Page 21 of Game Misconduct

I held up a hand, “First off, he called here.”

Her head shot back. “Like your desk?”

“No, the mainline. Erin transferred him to me, and I had no idea who it was. I thought it was some investor or something I’d forgotten about.”

She shifted in her seat. “So what did he want?”

“To see if I was going to be home tonight.”

One of her brows rose. “For what?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Maybe he left something the other night? He just asked if he could stop by, and that was it.”

“Maybe he likes you?” She smiled.

The insecure teenager version of me instantly squashed that idea. He was too handsome and fit and famous to be interested in a girl like me.

But I shut her up. I was a beautiful, kind, moderately fun person. I’d dated plenty of attractive men that liked me, all of me. And not in a creepy, fetish way. Not all men were so shallow that they judged based on your dress size.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get that vibe from him. He was nice, but Mitch made a lot more of an effort to talk to me.”

She shrugged. “Men are strange. You never know what’s going on in those heads.”

“True.” I agreed. There was no way of knowing his reasons until tonight. “Jess also texted me, asking if it was okay to give out my number, so at first, I thought he was the one she was talking about, but she would have given him my cell not the mainline to my office.”

She pursed her lips, “So there are now two callers.”

“What?” I breathed out a laugh.

“Like gentlemen suitors. Didn't they call them callers?”

“I think so, but you’re the romance reader. Plus, the other one might not be a gentleman. I’ve got to wait to see what Jess says.” I stood and moved the chair back. “I’ll keep you updated.”

“You better have more details by lunch.”

I thanked her and headed back to my desk. This was way too much excitement for a Monday morning.

I had one text from my roommate waiting. Mitch asked Lance for your number but wanted to check if that was okay before giving it to him.

Mitch? I didn’t expect him to be the type to ask around. I would have thought he’d be more direct than that.

I told her it was okay and tried to focus for the rest of the morning, but my mind was several blocks away at the Fury arena.

Eight

Parker

I second-guessed myself with each footstep from my car to Viv’s door. When I decided during practice to call her, I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. We’d hung out twice, well kind of. We’d seen each other twice, and both had been nice enough. We clearly got along, so why was it so weird to call her?

Maybe I should have asked Lance or Mikey for her number. I could have even asked Amelia or headed up to the front office to ask Taylor or Chloe, but I thought that was lame. This wasn’t high school where I went through a girl’s friends to talk to her. I looked up the company she said she worked for and asked for her, telling the woman who answered that I was a friend. Viv didn’t seem to remember me without having to tell her I was on the team. Maybe I wasn’t as memorable to her as I thought.

Oh well. It was too late. I knocked on the door, and it opened a moment later. Viv let me in with a wide grin. She looked comfortable in an oversized University of Utah sweatshirt and leggings.

“How are you?” she asked while leading us to the kitchen. Her place looked different from the night of the party. It had been one big open space then, but now the area was separated into a dining room and living room with a cozy, mismatched style that mirrored her bedroom. I liked all the different colored quilts draped over the two turquoise couches and the gold and white dining room table that looked like it was actually vintage rather than a remake.

“Good.” I stopped at the end of the kitchen counter and leaned against it.

Her smile stayed in place while she watched me. “Would you like something to drink? Have you eaten? I don’t have a ton on hand. I should have gone to the grocery store over the weekend, but I can grill some chicken and veggies.”