Page 60 of Racing Heat

“They’re like sisters. Moved here from Portland together, roomed together all four years of college. They’re tight. So, she will cut you if you happen to hurt Cassie. But we’re not going to have that problem, are we?” Danny adds, a bit of an edge to his voice.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you all are getting a little ahead of yourselves. We’re just…” The words die on my tongue. I don’t want to tell him. I want to protect her privacy.

“You just what?” Danny’s teasing tone is back.

“We just nothing,” I say with a laugh. “But I haven’t really gotten to talk to her yet. We’ll talk first and then I’ll talk with you.”

“Oh, you’re gonna call me later? Mac and I might be busy…”

“Alright, go make your girlfriend dinner so you can fuck her later. I’m gonna go play.”

“Okay. And Jase”—he pauses for a moment— “do something that makes you happy.”

“I will, man. Thanks.”

I decide to wait to tell her about my phone call with Danny after the game. Maybe get some food in her and then break the news that her best friend’s boyfriend, who was a former reporter, caught on to us.

Chapter Twenty-Two

~CASSIE~

For whatever reason, he takes forever to come out of his car. I try not to read too much into it. From his subtle movements, it looks like maybe he’s on the phone. So, I mess around on mine, waiting for him to exit the car.

The door opens and he slides out of his car. I smile at the sight of him. He’s an attractive man, and he looks so good wearing those black running shorts and a tight gray T-shirt. Jase looks back at me and crooks his finger, motioning for me to come out of my Jeep. I smile and hop out.

“Are you gonna come here, love?” he asks.

I walk over to him slowly, looking around the local park. I’ve never been here before. It looks like the walking path might go all the way around the park, as far as I can see. There are some runners and dog walkers heading around the path. It looks like there are three soccer fields and a basketball court off in the distance.

“Which field are you on?” I ask him.

“The one with my mates.” He points over to the first field, where a small group of man are gathering. They’re stretching and chatting with each other.

“How many per team?”

“Seven. We plan seven-on-seven because we can’t get any more than that to show up,” he tells me, looking back at his mates as he calls them.

“Do you need someone to fill in and help? I have my cleats in the car. I could go get them and head on over to the pitch with you,” I tease him.

He shakes his head, laughing, “Do you really think that you playing soccer with a bunch of us for pickup is a good idea on your day off?”

“Well, this asshole who helps coach me had me out there kicking balls around almost an hour ago,” I remind him.

He shakes his head and steps into my space. His voice drops to a husky low. “You had fun out there.”

I smile. “I did.”

If I moved a fraction of an inch, our lips would be touching. I want that so bad, but I’m not sure if I should.

“Well, that’s good, but if anything happened to you out there, Coach Watts would never forgive me. Not that we would tell him how it happened, but I can’t let you take the risk. They don’t exactly play nice.” He taps my nose with his fingertip to punctuate his words.

“Okay, fine. But I do see some women over there, so I think I should be able to play.” I whine just a bit, hoping that he gives in and lets me play. It would be fun to play soccer with him, I think.

“That won’t be happening, love. None of them are signed with the Blaze.” He smiles at me, watching me closely. “It would be nice to have you out there with me, but I would be too distracted, making sure you weren’t getting hurt and watching that ass move around in those bright yellow shorts.”

His hand comes around my backside and squeezes my ass. I yip in response.

“I’m going to set you up over there”—he points to a shady spot— “and you can enjoy watching me work all around the pitch for a change.”