The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel - Vi Keeland Page 0,39

charming and very professional. After it was over, Nick lowered his equipment, and I tossed my microphone into my bag. “Thank you for your time, Colin. Best of luck Sunday.”

He caught me off guard when he leaned in and kissed my cheek. “The pleasure was all mine.” As I started to walk away, he stopped me. “I’m in Suite 801. I don’t mind sharing if you’re down with it. It’ll be like the old days for Brody and me.”

What the hell?

“Come on, Delilah,” Nick said. “Locker room is only open for another ten minutes. We need to get Easton in the can.”

My head was spinning while we waited to interview Brody. Was that what the feud had been about? The two of them had been sharing women in college? I wasn’t naïve; there was a certain group of women who would do anything to be with a player. They didn’t even have to be professional yet. In fact, the football groupies were even more prevalent in college. Young bodies, raging hormones and the stardom that came with televised Big Ten football. Brody’s confidence with women hadn’t come from sitting in his dorm room studying. I knew there was ample opportunity for players; I even knew he was a player. I just didn’t need that reminder shoved in my face about the man I was sleeping with—a man I had started to fall for.

I was glad there were a few people ahead of us; it gave me time to cool off and remind myself that being inside this locker room was for my career, not for my personal life. I needed to act like a professional.

When our turn came to interview Brody, I put on my best game face. “Long line for you today. I promise to make it quick.”

“What did he say to you?”

“Who?” I knew damn well who.

“Anderson.”

“He answered my interview questions.”

“And after he kissed you. What the fuck did he whisper in your ear?”

I had been hoping he hadn’t caught that. “It was nothing.”

“Delilah,” he growled.

“Can we discuss this later? I’d rather have this talk in private.”

Brody turned to Nick and stared at him. Nick had been fiddling with his camera, but he caught on quick.

“You want me to give you a few minutes?”

I said no at the exact same time that Brody said yes. Poor Nick looked torn.

“Give us a minute, will ya, Nick?” Brody was asking, but the sternness in his voice made it not really a question.

Nick stepped away. “What did he say, Delilah?”

“It’s not important.”

“To me it is. Was he hitting on you? I can handle that if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll have a talk with him another time, but I won’t cause a scene if that’s all it was.”

I looked in his eyes. He was sincere. “Yes. He was just flirting. Told me he didn’t mind sharing. That sharing with you would be just like the old college days.”

I expected Brody to be angry. I also expected him to keep to his word not to cause a scene. Shit, was I wrong.

In a matter of seconds, all hell broke loose. Brody slammed Colin up against a locker. Reporters were yelling, players hurdled benches to get to the two men, and coaches were ripping bodies out of their way to get to their star players.

Brody threw a punch, someone grabbed Colin and jerked him to the right, and Brody landed a fist into a locker so hard, the metal was dented by a massive fist print. Both men attempted to get at each other, but there were so many people holding them back, no actual blows were exchanged.

When the two of them were separated, Coach Ryan blew a loud whistle and yelled for everyone except the team to vacate the locker room. Reporters were wrangled like cattle to the exit.

“What the hell is between those two?” Nick asked me when we were out in the hall.

I had no idea, but I was about to find out.

Chapter 16

Delilah

It was after midnight when the hotel room door creaked open. When Brody hadn’t come back after a few hours, I’d assumed he wasn’t staying in my room tonight. And that was just fine with me. After the way he’d reacted, I had no desire to be around him.

Obviously, the two men had history. But he wasn’t the only one who would suffer the consequences from today. Behaving the way he did validated to men like Mr. CUM that women didn’t belong in the locker room.