I nearly did exactly what I had told myself I wasn’t going to do.

And it had felt incredible.

Owen was amazing. His body was rough and ripped, and his cock had been thick against me as he rocked my hips along his length. I couldn’t believe how good it felt to kiss him, especially after wanting it for so long.

He simply took me, just like I knew he would. When he pulled me against him, I knew I was lost, knew I was going to do whatever he wanted me to do. Because the truth was, I wanted it all as much as he did.

His fingers felt incredible inside me. I was seconds away from begging him to fuck me, seconds away from losing myself completely.

But then the janitor showed up and brought me back to reality.

I couldn’t do what I really wanted to do. Technically, I worked for Owen. He wasn’t my boss, exactly, but he was my client. There were rules about this sort of thing, and if I wanted to keep my job, I had to follow them.

One of the biggest rules was no sleeping with the players.

Besides, Owen Rack wasn’t my type of man. He was rough and rude, a total prick and a cocky asshole. He had secrets. I’d seen him on his phone after practice, talking softly like he was having an important conversation, but as soon as he noticed me, he pretended like nothing was happening.

Owen was definitely hiding something, but that wasn’t any of my business. Only his physical therapy was my business, and I needed to focus on that.

He had been right, though, when he said that I’d think about him when I got home. As soon as I did, I got into bed, slipped my hands down my panties, and finished what he had started.

The whole time I touched myself, working my still-soaking pussy, I thought about him. I pictured his thick cock fucking me from behind, his strong hands grasping my hips and slapping my ass. He could break me just like he had said he could, and I wanted him to. I wanted to see exactly how strong he was, and how far I was willing to go for him.

I came and fell asleep still thinking about him, afraid of what that meant.

* * *

I woke up early the next morning to a text from him. “Sweet dreams? Maybe you finished what we started last night?”

I smiled to myself and texted back without thinking. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I would. Send me a picture of what you’re wearing right now.”

“See you later.”

I got out of bed, groggy but feeling good. I knew I shouldn’t encourage his flirting, but I couldn’t help myself.

I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and made my coffee. I had a half hour before I needed to be at the facilities, so I got out my laptop and drank my coffee while doing a little search.

I wanted to know more about Owen Rack. I knew about his football career, but I didn’t know much about the man. He had social media profiles, but I was pretty sure they were run by the team’s PR firm. I skipped those and looked for something more substantial.

I didn’t find a damn thing. I wanted to know him, but there were only the general interviews he’d given while in college. They had the usual information: parents died while he was young, his grandmother took him in, and he worked hard to excel in college. He was the classic underdog story, bad boy from the bad part of town.

But there was nothing particularly bad about him, or at least from what I could see. There were no mentions of arrests or any trouble with the law, which I found hard to believe, at least based on how he talked.

Maybe that was unfair. But he had mentioned his rough childhood, and he had talked about hanging out with rough people sometimes. When we got to chatting while I worked him, he liked to talk about his hometown when he wasn’t busy flirting with me.

But there was nothing on the internet, which I found strange. He never mentioned it in interviews, either. Sure, he was the guy from the wrong side of the tracks, but he wasn’t a criminal.

Maybe I was wasting my time. Maybe Owen had nothing to hide. I finished my coffee and headed into work.

The commute was easy, and I got to the office early as usual. I unpacked my stuff and sat down at my desk, relaxing into my chair.

Just as I started to click through my usual morning routine of news blogs, an email popped up. It was from the director, Jeff Waters. He wanted me to come meet with him in his office as soon as I got in, before the players arrived.

Frowning, I got up and headed over. I didn’t know what he wanted, and I wasn’t going to speculate. It could be pretty much anything.

His secretary smiled as I approached and waved me right in. I knocked once on his door and stepped inside.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning, Mister Waters.”

“Please, Jeff.”

“Okay, Jeff.” I sat down in front of him.

“Taylor, how are things going?”

“Good. I can’t complain. I’m still really thankful that you gave me this chance.”

“Now that the first game is over, I thought I’d check in with you.” He smiled at me. “Anything to report?”

“Nothing. Owen seems to be doing well. He’s taking to the regimen I have him on really well.”

“Good. That’s really good. Owen spoke very highly of you.”

“Oh. That’s great.”

“I wanted to check in on you, since you’re so new. Owen sang your praise.” He laughed. “Never heard someone so excited to work with a physical therapist before.”

“He just wants to make sure he stays healthy.”

“Well, now that he’s the starter, we all do.” He frowned. “That’s actually why you’re here.”

I felt my stomach sink. This was the conversation I’d been dreading. He was going to pull me off Owen because he was suddenly too important.

It made no sense that they’d keep me with him. I had no experience after all.

The strange thing was, I couldn’t tell if I was upset because I wasn’t going to be working on a high-profile player anymore, or if it was because I wasn’t going to be working on Owen.

I didn’t want to be pulled from Owen. Something was happening between the two of us, and I didn’t exactly know what it was yet. Maybe it was just a horny asshole trying to get in my pants, or maybe it was something more. I genuinely couldn’t tell, and that scared me.

It scared me just as much that I was afraid to be pulled off him. If he was such a dick, like I thought he was, then I should want to get reassigned. He was bad news after all.

I didn’t want that. I wanted Owen, bad news and all.

“I understand,” I said. “I’m just an apprentice. He’s an important player.”

Jeff made a confused face. “What do you mean?”

“Well, of course you’ll reassign me.”

He laughed. “Oh, Taylor. I’m sorry. That’s not what this is.”

I paused. “Really?”

“Really. What I wanted to say was, you’re doing a great job. If you need more resources, they’re at your disposal. If you want more time with him, just ask. Please consider yourself a full member of the staff, because I’m making you one.”

That surprised me. “Really?”

“Really. On a trial basis for now. No pay raise, not yet. Not until the end of the season when we make you permanent. But this means you’ll have full access to the facilities, day and night. You can schedule him for extra sessions or whatever he needs.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. Thank you so much for trusting me.”

“Of course. The training wheels are off, Taylor.” He smiled. “With that comes more responsibility, though. His health reflects on you.”

“I understand.”

“Good. You’ll get all the info you need in your email.” He smiled again. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Jeff.” I stood up and quickly left his office before he changed his mind.

I could hardly believe this. I was a full staff member, although they weren’t raising my pay. That annoyed me, but the opportunity was too important to pass up. I knew they were hard up on cash at the moment anyway, so pushing back wasn’t going to help.

But now this was serious if it hadn’t been before. They were watching and evaluating me. Any wrong moves and I was done.

Owen wasn’t going to make this easy. I knew he wasn’t going to. But I had to just stick to my regimen, remain professional, and not let myself get sucked into his orbit the way I wanted to.

As I headed off to see Owen, I could feel the full gravity of the situation settle into my stomach.