Page 13 of The False Start (Off the Bench)

Chapter Nine

CAL

T he club is hot. Sweat drips down my back, but the feel of her body pressed close to mine is all that I care about right now.

I slide one knee in between hers, and she slides her hips forward, her eyes burning as they meet mine.

She presses herself down on my leg, and I stifle a groan and dip my head into her collarbone, allowing myself a taste of her skin.

It’s salty, and I flick my tongue out along her pulse point.

RING.

RING.

RING.

I jolt awake, my phone screaming at me from the nightstand.

I grab it, the throbbing in my hand from the shattered glass acute as I answer the FaceTime.

“What, Theo?”

“Good morning to you too.” He’s outside somewhere, but I can’t place where.

“Good morning. What do you want?” I groan, sliding out from between my silk sheets. I need ibuprofen. My elbow is on fire. I click off the TV, still showing the Earth Channel video featuring orca whale migration patterns that I fell asleep to last night.

“We’re getting brunch with the girls this morning. Get ready.”

“What time is it?” I ask, finding the bottle of pills in my medicine cabinet.

“Almost eleven, sleeping beauty. Late night?” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah, something like that,” I mutter. Knowing today was free, I overindulged and drank nearly half a bottle of whiskey after our team workout, unable to get Lila and our conversation in the bathroom out of my head.

“Well, drink some water, eat a Big Mac, whatever you have to do, because we’re meeting them at noon.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Theo.” I pop two Advil and dry swallow them, doing my best to will the hangover away.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think Lila really wants to see me right now.”

“She’ll be fine.” I can picture his shrug from here.

“I thought her ex was visiting. Or maybe not ex anymore,” I mutter.

“No idea, but Katie made a res, so I told her you’d be there.”

“Fine,” I bite out. “Where are we going?”

“I’ll pick you up in twenty.”

“Theo,” I protest, but he’s already ended the call. I groan, stomping to the kitchen to grab a water from the fridge before downing half of it.

It’s fine. I can do this. I flex my arm, feeling each individual cut. Most of them opened up at practice yesterday, and I got an earful from coach about taking care of my body during season, especially the parts of it necessary to catch a football.

My phone pings.

Theo

19 minutes

I dress quickly, throwing on jeans and a long-sleeve henley. He’s outside in his Range Rover exactly nineteen minutes post text, an extra coffee in hand.

“Thanks,” I grunt, taking it. I savor the first sip, not having had time to make my own.

He nods and lets us ride in silence until we pull up in front of a hotel.

“I thought we were doing brunch?”

“It’s on the rooftop.”

“Theo, it’s like 50 degrees.”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s covered. Don’t worry your little sensitive behind.”

I shoot him a glare, but he’s already out of the SUV handing his keys to the valet. With a sigh, I follow him through the revolving door, through the lobby, and into an elevator that takes us to a covered rooftop.

It’s a pleasant sort of place, with bright light coming in through the glass ceiling and a little outdoor terrace for when the weather is nice.

“Ah, there they are.” I follow his pointing finger to a blonde head at the far corner, leaning in close to Katie in their half booth. As we walk closer, it’s obvious the two are having a heated conversation, trying to keep their voices low.

I grab Theo’s arm—this doesn’t seem like something we should intrude on—but can’t help overhearing Katie’s next words.

“What do you mean he asked you to finish yourself?” Katie whisper yells, clearly horrified. What?

“ Shhhhh! Exactly what I said.” Lila crosses her arms, “He literally rolled over, and then by the time, I was out of the shower he was asleep.”

I freeze, remembering the labored breathing Lila made during my dream only an hour ago. My cock twitches with interest. I can’t be listening to this.

“That asshat ! I can’t believe he did that. Isn’t this the first time you’ve slept together in months?”

“Yeah, the last time I went up there we had a fight and didn’t. So, I don’t know, after a nice date like that I just expected more?”

“Wait but are you back together then?”

Lila shrugs, but Katie’s eyes flick up to us, still paused a table away.

She shakes her head, raising her eyebrows to indicate the audience.

Lila turns, eyes wide, and her face heats as she looks at me. I’m not sure if she knows we heard their conversation or not, but she’s definitely imagining it now. I hope she knows I’d never let her go unsatisfied in my bed. If she ever let me into her bed, she’d have to beg to stop coming.

“Ladies,” Theo greets them, swiftly giving each a kiss on the cheek before plopping himself next to Katie and leaving one seat next to him and one next to Lila. I hesitate for a moment before following Theo on his side.

Lila looks slightly relieved, and I find it hard to be happy that she’s grateful I didn’t sit next to her, our last conversation ringing through my mind. Where is her boyfriend anyway? Isn’t he here this weekend?

“Hey, I didn’t know you guys were joining us,” Lila says, throwing Katie a glare.

“You know I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to rile up Dennis at least once,” Theo says, grinning wolfishly as she grimaces.

So, he is coming. Awesome. My arm stings, and I shake loose the fist I made subconsciously.

“Where is he anyway?” I ask, feigning nonchalance.

“He needed to check in with work, but he’s meeting us here.” She glances at her watch. “He should be here any minute now.”

I glance toward the empty door. At least that explained the seating arrangement.

“Ah, anything for work.” Theo nods sarcastically. Lila scowls at him, and I fight the twitch of my lips.

“Let’s at least order some drinks,” chimes in Katie with a wave to the server.

We order a round of mimosas, Katie and Theo falling into easy conversation I can’t bring myself to pay attention to while Lila just stares down at her water glass.

I can’t tear my eyes away from the bubbly woman I met a few weeks ago, suddenly withdrawn into herself.

I puzzle at the sudden change when the obvious answer makes himself known.

“Babe, sorry I’m late, but you know what they say, the client’s always right.

” The voice grates on me immediately, and I turn to see a moderately goodlooking dude approaching the table.

He’s seriously overdressed for brunch in khakis and a button-down, a vest thrown over it making him look like an overgrown toddler.

He has a slight build, similar to Theo, but without the obvious six-day workout schedule we keep, and while tall for the average guy, he still falls a few inches short of both my best friend and me.

My chest warms slightly at the comparison.

He slides in next to Lila, glancing around at all of us. “Lila, why don’t you introduce me to your friends.” His gaze is ice cold as it locks onto me across the table.

“Uhm, yeah, well you know Katie and Theo, but this is Cal,” she mutters, gesturing to me without looking at me. “Cal, this is Dennis, my uh . . .” She trails off, glancing at his face and then shrugging. He gives her an affronted look before turning his attention back to me.

I nod at him, making an attempt to rearrange my face into something resembling a pleasant look. By the way his eyes only ice over, I’m guessing it didn’t work.

I should say something nice, but I’m not sure I can manage anything more polite knowing this is the asshole who made Lila cry outside a bar after just a phone call.

“Any friend of Lila’s,” he says, with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, and it doesn’t escape me that he didn’t actually finish the saying.

“Good to see you again Dennis. I was just saying how boring everything has been lately.” Theo smirks.

“I guess that does tend to happen when your team can’t manage to win more than a few games a season.” Dennis sneers at him. “Although, at least you seem to have picked up a new player who can actually catch the ball.”

“Hmmm, you wouldn’t be talking about Basset, would you?” Theo asks, openly grinning now as Lila glares at him from across the table. If only looks could kill.

“Is that his name? The new tight end?”

“So nice of you to give your regards in person.” He nods to me, and I still as Dennis slowly turns to look at me, fully taking me in.

“You’re John Basset?”

“I go by Cal actually.”

I can almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

“Does anyone need another mimosa?” Lila asks loudly, though she’s the only one who’s drained their glass.

He turns to her with a look so withering, I’d do almost anything to pull his attention back on me to spare her.

“What do you do, Dennis? Since you’re so familiar with my own career it seems.”

He scoffs. “I work in finance managing high net worth individuals. Not all of us can just play games all day for a living.” The way he says it, like fin-aunce, reminds me so much of my father I can barely take him seriously.

I raise one eyebrow, not quite sure his insult really landed the way he intended it to.

“Since I quite enjoy playing games , as you put it, I can’t say I’m complaining. But that sure does sound fascinating. High net worth individuals, I’m sure they’re very grateful for your help.” I hear a snicker to my left, as Theo hides his face in his champagne flute.

The server comes by just then, saving us from what I’m sure would’ve been a well-reasoned retort, though I can’t make myself care. “What can I get you all to eat this morning?”

We place our orders, and I can’t help but notice an awful lot of whispering coming from the other side of the table.

“—knew you’d be angry.”

“So, you lied?”

“I never lied.”

“Was it him on the phone yesterday?” Dennis demanded, his voice rising slightly.