Infamous: A Bad Boy Sports Romance Novel (15 page)

I
t was a hell of a challenge
, but I spent the entire week forcing April out of my mind the moment I stepped within fifty yards of the stadium. By Wednesday, I was starting to feel and play a little more like myself again.

The added pressure of Lauren dropping by on Thursday for some magazine shoot was also helpful. But for the sake of my sanity, I tried not to think of her arrival.

Because thinking about Lauren meant thinking about April. Which ended up with me being unable to make a play to save my fucking life. So, best just to put it out of my mind.

It worked until I was gearing up for practice Thursday morning. Just as I was about to slam my locker shut, my phone chimed from within my bag. I pulled it out and opened the message, frowning down at the unknown number.

Hey.

I blinked a number of times, cocking my head as I considered that it was probably a wrong number. Still, I parroted back the greeting and waited for a response.

Lee stopped at my side when he saw my expression and asked, “What’s up?”

I turned my phone so he could see the message. “Random text.”

“It’s probably a wrong number.”

I nodded in agreement before glaring at Fred as he leaned over to put his nose in my business.

“It’s a New York exchange,” he helpfully supplied. “Probably some chick you boned and forgot about.”

Fred chuckled at his joke and walked away, but I was frozen in place. I looked back at the unfamiliar number, realizing that he was right. It was a New York number.

“You think it’s her?” Lee whispered, his eyes darting around to make sure nobody was listening in.

I just wanted to give you fair warning that I’m coming with Lauren. Boarding now.

“Oh shit,” I breathed out, my heart pounding hard. “What the hell do I say?”

Lee lowered his voice and incredulously said, “Just tell her you miss her or something, man. Or that you can’t wait to see her.”

I considered his suggestion for a brief moment, but my thumbs had a different idea as I typed out a response. Lee leaned back over to read my response and groaned.

Couldn’t stay away, huh?

“Why do you do this to yourself? Fuck, you’re such a jackass.”

Cute. See you soon.

Lee pointed at the screen like his point had been made. “See that? That’s sarcasm. Why don’t you try
not
being an asshole when she gets here?”

I shrugged, uncomfortable at the idea of acting nice to her in front of the boys on the team. They’d figure out that something was going on in a heartbeat and I’d never hear the fucking end of it.

“We’ll see,” I grimly said, ignoring Lee’s pained groan of disapproval.

I slammed the locker shut and failed miserably to keep April out of my head after we got out on the field.

Needless to say, I ran a lot of fucking laps.

* * *

“
M
oore
!”

I stopped running and squinted across the field, immediately spotting Lauren and two others standing beside coach. I started to jog over while my eyes darted around in search of April, frowning when I came up empty.

Lauren greeted me with an air kiss and a brief introduction to the photographer and makeup artist before she finally said, “Your ex-babysitter is around here somewhere as well, if you’d like to say hello.”

“April?” I dumbly asked, hoping she’d take the hint and elaborate. “Where is she?”

Surprisingly, coach was the one to answer my question.

“Pratcher offered her a tour of the stadium. She’s a big Wolfpack fan.”

“So I’ve heard,” I commented, relieved. If Lee was showing her around, I could rest-assured that she was in good hands and not being chatted up by some of the other assholes like me on our team.

“Ready to do this? Get to the locker room and get cleaned up. Marcus will be in after you shower off some of that sweat.”

“Give me ten minutes,” I replied, already jogging off in the direction of the locker rooms to quickly rinse off and silently praying that I’d run into Lee and April along the way.

I
needed
to see her. Maybe it’d just make it all the more difficult to say good-bye again, but I didn’t care. We didn’t even have a chance to say an actual good-bye in the first place.

When I got to the entryway to go under the stands and down to the showers, I turned back for a moment to take a survey of the field.

“Where are you, princess?” I mumbled.

* * *

I
was letting
the makeup artist prepare me for the shoot when I heard the sound of Lauren’s voice. She barged into the room and loudly announced, “Ladies present! Cover your bits or risked being judged!”

I snorted at the joke and almost wished that some of the guys were around to be ‘judged’, but the room was pretty much empty. Most of the starters had already taken off for the day and the second-string still had at least an hour with the assistant coach.

Such a shame. That would have been highly amusing.

“Ah, there’s my favorite client!” Lauren said with a smile when she came upon Marcus and I.

When Lee and April rounded the corner behind her, I felt my lips curl up into a wide smile. I knew Lauren assumed it was for her, which suited me just fine.

Damn
. Five weeks apart was apparently long enough for me to forget just how radiant April was. My breath caught in my throat as I let my eyes wander over her, drinking in the sight.

In the back of my mind, I tried to remember if I thought her to be this beautiful when I first saw her, or if it was a product of the feelings I had for her. Likely, it was a mixture of both.

Before any of us could speak again, coach was storming into the room, muttering about the incompetence of the second-string. When he realized he wasn’t alone, he froze, drawing a laugh out of both Lee and myself.

“How’s it going in here?” he asked, focusing his attention on April. “You enjoy the tour?”

“Yeah, it was awesome. I’ve been here before for a game, but never thought I’d be wandering around on the field.”

“Especially not with a specimen as fine as this one, I bet,” Lauren chimed in with a sly smile as she slid up next to Lee. “Do you have representation, darling?”

Lee chuckled. “Thanks, but I’m really not a big enough name to need it.”

April’s jaw dropped. “Are you
kidding
? You’re easily a top five receiver in the entire league. If you guys make it to the playoffs this season—I bet you’ll be getting sponsorship offers out the
ass
.”

April blushed when Lee laughed and I frowned at the sight. Lauren was digging around in her purse for a business card and coach was moving in closer to April.

“Sounds like you’re quite the fan of Pratcher here.”

Another blush stained her cheeks. I could feel my blood beginning to boil.

“He was my first pick in the fantasy league I play in last year. Probably will be this year as well.”

My eye twitched as April practically
gushed
over Lee. Unable to bite my tongue any longer, I asked, “What about me?”

Four sets of eyes turned to me at once and I slightly regretted drawing their attention.
Slightly.

“I-I usually don’t pick a quarterback until at least the fourth round,” she admitted with a sheepish shrug. “You were gone.”

“Well maybe you should pick me first this year.” Lee was shooting me warning looks and I noticed Lauren cocking a brow in my direction, so I hastily added, “I plan to be top three this year. I’ll make sure to earn you some points, sweetheart.”

April’s smile was tight as Lauren laughed. Maybe the ‘sweetheart’ was a little too much, but I knew that Lauren was aware that it was just the kind of man I was.

Or used to be. Whatever.

“You’re done,” Marcus announced. “Go forth and be beautiful.”

I stood up and followed Lauren out. I purposely brushed against April’s arm like I had done before we were split apart weeks prior, taking a split second to lock eyes with her and hoping that she could read what I was trying to tell her with my expression.

Which was:
We need to talk.

To my surprise, her face mirrored my own. With a small smile, I strutted back to the field, high on the thought that maybe she missed me just as much as I had been missing her.

* * *

O
nce the shoot
was finally over, I got redressed and quickly made my way back out, watching Lauren as she directed the photographer and makeup artist. Lee was long gone and second-string was just now wrapping it up, but amidst all the chaos, I didn’t see a sign of April.

“I think that went well. How about you?”

I shrugged. “Pretty good. Where’s your other worker-bee?”

“Oh, April? The car I had arranged for her arrived early so she headed back to the hotel to get some rest. Poor thing’s been working like a dog lately, picking up all the slack from her dumbass coworker,” she stated, shaking her head sadly for a moment before her expression returned to neutral. “She asked me to tell you good-bye for her and that it was nice to see you again.”

My smile was as fake as Lauren’s long-ass nails. There was no fucking way I was letting her give me a good-bye like this.

“Tell her the same. And maybe hire someone who won’t make her work her ass off. She deserves better.”

Lauren scoffed. “I know that and she’ll be rewarded soon for her hard work. But I admit, it’s surprising to hear you standing up for her.”

“Well she’s pretty much married to her job. Working for you means a lot to her,” I muttered, wishing that the words weren’t true. It would have made things so much easier.

“Still bitter that you couldn’t talk your way into her pants?” Lauren asked with a smirk and an eye roll. “Don’t be offended, Jared. She’s a very loyal employee.”

I figured that was a good enough note to end on, so I reluctantly agreed before I said good-bye, using my tiredness as an excuse to head home. I was fucking
exhausted
from practice and the shoot, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from seeing April.

I drove myself home to hurriedly clean the body oil and makeup off before changing into standard clothes. Once I was clean, I pulled out my phone and unlocked the screen with the intention to text her, only to find an unopened message already waiting for me.

Marriott. Room 412. L is staying at the Hilton so don’t worry about running into her.

I closed the message and called down to the lobby of my apartment building to request a cab while I rushed for the elevator. By the time I made it to ground floor, the doorman was already speaking to the cab driver and opening the back door for me.

“Marriott.”

“Airport or downtown?”

I paused—not sure of the answer. With a shrug, I guessed, “Airport.”

It had to be the airport. Lauren never stayed in town if she was only coming for one night so it made no sense to send April there.

Then again, it didn’t make much sense to me to have her staying in a different hotel, either. Not that I was going to complain about it.