I’m really regretting this decision to come to Aaron’s party tonight. It seemed like a great chance to bond with teammates at the time, but I know Anna is really not digging being here. And I can’t say I blame her. Truth be told, it’s not exactly my scene, either. And as much as I hate to admit it, Anna’s right: with my reputation, it’s probably risky for me to be here with some of the shit my teammates are doing right out in the open. Hell, if Anna hadn’t signed a non-disclosure agreement, this party would be a great scoop for her to break on the news at her station.

When I go to grab Anna a beer, Aaron’s in the kitchen talking to three of the other guys and a couple cheerleaders. He high fives me when he sees me, and congratulates me on a great game. I grab his arm and take him aside for a quick talk.

“Hey, man, there’s some shit going on in your living room you might want to go take care of,” I tell him. “A couple of the guys are doing lines of coke and fucking their girls right out in the open.”

Aaron rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Jackson and Aiden, I’ll bet. Those fools get a little booze in them, they start getting up to all kinds of nonsense.”

“I’m just saying you might want to go in there and ask them to take it into another room,” I suggest. “You never know when someone’s gonna whip out a phone and take a video to put online.”

“Yeah. Point taken,” Aaron nods. “I’ll take care of it, man.”

“Cool.” Aaron heads out into the living room, and I go to grab a bottle of beer for Anna from the fridge. I’m on my way back outside when a petite blonde comes around the corner, giggling as she almost runs into me.

“Ooh, I’m sorr—” she begins, and then stops. Kayla’s mouth turns into an ugly grimace when she sees me.

“Mason,” she spits out, eyeing the beer in my hand. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I ignore the stupid question. “Hey, Kayla,” I nod.

“You aren’t supposed to be drinking,” she sneers. “You’re a drunk!”

“It’s not for me,” I say, working to keep my temper under control.

“Is it for your fiancée?” she taunts, her eyes beginning to gleam. “She’s here?”

“Leave it alone, Kayla,” I warn.

“Where is she?” Kayla asks, her voice turning sugary sweet. “I’d love to meet her!”

“I bet you would,” I mutter, and push past her before she can say more. When I get back outside, I see that Anna’s struck up a conversation with Knox Harper and his wife. I go over to them and hand Anna her beer.

“Thanks, Mason,” she nods, smiling up at me sweetly.

“Hey, Mason,” Knox grins, giving me a fist bump. “Nice job on the field today.”

“Thanks, man. You, too. Hey, Ivy.” I haven’t seen Knox’s wife in a while, and as always, she’s looking good. She’s got long red hair and green eyes, with pale skin that makes her look almost regal in this light. She’s wearing a sun dress and a light sweater. She’s one of the only other women here besides Anna who isn’t wearing something skimpy and skin-tight.

“Hey. Congratulations on getting signed to the Rockets!” she says with a sunny smile. “You looked great out there today!” She glances toward Anna. “And congratulations on your engagement. Lots of big stuff happening in your life right now!”

“Yeah,” I grin. “Anna’s kind of my good luck charm.” I move next to her and put my arm around her shoulders. Anna’s looking more relaxed now, which I’m guessing has something to do with the fact that she’s found some people to talk to.

Knox opens his mouth to say something when a familiar voice behind me interrupts him. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

I turn around. Kayla has followed me out here, and is standing there with her hands on her hips, looking pointedly at me.

“No,” I say rudely, turning back to the group.

“Then I guess I’ll have to,” Kayla says pointedly, taking a few steps forward until she’s practically right in Anna’s face. “ Hi, you must be Anna,” she says. “I’m the girl your fiancé has been fucking.”

Anna visibly blanches at Kayla’s blunt words. To her credit, she recovers very quickly.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replies, her voice acid.

“I didn’t think so,” Kayla retorts. “Mason’s been cheating on you this whole time.”

Ivy and Knox are standing frozen in their spots, horrified. I don’t know what to say. If I had been cheating on Anna, I’d be sick to my stomach about hurting her, but I haven’t been with anyone else since the day I met her. Of course, since the two of us are supposed to have been together for a year, Kayla assumes I was cheating. And she’s just a jealous enough bitch to love confronting Anna about it.

“Kayla,” I begin, but I have no idea what the next words out of my mouth should be. Should I grab her and drag her out of here? Should I have Aaron kick her out? I’m looking around for him to see if that’s an option, but thankfully Anna’s thinking quicker than I am.

“I’m afraid not,” Anna says mildly.

“Yes he fucking has!” Kayla spits out. “Ask him!” She rounds on me accusingly.

“I don’t think you understand… I’m sorry, what was your name again?” Anna asks.

“Kayla,” she says, triumph on her face.

“Right. Kayla.” Anna cocks her head and continues in a patient tone, as if she’s explaining something to a child. “You see, Kayla, Mason and I broke up briefly earlier this year. He wanted to get married, and I wasn’t quite ready. We both saw other people during that time. It didn’t mean anything, to either one of us.” She turns to me and gives me a smile. “Of course, when we got back together, we told each other everything. So, thank you for your concern, but there’s no need for it. Mason has no secrets from me. And I have no secrets from him.”

I swear to God, I have never wanted to kiss Anna more than I do right now.

I put my arm around her protectively. Next to me, Ivy and Knox visibly relax. Kayla rolls her eyes in disgust. “You’ll never keep him happy, bitch,” she hisses. “You’re not nearly enough for him.”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Knox says angrily, grabbing her arm. “Time for you to go, Kayla.”

“You can’t tell me what to do, Knox!” she challenges, trying to yank herself away from him.

“No, but Aaron can.” Knox leads her away, Kayla cursing and spitting the whole time. Ivy heaves a sigh of relief and looks at the two of us. “I think I’m gonna go with him,” she says, “in case he has any trouble locating Aaron.” She reaches out and gives Anna’s arm a sympathetic squeeze. “Sorry you had to go through that.”

Anna gives her a slight nod and a tiny, tight smile. “Thanks. It’s really okay.”

We watch Ivy weave through the crowd behind Knox and Kayla. I turn to Anna. “Shit, I’m really sorry about that. I made the mistake of sticking my dick in crazy before I met you.”

Now that the others are gone, she turns to me with eyes that are glistening. “I shouldn’t be upset. But I have to admit, I kind of am, a little bit.”

I shake my head and laugh. “Wow, I never would have known it from the way you handled Kayla. That was fucking amazing. You saved both our asses there.”

“Mason,” Anna murmurs, dropping her eyes. “Is… I mean, have you… since we met?”

“No. Babe, no.” I reach up and lift her chin until she meets my gaze. “Not with Kayla, not with anyone. I’ll admit that at first, it was because I knew I needed to keep up appearances. But since the first time with you, there’s been no one else for me. Hell, since the day we met. You’re all I see, Anna.”

“I know I have no right to be jealous,” she whispers.

“Then don’t be,” I say. “Because no one else could hold a fucking candle to you.” I bend down and kiss her, deep and soft. When I pull away to look at her, the words come out before I can stop them. “I think I might be falling in love with you, Anna.”

Her eyes grow wide. Then, as I watch, a single tear glistens off the edge of her lower lash.

“I think I might be falling in love with you, too,” she admits with a tremulous smile.

My heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest at her words. But somehow, I manage to keep my cool.

I reach up and gently wipe the tear away with my thumb.

“Come on,” I murmur, looking around. “Let’s get out of here. I just want to be with you right now, Anna. No cameras. No audience. No one but you and me.”