Page 75 of Striking Heat

“Field time for her would do wonders for me. She really helped me just now.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Andie heads over to the coaches to listen to the pep talk we’re being given.

I wander over and catch the tail end of it.

“Blaze on three,” I call out, making sure to be there for my part of the huddle. We all call out Blaze and the huddle breaks up.

“Hey there, rule breaker.” Danny is leaning over the railing. He looks sexy as hell wearing a Blaze T-shirt and jeans, the navy-blue fabric stretching across his broad shoulders and showing off his muscular chest.

I move over to him and lean up so that he can hear me whisper. “Hello there, sexy.” The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Danny chuckles. “Good game. I enjoyed watching you tonight. Even the little push. Way to take no shit.”

“Thanks,” I say. “Did you get anything new for your article?”

“I don’t want to talk about that. I’m staying at the same hotel as you, so if you want to get together after the team goes to bed, come see me.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

“I think I just might do that.”

He leans farther over the railing and runs a hand down mycheek. “We have to be careful. I don’t want anyone to notice, but man, I can’t tear myself away from you right now.”

“Why can’t you tear yourself away from me now? You’ve watched me play before.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, is all.” He pulls back.

“Uh-huh.” I shake my head. “I’ve gotta go see some of the fans.”

“But I’m your biggest.”

My mouth falls open in shock. “I thought you hated me.”

“I think I’ve shown otherwise,” he calls after me as I walk away.

Chapter Thirty-One

~DANNY~

It’s later than anyone anticipated when we make it back to the hotel. I heard Coach Watts say that he didn’t want to go to a restaurant and would rather just order some pizzas since they all seemed so tired. He’s not wrong. They did all seem to be pretty tired. I thought a night out would have energized them considering the win, but late-night pizzas and drinks in the hotel lobby seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

Mac is hanging out with her normal group of friends—Amelia, Cassie, and Hendrix. They’re sharing a pitcher of beer. Although, she has more glasses than they do. I like the idea of a tipsy Mac. Might mean some fun for me later. I enjoy watching her all night. The way she laughs with her teammates is adorable, especially the way her nose wrinkles a bit.

“Could you stare at her any harder?” Nick asks as he brings me another beer. Traveling with the team means we can be around them, but the food and everything else is all for them. Nick and I bought our own subs from the pizza shop and beer from the hotel bar.

“I’m not staring at her,” I say, shaking my head.

“Really? Because when I was walking over here, I saw youreyes practically glued to that table. It looked like a wild horse couldn’t have torn you away from looking at that girl.”

“You’re an idiot. I was observing her for the article,” I defend.

“No, you were not. You may be able to pull that shit on August, but not on me. I’m not stupid, and I know what I saw.”

“You know nothing.” I sip my beer.

“What the fuck is going on with you two? Are you just banging or are there feelings here?”

“What are you, a woman?” I ask.

“Fuck off, man. You’re just deflecting. And poorly, I might add. Spill it. What’s the deal with the two of you?”