know, her hard-working defensive lineman dad.” Kai forced a sigh, laughing when Reese’s grin widened. To their left, he felt Gia’s stare, heard the distinct lilt of her voice moving across the field like it called to him. He hated how easily she could distract him. He hated how much he didn’t fucking hate it much at all.
“Anyway,” he told Reese, “I promised her I’d introduce you.”
“Can’t wait.” Reese glanced over Kai’s shoulder when Gia called her name, and Kai followed her stare, biting his lips when the GM held up her hand, silently asking the kicker for a minute when her cell rang.
Kai watched her move, taking in those delicious curves, his mouth watering as she stretched, pushing her shoulders back. He wanted to stand behind her, massage the tension from her, kiss her…
“Stop being so obvious,” Reese said, jabbing Kai again in the rib.
He ignored the directive, waving her off with a quick dismissal when he spotted Wilson and Baker near the stands looking ready to head out. Reese glanced between Kai and Gia as he started to move away from her and he jogged around, moving back to her under the guise of asking her about the weekend.
“You coming to Lucy’s this weekend?” Kai barely noticed Reese or the expression on her face. He wasn’t all that interested in her weekend plans. He was just being sneaky, wondering if Gia was still talking, curious if she noticed him at all.
“Maybe,” Reese said, not hiding her laugh, head shaking.
Kai waved at her, turning to offer Wilson a nod as he approached. He grabbed a fresh bottle of water from the table Kenya leaned against, downing it while his friend messed with his phone.
“You good, Glenn?” Kai asked, surprised when the QB’s attention seemed caught on the sidelines and the stare he shared with Noble.
“I’m gravy, man,” Ryder said, not looking away from Reese when he spoke.
Kai nudged Wilson’s shoulder, bringing his attention to Ryder and how focused he seemed on the placekicker. Kenya frowned, abandoning his phone, shifting his gaze to the left and Kai took his meaning, moving away from the table to stand between Glenn and the sight he had on Reese.
“Good practice,” he muttered, looking from a now frowning Ryder to Wilson and Baker who leaned forward, his head between his hands as he sat on a cooler. “You good, Baker?”
The offensive lineman lifted a hand, nodding but didn’t speak.
“This cabrón,” Kai heard, turning to see Pérez approach, throwing his helmet on the ground. He tossed a nod over his shoulder, his voice low, his anger brimming as he glared behind him at the approaching Hanson. “Ricks makes us run double drills because this motherfucker is a pendejo.”
Hanson approached, jerking back the lid to another cooler with his foot, making Baker flinch away from his exhausted pouting.
“Watch it,” Baker mustered, sweat dripping from his face.
Hanson shot him the bird, falling against the table holding the water, his chest heaving, his jersey stuck to him like oil as he downed one bottle after another and reached for a third.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” Wilson told Hanson, his words seeming to make the younger running back still as he held his bottle in front of his mouth.
“Fuck you, Wilson.”
“Say what you want, man, call me what you want, but you had no fucking cause to pull that shit on Noble today.”
Hanson glared at Wilson but seemed to forget his irritation when Ryder released a low cough from his easy lean against the bleachers behind them.
The running back shook his head, his gaze shooting across the field to where Reese and Gia stood talking. The kicker laughed at something the GM said, holding an aluminum sports bottle between her fingers, taking a couple steps back toward the exit leading into the stadium building.
“I was just messing with her,” Hanson tried, but the excuse was lame. None of his teammates seemed to buy it.
Wilson shook his head, his voice loud as he laughed. “That wasn’t you messing with nobody.”
“The hell you know about it?”
“I know you’re starting shit when you shouldn’t.”
“Man, please…” Hanson sounded bored, indifferent.
Kai turned, fishing inside his bag for a clean shirt. Really, though, Kai used the distraction of finding a fresh shirt to watch Gia, see where she’d go. Reese took another step back, looking like she was ready to leave, then both women glanced his way. Noble smiled at him, head shaking as though she found it funny that she’d caught him watching Gia yet