Page 38 of Backup Plan

I head over to the table and set my plates down, and I grab a mimosa from a little bar set up in the other corner. I see that everyone else is in line for the food now…except Madden, who meets me by the bar.

“You found Penny’s earring?” he demands. “Penny doesn’t wear earrings.”

“Fuck off,” I mutter.

“What’s going on with you?” he snaps under his breath. At least he’s being quiet over here.

“None of your business.”

“Aha!” he cheers triumphantly—and less quietly. “You didn’t say nothing. If it were nothing, you would have said nothing. Instead, you said it’s none of my business, which means it’s not nothing.”

“Will you shut the fuck up?” I grit out.

“Why?”

I glance over and see Penny and Everleigh laughing together as they fill their plates with food. I move a little more into the corner. “I ran into her at the bar around the corner from my place a couple days ago, and we had a night. Okay?”

“And a second one last night?” he correctly guesses.

“She’s got kids. My future’s uncertain, but likely two thousand miles away from Chicago.” I shrug. “This isn’t a thing. We’re just having some fun, and we don’t want anybody to know.”

It’s more than fun to me. Already. Like I whispered to her last night as I ejaculated inside her tight pussy, I’m fucking addicted to her. I don’t want this to just be fun. I don’t want it to not be a thing.

But at the same time…how can it be given where we both are in life?

“I swear to God, secret relationships are a fucking Bradley family rite of passage,” Madden mutters. “First me and Ken. Dex and Ains. Ev and Mav. Ford and Tatum. Not Archer, which tracks since he’s always trying to be different from the rest of us. Now you? Don’t tell me Ivy’s next. My heart can’t take it.”

“It’s not a relationship, bro. Sometimes things feel like they should be right, but the timing just doesn’t work out. It’s not like I’m actively looking to settle down, and it’s not like she wants to hop right into something when her divorce isn’t even final.”

He raises his brows. “You know excuses are like assholes, right?”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone’s got one.” I don’t mention that my finger was in hers last night. Two of my fingers, actually. And my cock will be next.

Fuck. I need a cold drink, not more alcohol.

“Just…keep it between us, okay?” I beg.

He nods. “Of course, Liam. Just be careful. For both your sakes.” He steps away without anything else, and he beelines for Kennedy, who looks over at me as he talks to her. All that does is tell me he isn’t keeping it between us at all, but as long as it doesn’t go any further than Kennedy, we won’t have a problem.

Penny sits far away from me, and I avoid looking at her so I don’t arouse suspicion.

Everleigh rented several cabanas by the pool, and it’s even harder not to stare at Penny in her black swimsuit. Her body fucking rocks, and all I can think about is when I fucked those gorgeous tits.

I guess I don’t bother to pretend like I’m not staring at her since my eyes are hidden behind mirrored sunglasses, and I also don’t get up since I have a boner the size of Texas that I’m doing my best to conceal.

I sit around drinking instead because that’s a solid way to spend a Saturday in the offseason.

My agent calls a little before four, and I excuse myself to take the call since the music is blaring by the cabana. I head inside toward a quiet hallway.

“Hey, Scott.”

“Liam, hi. San Diego was impressed and made an offer.”

“Hit me with it,” I say.

“Two years, a one million signing bonus, and another one guaranteed. Two point seven per year with incentives could push you over eight million for two years. They really want you.”

Damn. That’s actually far more than I was making on my rookie contract in Pittsburgh.