Page 32 of Tempting the Player
Bridget dropped three red pens on the floor.
“Did you sleep with Chad?” Madison asked.
The question hung in the room like a plume of poisonous gas. Bending down, she gathered up the pens and faced her friend once more. “No. I did not sleep with Chad.”
Madison stared at her a long, hard moment and then said, “I believe that part of the story.”
“Maddie,” she said, using the nickname Chase favored.
“Whatever. Don’t Maddie me. I feel offended. I know you’re not being honest with me. Something obviously happened between you two.” Her pout was brief, and then she stood. “You do realize Chase will probably get the truth out of him, right?”
Damn.
Her friend’s eyes lit up as she moved to the front of her nice big desk and propped a slim hip against it. “And if I find out there was an exchange of bodily fluids—any type of fluid—I’m going to tell Robert that you’re madly in love with him.”
“That’s so wrong!”
Madison shrugged.
Picking up a stack of Post-it notes, she chucked them at Madison. They missed her by a mile. Hell. There was little to no chance she was going to get out of this situation without Madison and Chase knowing the truth.
And worse yet, Bridget was going to have an even harder time forgetting Chad after that last searing kiss.
Chapter Nine
Miss Gore was not a happy camper. “You should be home.”
Chad rolled his eyes as he pressed the speaker button on his cell. “I’m at my brother’s house. Isn’t family time a good thing?”
There was an audible huff. “Knowing you, there will be alcohol and strippers involved.”
Poker and beer—there weren’t many things in life better than combining those two. But definitely no naked chicks. Pulling the keys out of the ignition, he considered chucking his phone into the nearby bushes. “We’re just playing some poker.”
“Just like you were supposed to be going to dinner with your teammate, when in reality you were going out and getting drunk,” Miss Gore shot back.
Chad smirked. “Look, if I get drunk and I’m not driving, I’ll just crash at my brother Chandler’s house. It’s no big deal. Chill out.”
“I don’t like this.”
“And I really don’t care. Good night, Miss Gore.” He cut off her protests by hitting the end button and then turned off his phone.
Damn, if it wasn’t for that stipulation in his contract…
Shaking his head, he climbed out of his Jeep and headed up the steps. Well-manicured plants and shit lined the sidewalk, which drew a snort from Chad. Chandler, the eldest of the Gamble brood, had the personality of an ox sometimes, but man, his brother had one hell of a green thumb.
Was that a bush of late-blooming roses by the porch? Pansy ass.
An hour later, Chad was kicked back at the card table, watching Chandler deal the cards. Across from Chase, their partner in crime and Maddie’s older brother, Mitch, nursed a warm beer.
“Ever since you got married you’ve started drinking like a grandpa,” Chad accused Mitch, scratching at the label on his bottle.
Mitch snorted. “With Lissa’s middle-of-the-night cravings, I need to stay sober. I have no idea when she’s going to start craving fried chickpeas.”
Chad shuddered. “Babies…”
Frowning at his cards, Chandler looked up. His longer hair was pulled back in a short ponytail. “Fried chickpeas?”
Mitch nodded. “She dips them in a mixture of ketchup and mustard.”
