again. The GM, though, stared a little too long at Kai when he stood with his clean shirt in his hand, tugging off the sweaty one. He watched her right back, unable to stop himself but when he angled an eyebrow at her, Gia blinked, crossing her arms before she returned her attention to Reese.
“Keep running your mouth, see what happens,” Wilson said from behind as Kai pulled out his phone again when it chirped with a text.
You’re staring again. It’s getting sad, Reese texted, and Kai shot her a look, glancing around him, catching Ryder’s hard stare and quickly ignoring it when the QB squinted between him and Noble.
Mind your business, woman. And I’m not staring.
“What the hell you think is gonna happen to me? I got a contract. Rookie of the year, bitch!”
Kai turned toward Hanson’s voice, frowning at how high it rose, but then stared back at his phone when another text alert sounded.
I’m trying to save you some embarrassment. I happen to know she refers to you as ‘that kid.’
Ouch. That one stung. Kai looked up, frowning at Reese when she stared at him. He reminded himself that Gia hadn’t thought of him as too much of a kid when she was kissing him, or standing close to him in his apartment. And he almost texted that back to Reese, but stopped himself, remembering just before he began to type that she didn’t know anything about them…probably.
“Contract or not, you pull that shit again and watch how fast Jilani throws a penalty at you. Shit, she did that to Pukui and she seems to like his big ass.”
Again, Kai turned, squinting when he spotted how close Wilson and Hanson stood to each other. They didn’t seem like they were gearing up for a tussle, but it didn’t look like they were plotting strategy for next week’s game either.
“That means dick to me,” Hanson said, moving closer to Wilson, standing with his feet apart and his fingers tucked in the front of his jersey. He glanced at Kai, tilting his head to look down the sideline.
Following his gaze, Kai’s temper flared when he noticed Hanson watching Gia standing alone on the field, her hands moving as she took another call.
“And let me tell you something about Jilani…like you don’t already know… Hanson faced Wilson, his attention shifting to all his teammates except Ryder, who’d pushed off from the bleachers and watched the running back, standing just behind Wilson.
“You think Jilani has any real clout? You think a bitch in this league will ever have any real clout? Man, please.” He adjusted his stance, moving his mouth to twist up in a mocking grin. “Bitches in the NFL? It won’t last, I can promise you. Jilani got her gig the way females always get anything. That shit started at CPU with her uncle putting her on the sidelines and from what I hear, that shit didn’t end when she left there either. Every college she went to, every franchise that took pity on her gave her a shot because she had something on someone or because she…gave that ass up.”
When Hanson glanced at Kai, the smile dropped from his lips, but he didn’t seem to take the seething glare Kai was shooting his way for the warning it was. He blinked, slowly looking away from the man before he continued.
“And with us, turns out the shit Ricks dealt with all came down to his old lady not being happy that he had this fine, hot thing coming in to run shit. Coach lost half his bank because his old lady got pissed that he let his bitch in the front door.” Hanson nodded, his head moving back toward where Gia stood on the sidelines, and he pushed that stupid grin back on his face. “That bitch you think I should be fucking worried about.”
Kai felt a little punch drunk. There was a swell of rage that bubbled to the surface the longer Hanson spoke, the more venom that frothed from his mouth. He didn’t know why he moved, what had made him turn completely around, dropping his phone, barely letting the words exit the running back’s mouth before he had the asshole by the collar of his sweat-slick jersey and then up in the air, slamming his fist into that asshole’s face.
“Pukui!” he heard, not sure who’d called after him.
There was a lot of noise then, a lot of thick arms tugging on him, trying to get him