Page 14 of Off Limits
I guess I’m wide-eyed at the sight of the girls, because Dalton Briar picks up on it as soon as we enter the VIP suite.
‘First time in a joint like this, huh?’ he laughs as we take our seats and order drinks.
I can’t help but smile. ‘Is it that obvious?’
‘Lemme guess,’ Dalton raises his voice toward me over the music. ‘In college, you dated the captain of the cheer squad and went to church every Sunday.’
I wince. He’s not so far off the mark. At Penn State, I did date the captain of the cheer squad, who I broke up with after she cheated on me with one of my teammates. I nursed a broken heart for weeks. After that, I hooked up with a social sciences major, who said she didn’t wanna be an NFL WAG and decided not to follow me out to Texas when I got drafted. I was never single for long in college, and never long enough that my buddies could drag me out to anything close to resembling a club like this.
‘Honestly? I hate these kinda joints,’ Dalton lowers his voice when I don’t reply. ‘I’m only here to keep my brother happy.’
We both look over to Hudson Briar, who is talking animatedly to two of my fellow rookies. Outta all of us, he’s the most wasted.
I lean forward. ‘So how come Hud doesn’t have a girl?’
Dalton tries not to smile. ‘Oh, it’s complicated.’
‘How so?’
Dalton leans back in his chair. ‘Truth is, Hud met the woman of his dreams a while back, but she’s not, uh… let’s just say she’s not available.’
‘Why? Married? Already taken?’
Dalton shakes his head. ‘No, nothing like that. Her name is Harmony Reese. You ever heard of her?’
I stick out my bottom lip and shake my head. Her name doesn’t sound familiar.
Dalton checks his brother is not listening, then leans across the table so I can hear him.
‘Harmony Reese is captain of the Mutineers’ cheer squad. The CMC. There’s a clause in their contract the cheerleaders have to sign, prohibiting them from fraternizing with any pro-player. As in, they can’t go anywhere near us, and we can’t go anywhere near any of them. Those are the rules. This is Harmony’s fifth year on the squad.’
My brows draw together. ‘That sounds like a dumbass rule.’
Dalton pulls a face. ‘It’s by order of Sam Conway, chief brand officer for the Mutineers.’
Samantha Conway, as in daughter of Hank Conway, the owner of the Mutineers and the whole reason I’m sitting here with a big-money contract. ‘Oh,’ I say.
‘I mean the players on the field might be the ones bringing home the loot, but it’s the cheerleaders… they’re the ones pulling in the big crowds. Sam Conway wants people to believe they’re superior somehow. Beautiful, classy, feminine… so perfect to seem, like… unattainable. Like almost holy. Ally told me they have all these unwritten rules they gotta abide by, like always having perfect hair and makeup whenever they go out. There’s even a no-touching rule. So, Hank Conway might own the Mutineers, but let me tell you, it’s his daughter pullin’ all the strings. She got him wrapped around her little finger. Her son, Brody, he’s her deputy. She’s positioning that asshole to take over the entire outfit one day when her dad meets the big adios.’
I tilt my head toward Hudson just as our drinks arrive. ‘So, what’s the deal? Hud plans to, like, wait for Harmony or something?’
Dalton checks his brother is not looking our way. ‘Keeps saying he’s not. But deep down, I know he is. If he has a girlfriend, she usually lasts less than a month.’
‘What about Harmony? She feel the same way?’
‘Well, she chose squad captain over him, so I’m not all that hopeful.’
‘So how does he know she’s the one?’
Dalton’s lips curl into a smile. ‘You’ve never been in love, have you, rookie?’
I shrug. ‘I mean… I thought I had.’
‘You got a girl right now?’
Without warning, the woman from the grocery store pops into my head. Serenity. These past few days, she keeps doing that. Sweet, kinda shy, seemingly no idea how smokin’ hot she is. My perfect kinda girl. I’m excited for Thursday night’s pre-season opener, but, man, Friday can’t come soon enough. I keep wondering if I’ve turned her into something else in my mind, and that really, I’m just being delusional – dreaming about the idea of her, rather than who she actually is. But instinct tells me that she’s somebody I need to get to know, and I’m already planning what I’m gonna say to persuade her to give me her number.
‘No, nobody,’ I say with a sniff.
