Page 19 of Hard Count
“You okay?” Noah asked.
“Yes.”
“Liar. You seem stressed.”
He let his breath out. “You call everyone you hook up with in bathrooms?”
“Only the ones I can’t stop thinking about.”
It hit somewhere he hadn’t prepared for. Piper walked toward the windows.
“That can’t happen again,” he said.
Piper hated what just came out of his mouth, but he needed to think responsibly.
“You’re still thinking about it,” Noah said.
“Yes.”
“Good,” Noah said in that cocky tone that pissed Piper off, but was now igniting something in him.
Piper let out a quiet breath.
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m not trying to help.”
Piper’s mouth moved before he caught it. Not a smile, but almost one.
He stood in silence again, neither of them rushing to fill it.
“We have the launch party tomorrow. I’m flying into LAX in the morning,” Noah said.
“I know. Let’s not be obvious,” Piper replied.
“That should be interesting.”
Piper closed his eyes. “It should be.”
“Good night, sexy.”
“Good night, Noah.”
The line went dead as he set the phone down. He stood at the window and Beverly Hills didn’t care what was going on but Piper did. He had spent years controlling everything and the troubling part wasn’t that this had slipped through. The troubling part was that he’d let it, and it could destroy everything.
Chapter Nine: Los Angeles
The brand team spared no expense for the lavish launch party.
The rooftop bar overlooked downtown Los Angeles, glass railings catching the glow of the city while a playlist rolled through the speakers; Luther Vandross’Never Too Much, the hook was so familiar it had become its own guest in the room.
A who’s who of the league and show business gathered near the bar. Media executives hovered near the screens, league officials pretended to mingle casually while clocking who talked to whom.
Insufferable influencers filled the rest of the space. People who had never watched a football game in their lives, but suddenly cared very much about quarterbacks in designer underwear and stuffed lions.
They were all there for the same reason, the underwear campaign.
Large digital screens looped the photos. Piper Ashton and Noah Reyes, inches apart, eyes locked, glistening chests and arms. The images rotated at an intense pace. The garish font blasted the text,ASHTON VS. REYES: BEASTS IN BRIEFS
