Out of Play: A Sports Romance (Love in the Arena Book 2)

by Tirrell, Kayla

  It would be completely unfair to expect Grant to talk to her after the way she’d treated him, she knew that. But she didn’t know who else she could turn to.

  It was possible she would show up to his house, and he would be gone doing something else. Or worse, he could have another girl over—that waitress had probably pounced the second Em had left the table last Saturday.

  There was also the chance that Em would show up only to have Grant send her away. She wouldn’t blame him.

  But, said a tiny voice in her head, what if he let me in? Em had to hold on to that possibility. She took a deep breath and lifted her head from the steering wheel. After she composed herself, she pulled down the rearview mirror. There were giant black streaks running down both of her cheeks.

  Yep. Grant might shut the door in my face.

  But she had to try. Thankfully, she already knew where the team house was. She just needed to grab some food before she showed up on his doorstep. Luckily, she knew just where to go.

  Twenty minutes later, Em was standing outside a large, two-story bungalow in one of the nicer parts of town. A porch swing rocked gently in the breeze, and Em could see the edge of a lanai jutting out from the side of the house. The team’s owners made sure the guys from out of town got the best Florida had to offer to entice them to stay. Em assumed the proximity to the best food trucks in town was a part of the strategy as well. She carried a bag in one hand while the other hovered just inches from the door.

  Showing up unannounced had seemed like a good idea until she actually got there. Now, faced with the very real possibility of rejection, Em’s stomach twisted in knots.

  I shouldn’t have come. If I leave right now, no one has to know I was even here…

  She started to turn when the door opened with Grant on the other side. Her heart raced at the sight of him. He didn’t have his crutches but was favoring his foot as he leaned against the doorjamb. Wearing a plain tee and athletic shorts, he looked very different from the last time she saw him.

  A corner of his mouth lifted, but it wasn’t quite a smile. “I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t wait for you to knock. It’s not exactly easy getting up and down these days.”

  Em wanted to crawl under a rock. She’d been standing in front of the door for longer than she’d realized while she dithered—and he’d known she was there the entire time.

  She opened her mouth to explain but noticed a shadow of a bruise under one of his eyes. She lifted her hand to his cheek. “What happened?”

  He turned his face causing her fingers to fall. “Nothing.”

  It didn’t look like nothing. What kind of trouble are you getting into, Grant? Instead of pushing, she asked, “What are you up to?”

  Grant stared at her, his expression still unreadable. “Just hanging out. Why?”

  Em lifted the bag in her hand. “I thought you might be hungry.”

  Grant looked at her for a long time. His eyes went to the bag in her hands. “What is it?”

  His question gave her hope.

  She smiled. “Tacos from my favorite food truck.”

  Em’s entire body sagged in relief when he stepped to the side and waved one of his hands for her to come in.

  Once inside, she went straight to the kitchen. It had been a while since she’d been to the team house, and she’d forgotten how sterile the place was. It was nicely decorated, like a hotel, but it had no personality.

  He leaned against the kitchen counter and watched Em as she pulled out two Styrofoam trays covered in aluminum foil. Each one contained five authentic Mexican tacos with chicken, diced onions, and cilantro—her favorite thing from the taco truck. She hoped Grant would like it too.

  “What are you doing here, Em?”

  Her hands stilled on the small containers of salsa and loose lime slices in the bottom of the bag. “I brought you dinner. Tacos from the place I mentioned during The Dating Game.”

  “Yeah, I assumed. I’m asking why you’re here.” He shook his head. “You left me high and dry on our date, I haven’t heard from you all week, and then you show up on my doorstep with food.”

  “Not just any food. Tacos.”

  He lifted his brows.

  He was expecting an answer. She bit her bottom lip as she struggled to come up with one. Why am I here?

  Em hadn’t wanted to admit it earlier, but now she was at Grant’s house—and he was looking at her with his intense blue eyes—she had to face the reality.

  She was here because, at some point between flirting with Grant at City Bar and showing up on his doorstep, he’d become someone she wanted to spend time with. The no-dating-players rule existed to protect her heart, but it was too late. As much as she’d tried to fight against it, she cared for Grant.

  But she was scared. Scared of being rejected—of being hurt again. And that fear had caused her to treat Grant unfairly.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “I...I’m pretty sure I like you. I know I haven’t been very good at showing you that. I ditched you on Saturday, which was pretty awful. If you want me to leave, I’d understand.”

  “Hey now. Let’s not get too hasty.” Grant said with a hint of humor in his voice. “I don’t want you to go. I’m just confused.”

  That makes two of us.

  She kept her eyes shut and nodded. “Me too.”

  Grant was silent for a long time. Em wasn’t sure what happened next. Were they going to have an awkward talk about defining their relationship? Was he going to tell her he’d changed his mind, but they could still be friends?

  The knots in her stomach from earlier returned with a vengeance. They twisted tightly and just when Em didn’t think she could stand it anymore, she heard Grant push off the wall. Her breath caught when he walked over to where she still stood next to the food. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

  He had a warm smile on his face. “I was going to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. Tacos sound much better.”

  That was not the reaction she was expecting, but it was exactly what she needed after the difficult day she’d had. How did Grant know that she wasn’t ready to work out the details just yet?

  Em let out a relieved breath and shook her head. “You’re such a helpless bachelor.”

  “Not anymore.” He jerked his chin at the food. “A pretty girl who likes me brought me food. I’d say I’m living the dream.”

  “You’re the worst.”

  His brows lowered. “You say that, but you just admitted your gigantic crush on me. I’d have to question if you even know what that word means.”

  Em’s face felt like it was on fire, but she giggled and lifted one of the lime slices and squirted it over her tacos. If he wanted to keep things light, then so could she. “I don’t remember using the words ‘gigantic crush.’ Must be your male ego inflating things.”

  “Probably.” He popped a stray piece of chicken into his mouth and leaned against the counter.

  “So what were you planning on doing before that pretty girl showed up at your doorstep? Other than eating cereal.”

  He shrugged as he followed her lead and grabbed a lime of his own. “I was going to watch the game and feel sorry for myself.”

  “Ooh. Sounds exciting.”

  He lowered his voice to whisper. “Very.”

  Em’s entire body shivered. “We can still do that, you know. The game starts in fifteen minutes. Just enough time to eat and get comfortable before kickoff.”

  “Sounds good.” Grant grabbed his tray and walked out to the living room. In it was a sofa with a small coffee table. On the opposite wall there was a TV on top of a simple stand. The only piece of art on the walls was a generic ocean scene.

  Just another empty, boring room.

  Em had never stopped to think about how strange it must feel living in a house that wasn’t really yours—knowing you wouldn’t be there longer than the season. There was no reason to make it feel homey, and yet it made her sad to think that this was where Grant spent his
days.

  They both sat down on the sofa and put their trays on the table in a choreographed way like they’d been doing this together for years. Tacos on the couch while they watched a game. Is this what Friday and Saturday nights would look like if they were dating?

  No, because he’d be playing again soon. But maybe it would be the latest episode of their favorite show when the season was over. She pushed the thought down, still unsure of what to make of the feelings building between them.

  Grant sat on the end of the couch and lifted one of the tacos. “Here’s the moment of truth.” He leaned forward and took a bite. His eyes closed when he started chewing, and Em swore she heard a moan from the back of his throat.

  Is he for real?

  “Wow.” He opened his eyes and looked at Em. “These are really yummy.”

  That was the word Frida had used to describe Grant in the school cafeteria. Even though Em had just admitted that she liked him, she was still embarrassed that he’d picked up on Frida’s not-so-subtle comments from that day. A blush crept up her throat, and she turned and took a bite of her taco in an attempt to hide it.

  “Aw, don’t be embarrassed,” he teased. “You can’t help it if you have good taste.”

  Em swallowed her bite. “You really are in love with yourself, aren’t you?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. I just like the way you look when I say things like that.”

  Like a hormonal teenager who just discovered boys for the first time? Because that was certainly how she felt whenever he acted like this. Her cheeks always felt hot with a blush, she got oddly giggly, and her stomach did weird things.

  “What about all your workout videos on Instagram? You seem to love posting hot and sweaty selfies.” She lifted her brows.

  “Hot and sweaty? Is that the persona I’m putting off?” He laughed and turned in his seat so that he faced her head-on. “I just do that to help build my online personality. Silas is always going on about building your brand and trying to attract the attention of different companies to increase your revenue.”

  “Seriously?”

  “If it was up to me, I wouldn’t do all that.” He stopped and smiled to himself. “Actually, that’s a lie.”

  Em knew it sounded way too good to be true.

  “I would keep doing them because of the way it feels to see you like each post. It gives me a thrill to know you’re watching me so closely.”

  “I don’t...” Her words trailed off when she realized she’d be lying if she said she didn’t watch his profile. And she loved that he did the same. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

  Grant leaned forward and lifted his hands to her face. “It’s okay. I like you, Em. I’ve never made that a secret. You’re the one who wanted to pretend there wasn’t anything going on between us.”

  He was right. She’d always been the one to push him away due to her stupid no-dating athletes rule. Grant was amazing, and he liked her. Why was she fighting it?

  With their dinner forgotten and getting cold on the table, she wet her lips and closed the distance between them.

  Grant

  Em’s lips were soft and hesitant as they pressed against Grant’s.

  He was so shocked that he didn’t move at first. He’d wanted this since the first time he’d spotted her in the arena, and now that Em was here, in his house, kissing him, he wasn’t doing anything.

  What is wrong with you?

  She pulled back, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry, I thought…”

  She thought that he wasn’t kissing her because he didn’t want her? Nothing could be further from the truth.

  True, Grant needed to stay focused on his goals, and dating someone would make it difficult to stay on track. Not only that, Finn had told him to stay away from her. The other teammates on the Storm had warned him that getting mixed up with Em was a bad idea. Even Em had repeatedly said that she didn’t date soccer players.

  None of that had been enough to deter him.

  Grant wanted Em more than he could stand.

  His eyes went to her lips that were now turned down into a frown. If he didn’t do something he would lose his chance. He might not get another one.

  His heart hammered in his chest as he put his hands on either side of her face. Her skin was soft beneath his fingertips. He closed his eyes and brought his lips down on hers. The kiss was gentle at first, but when she sighed into his mouth, his lips became more demanding.

  Now this was a kiss.

  His hands slid to the back of her head, and he ran his fingers through her hair. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and her fingers curled into the muscles of his back. It was all the encouragement he needed to slide a hand down her back to pull her closer. She’d been so close yet so far for weeks; he needed her pressed as tightly to him as possible. Her fingers gripped his shirt.

  This moment was the culmination of weeks of flirting and dancing around each other, and now they were finally coming together. Grant lost all sense of himself. There was only Em. Only her soft lips, her silky hair, the smell of her shampoo invading his senses. He never wanted to stop kissing her, and he was afraid if he didn’t pull away soon, he never would.

  He leaned away, his breaths coming in sharp, jagged bursts. When he opened his eyes, he could see Em’s chest rising and falling just as quickly. Her lips were swollen, and she had a dazed look in her eyes.

  She’d never looked more beautiful.

  He took a shaky breath. “Wow.”

  She wet her lips and nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  “Tell me why we didn’t do that sooner?”

  She closed her eyes. “Because I don’t date athletes.”

  Grant was getting really tired of that line. She said it all the time without giving any good reason behind it. They’d just kissed, and she was still reciting it. “But why?”

  She bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “I’ve always found them to care too much about themselves to have room for anyone else.”

  That’s why she mentioned my “workout” videos. She thinks I’m self-absorbed.

  “I’m not like that. I only post so much about myself to get visibility. Once the camera is gone, I don’t care. I just told you that.”

  Em put a hand to his chest, and he calmed. “I know. But it’s more than that. I’ve been hurt so many times.”

  Grant already knew about the disaster with Damien. He also knew it was an awful set up coordinated by her loving brother. Other than that, he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her. He pushed down the anger that came with that thought and reached out to grab one of her hands. “What happened?”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Only if you want to tell me.”

  “The only other person who knows everything is Frida. It’s not something I talk about, but for some reason, I trust you.” She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe hearing these stories will make you understand why I’m so hesitant to trust another athlete again.”

  He squeezed her hand hoping it would encourage her.

  She took a deep breath. “I didn’t date a lot in high school. I mean, I might go to a dance with a guy friend, but it was never serious.”

  Grant was sure every single one of those guy friends wanted something more, but he kept his mouth shut, knowing she needed to say it all without interruption.

  “But my junior year, I started hanging out with this guy named Travis. He played varsity soccer with Finn. He seemed like a really cool guy. We had a lot of fun together, but he always wanted to take things a little further than I was comfortable. He had a lot more experience than I did since he was my first real boyfriend.”

  A sinking feeling of dread settled in Grant’s stomach. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. He wanted her to stop, knowing she was about to relive something that was very painful for her, but he wanted her to know she could trust him.

  “He told me that he loved me and that he was always going to
be there for me. I thought I loved him too, but I see now I was just desperate for anyone other than my brother to find me worthy.” She looked down, tears shining in her eyes. “But silly me couldn’t tell the difference. So when he wanted us to ‘go all the way’ one night, I let him.” She closed her eyes. “The next day he showed up to school with another girl. He didn’t even bother breaking up with me properly.”

  “Em.”

  She shook her head. “It’s okay. It’s not like I’m the first girl who’s fallen for that trick, right?”

  Her voice was light and airy, but Grant saw the glistening of unshed tears in her eyes. She lifted her shoulder. “Anyway, when Finn saw him with his tongue shoved down the other girl’s throat, he beat the crap out of him—and that was without him knowing all the details.”

  Grant didn’t want to think what would have happened to that poor sucker if Finn had known.

  “So, I swore off guys for the next year. But then I met Mark in college. He was another soccer player and so sweet. I told him right off the bat that I wanted to take things slow, and he agreed. We dated for two years. I thought we were going to get married. But then he slowly drifted away. He became obsessed with working out and watching clips of himself playing. He wanted to play for the EPL and didn’t have time for me. He dumped me on Valentine’s Day. Thankfully, Finn was in a different state that time.”

  What a jerk.

  “You’d think I’d learned my lesson, right? Soccer players were bad news. But then Finn started playing for the Storm, and I was hanging out with players after the games. I got a little flirty with some of them. Even after Finn broke Parrera’s nose for hitting on me, I didn’t want to listen. When Damien asked me out, I jumped at the chance.”

  Grant had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying that Finn had told Damien to do it.

  “I don’t know if I even liked him. Maybe I went out with him just to spite Finn. Either way, it was a huge mistake.”

  “How so?” Grant leaned forward, eager to hear what happened on the date Finn had secretly ordered.