And excited. And exhilarated. Seeing him move out there, huddling with his teammates for a brief moment before they got into position, a thrill moved through her. This was what he deserved. Actually getting out on a field and leading a team. He was strong enough, motivated enough, and an excellent player. He was probably wasting his time with the Hawks, waiting around for Jared to retire. He still had a few excellent years in him, despite the injury he still dealt with.
But she forgot all about that as she watched Flynn in action. That man out there everyone was cheering on had been in her bed last night. His big body moving over hers, inside of her, his mouth fused with hers, shouting out her name when his orgasm swept over him.
Her skin warmed at her dirty thoughts. She’d especially loved it when she’d given him the blow job earlier in the shower. Licking up every drop of water on his muscular thighs, her fingers curled around the base, her lips wrapped tight around the head of his cock. He’d tasted like heaven, he’d looked like he was in pure, delicious agony, and he’d come so hard, he’d had to brace one hand on the tiled wall of the shower, while he’d curled his other hand into her wet hair.
A shiver moved through her at the memory, and Willow—of course—noticed.
“You’re in love with him,” she said, her expression somber, her eyes wide.
Aubrey shook her head, panic rising within her, downright overwhelming. No, she absolutely was not. She liked him. A lot. But she was being forced to play pretend because her job was at risk. No way could she admit to Willow that Harvey was making her do this for a promotion. What would her friend think of her if she knew the truth? Worse, what would Flynn think of her?
“I am not. We’re just…”
“Having hot sex? I can tell. You’re glowing right now. But I think it’s more than that.” Willow bent her knees to peer straight into Aubrey’s eyes. “Am I right? You’ve fallen in love with Flynn, haven’t you?”
“Um, we’re supposed to be in love, you know?” Aubrey glanced around, making sure no one was paying them any attention. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“For real, hmm?” That knowing tone told Aubrey that Willow saw right through her.
“Willow.” Breathing deep, Aubrey stepped closer to her friend. Panic filled her, and she shoved it down deep. “Stop.”
Willow’s eyes went wide. “Stop what?”
“You know.” Aubrey narrowed her eyes as she watched Willow carefully. Whoops. Yep, there it was, that little flash of guilt in her friend’s eyes. “Giving me a hard time about my relationship with Flynn.”
“Fine.” Willow blew out a breath. “You two are so cute, and it’s fun to rile you up. I guess Nick’s influence on me is stronger than I realized.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Aubrey laughed, hating the unease that had settled over her. Now she was lying to Willow. Acting like she was bent and sensitive over Willow’s teasing, when really she couldn’t deal with the reality that her relationship with Flynn was phony.
Last night, this morning with Flynn, had been amazing. He’d confessed things to her, and she’d blown them off. She’d told him let’s have fun or something equally inane and then proceeded to jump him. He’d never protested, but how callous could she be?
You’re being callous to protect your fragile heart. You know you could fall for Flynn. Easily.
True, that.
“Okay, one more thing. Last night at dinner.” Willow paused, her expression going reflective. “I saw the way Flynn looked at you.”
Everything within her seized up. “How did he look at me?” She almost didn’t want to hear Willow’s answer.
“Like he was falling in love with you.”
Aubrey closed her eyes. Her heart hurt. That was the absolute last thing she wanted to hear. “He’s very sweet,” she said weakly.
“Uh huh. That’s one way to describe him,” Willow muttered.
Aubrey said nothing and kept her gaze locked on the field. Flynn was playing wonderfully. She needed to focus on that, not the conversation she was having with Willow.
“Do you like him?”
Damn it, she’d thought Willow would drop the subject. “Yes.” She said the word so softly she worried for a moment Willow hadn’t heard her. And yes, she liked him, but what good would that get her?
“Then maybe you shouldn’t let him go. Look, I was such a bitch to Nick when we were first getting together. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I just… I didn’t know how to react to him actually wanting me, you know? I thought he was trying to trick me, just to get into my panties.”
Aubrey laughed, thankful for the light moment. She needed it. “He complained to me a few times about what a challenge you were.”
“Challenge? That’s a nice way of putting it. I was awful.” Willow sighed. “I finally realized that he actually meant all of those sweet words. The way he looked at me, touched me, kissed me… It was for real. So if what you and Flynn are experiencing is real, you’d better grab on and not let go. Something like that doesn’t come along every day, you know.” Willow screamed, startling Aubrey. “Did you see that play? Oh my God, Flynn is on fire!”
He was. He was doing great, but she could hardly focus. The idea of not letting Flynn go freaked her out. But so did the thought of losing him. “I know,” she admitted.
Aubrey turned her gaze back to the field, watching the Hawks play. They were driving the ball down with ease and were already on the twenty-yard line. She watched anxiously, not wanting to think about the relationship. Forget the relationship. She just wanted to focus on the man.
“You’re thinking too much,” Willow said, her soft voice breaking through the cloud of questions running through Aubrey’s mind. “Stop trying to overanalyze or figure out what’s going to happen next. Just go with the flow.”
Aubrey felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. You’re thinking too much. Flynn told her that all the time. “Just go with the flow,” she murmured. How she wished it were that easy.
Flynn threw the ball and—of course—Nick caught it, running into the end zone with ease. She and Willow leaped to their feet, cheering and screaming along with the rest of the crowd, Aubrey’s heart threatening to burst with happiness that Flynn had just put numbers on the board.
He was going to be so happy. So proud. And so was she.
“Amazing play!” Willow shouted as she grabbed Aubrey’s hands, the both of them hopping up and down.
“I know.” Aubrey nodded, her gaze snagged on Flynn as he jogged off the field with the rest of the team, yanked off his helmet as one of the field staff members ran toward him, offering him a drink. He took it, drained the plastic cup in one swallow, before handing it back to the kid. His hair was damp and standing on end, his expression determined, the black lines painted below his eyes smudged.
God, he looked hot. If he came striding into their hotel room looking exactly like that later tonight, she’d jump him in five seconds flat.
“You know, Nick said something about you two after dinner last night, and it shocked me. He loves to give Foley a bunch of shit—direct quote—but he really does like him. He thinks you’re good for each other.”
Having Nick and Willow’s approval only made her feel worse. Like she was the biggest liar in all of Liar Land. It also had her thinking crazy thoughts. Like maybe she and Flynn could make this work. What’s the worst that can happen? He’d leave her in the dust and never call her again when he found out she’d been faking it for a promotion while he might get traded?
Or maybe they would fall completely in love, get married, and have tons of little Foleys running around?
The thought literally had her wobbling on her feet.
“I don’t know.” Aubrey pulled out of Willow’s hold so she could turn and face her friend. “We’ll see.”
Yeah. They would definitely see.
Chapter Fourteen
“We’re cutting him loose at the end of the season,” Harvey told Aubrey, his expression grim, his
gaze full of concern. And for once, it didn’t feel false. He looked like he was really worried.
For her.
“Wait a minute… What?” Aubrey shook her head. They were just outside the locker room. Harvey had caught her lingering around, waiting for Flynn to emerge, and Harvey had told her he wanted to talk to her. Privately. So she’d let him drag her to a quiet spot around the corner from the locker-room entrance, where they wouldn’t be noticed.
“Foley. They’re going to trade him. It’s been confirmed. After those few minutes he just played, he’s going to be a hot commodity.” Harvey rubbed a hand along his jaw. “Don’t tell him, though. They don’t want it to leak.”
Aubrey blinked, her vision going fuzzy. So what did this mean? Had she faked it for nothing? Why had Harvey just told her this? And he expected her to keep it from Flynn. Talk about putting her in a crappy position. “Why did you tell me?” She shoved at him, her hands gripping Harvey’s expensive suit jacket and giving him a solid push. God, why would he lay that bit of devastating news on her now?
Harvey stumbled backward, his eyes full of shock as he brushed at his front, smoothing out the wrinkles she just put in his jacket. “What the hell, Aubrey? This is a twelve-hundred-dollar suit!”
“I don’t give a crap about your suit,” she muttered, shaking her head. It would’ve given her even greater satisfaction if she would’ve punched him, but that might not have gone over so well. Harvey was, after all, her boss. And punching your boss was definitely frowned upon. He’d already threatened her with losing her job if she didn’t follow through with this stupid facade. Now he dumped information on her she absolutely did not want to know and expected her to keep it to herself. It sucked. “I can’t believe you told me that. I didn’t want to know.”
“But I needed you to be prepared,” he said.
“Prepared for what?” She threw her arms up in the air. To keep this momentous secret from a man she’d grown closer to? She needed to be real here. She didn’t want to be… heartbroken. She didn’t want to lose Flynn.
Faced with the reality that she would indeed lose him made her realize she didn’t want to let him go.
“For when he leaves. Look, this is the best possible thing for Foley. Quinn’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Foley’s talent is wasted, sitting on a bench. That’s all he’s done practically his entire time as a Hawk. We trade him at the end of the season, and gain an amazing player or two in the transaction.” Harvey nodded, looking awfully pleased with his explanation.
That was all well and good, but how could she sit on this news for the rest of the season? Fine, it was only a few more weeks, but still. This was momentous. Huge. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this now, though. Is this some sort of test? Haven’t I been tested enough?”
“What are you talking about?” Harvey’s eyes widened.
“Are you trying to see how well I hold up with such…delicate information?” Aubrey lifted a brow.
“Not at all.” Harvey clamped his lips shut, looking guilty.
He was totally testing her. But why? It wasn’t enough that since she’d started with the Hawks, she’d gone along with every single thing Harvey had ever asked her to do. Including this ridiculous fake-relationship thing, where her face was plastered all over gossip sites and national magazines. She’d been on SportsCenter, for the love of God. All for the love of the Hawks.
Of course, she was the one who’d fooled around with Flynn in the first place and put herself in this situation…
“Oh, so you can dump this news on me, but you lie about this being a test? God!” Aubrey spun away from him, hardly able to stand looking at him any longer. She started pacing back and forth, running over in her mind how she could keep this quiet and not tell Flynn.
No matter which way Flynn’s future unfolded, it wouldn’t be easy.
Aubrey stopped pacing and hung her head, closing her eyes. Her heart physically ached at the thought of Flynn leaving the Hawks, leaving San Jose, leaving her.
And she’d have to sit there and pretend she had no clue it was going to happen. Because no way would she tell him first. She just…couldn’t do it. Didn’t have it in her. Holding everything back would feel like such a lie, though.
Something she should be used to, considering she was lying to him about everything.
“I hate that you told me this.” She turned on Harvey, glaring at him so hard he took a step back, as if he was afraid of her.
Which he should be. She desperately wanted to hit him. Still.
“I thought it was the right thing to do.”
“Well, it wasn’t. Now I’ll have to act like nothing’s wrong when everything’s wrong.” Her cell phone dinged, indicating she had a text message, and she pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket to check who it was from.
Flynn.
Where are you? We’re gonna start loading up soon and head for the airport.
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and she blinked them away as she started to type in her response.
Another message came over as she typed.
I’m dying to see you.
Oh. God. She didn’t think she could take this.
I’m talking to Harvey, she typed. Give us a few.
No prob was Flynn’s response. Then he added a smiley face.
Kill me now, she thought.
She shoved her phone back in her pocket. “Are we through here?”
“Yeah.” Harvey hung his head for a moment and let out a heaving sigh before he glanced back up at her. “I shouldn’t have told you.”
“You’re damn right you shouldn’t have,” she agreed.
“I thought it might help you to see what a great position he’s in. Truly. He can’t get anywhere as a Hawk. He’s always in Quinn’s shadow, and he’s wasting his time. He deserves to further his career, and being a Hawk isn’t going to do it,” Harvey explained.
What Harvey said…made sense. But it still hurt that he’d dumped this information on her.
“It’s only for a few weeks,” he continued. “We’re flying home tonight. You’ll be too tired to talk to him when you get off the plane, so go straight home. The next few weeks, you’ll be so busy at work, he won’t get a chance to see you,” Harvey suggested. “And he’s going to be just as busy. Don’t worry about it. You’ll get through this.”
Easy for him to say.
“And you know what else?”
“What?” she asked warily. “You’ve got something else up your sleeve to send me reeling?”
“The promotion is as good as yours. You’ve been a champ at handling this entire situation. The public is convinced you and Foley have a solid relationship. Hell, I think Foley is convinced you two have a solid relationship. So, good job.” He went to pat her on the back, but she jerked away from his touch, anger flowing through her veins and boiling her blood.
She should be happy. Thrilled. Instead she felt awful. She was getting a promotion, but she was losing Flynn. And she had “earned” the promotion by deceiving everyone, including Flynn.
Yay?
The facts needed to be faced. What started out as a lie had turned into something more. She was falling in love. With Flynn Foley. It might’ve happened kind of quick, but there was no denying her feelings.
“That’s…wonderful, Harvey,” she said, her voice weak, her thoughts scattered. She couldn’t focus on the promotion, not when Flynn was about to learn about his trade. “Thank you for letting me know.”
Harvey squinted at her. “You okay?”
Nodding, she pasted on a smile. “I’m fabulous, Harvey. Just great. Can we discuss the details regarding the promotion later? I suddenly have a headache.”
“Sure.”
You can do this, she told herself as she left Harvey without another word and started toward the locker room. Flynn would understand when she told him she had to work. He’d be busy, too. It’s natural that the two of them wouldn’t spend much time together over the next
few weeks. Heck, tonight she could beg off seeing Flynn by claiming she was tired, which she was. And he probably was, too.
Easy. Peasy.
Her stomach turned, and she swallowed hard, fighting off the wave of nausea that threatened.
Yeah. She could pretend to fall asleep on the plane. That would avoid conversation for sure. She could totally do this.
Totally.
…
“You okay?” Flynn reached out and tucked a few strands of silky hair behind Aubrey’s ear, brushing his fingers against her neck as he withdrew his hand. They were sitting next to each other in the back of the plane, and she’d been extraquiet since takeoff.
Whereas he was extra–keyed up, his blood still pumping full of adrenaline. That game had been amazing. Life altering. He felt like he could do anything, conquer any team, hold his own with Nick-fucking-Hamilton and Jared-fucking-Quinn.
Who knew a few minutes back on the playing field, during one of the most important games of the season, could change him so much? Reporters had thrust their mics in his face the moment the game had finished. Camera flashes blinding him, all of them shouting his name, wanting to ask him how he felt about the game, what was going on with Quinn’s shoulder, and would he play in next week’s matchup?
Not one question about his sex life, about Aubrey, none of that. It was awesome. He was being recognized for what he could do, not who he was doing.
He was on top of the world. With the respect of his teammates and coaches and Aubrey sitting by his side, he’d never felt so satisfied. He could even forget his earlier worry over Aubrey being a distraction. At least for tonight.
Yet something was bugging Aubrey. She’d been acting differently from the moment he’d first seen her after the game. Very…distant. She’d congratulated him, hugged him, and kissed him and said all the right things, but she’d been off. That normal light that glowed from within her hadn’t been shining in her eyes.
So what the hell was going on? Was she mad that he was getting the attention and it had nothing to do with her?
Game For Tonight (Entangled Brazen) (Game for It) Page 15
