained expression. “You know we can’t. But if we didn’t have this dynamic between us, we’d spend every night together in my bed. But we both know that can’t happen. I don’t need a wingman. I just need you to be my friend and my teammate. And to stop antagonizing me.”

While it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, it was a confession of sorts that matched my feelings.

I quirked a smile. “But it’s so much fun. Like a new hobby.”

He rolled his eyes and shoved my shoulder. “You already scared them off.”

I pointed at myself. “I scared them off? I wasn’t the one ranting and raving. Besides, the hot tight end knew I was gonna fuck up.”

Carson pulled off his helmet. “I should have known. I don’t know why I like you.”

I pulled off mine and ran a hand through my hair. “I do. But we’re not talking about that right now.”

He groaned as I smiled. “And one more thing. I know the rules, but I’m going to revert to rugby at some point and fuck up. Not intentionally, most of the time, but it’s gonna happen. I’m not perfect, but I’m close. So get that in your neatly partitioned brain.”

He ran a hand over his sweaty head as we walked back to the locker room. “You’re so egotistical.”

“That’s what makes me perfect for you.”

And I knew that to be true, especially when Carson’s dad sent me my contract to sign, and it didn’t include a prohibited fraternization clause between teammates. The only thing stopping us from being together was Carson.

I was almost asleep when the uproarious laughter from the room next door woke me and the grumpy man in the bed beside me. I opened one eye just as Carson’s head popped up before turning that sexy glare at me in the semi-darkness.

“Don’t look at me. I just got to sleep.”

Stretching to the edge of the bed, I scanned the floor between us.

“Huh,” I grunted, then rolled to my back.

Carson watched me with a scowl on his handsome face.

“What?” he asked, scanning the floor. “What is it?”

I sighed and ran a hand down my bare chest.

“No sawdust. Could have sworn I was in what you Americans call a lumber yard.”

Grinning to myself as he whipped back the sheet, he got up and whacked me with a pillow.

“Asshole.” I drank in his face as the moonlight shone through the window. He was achingly handsome, and without thinking, I reached up and ran my fingertips over the abs I loved so much.

Carson shivered under my touch, then stepped back. “Please, I’m begging you not to make this more difficult than it already is.”

He was right. When we had our night together, I never thought living with the memories of how good it had been would be so frustrating, especially when I knew there was no contractual reason not to hook up again.

We stared at one another again before he spoke. “I’ll go. It’s Lennox and Evan. God knows what they’re doing.”

I watched as his silhouette moved in the darkness to the door. Opening it, he engaged the metal thing to keep it from closing, then strode into the hallway.

My chest ached after touching him. I’d become an expert at his facial expressions after two weeks.

Sometimes he showed me the man I met at the airport, and other times the man who had rocked my world.

Either way, I couldn’t have him, so all I was left to do was go back to sleep and have him in my dreams.