Chapter 18 – Hanson
I woke up the next morning, still feeling satisfied. More than satisfied. Happier than I’d been in a long time.
Lacey had mentioned she’d needed to get up early and do some work. I guess she had decided to let me sleep in a bit.
I got dressed, feeling like a million bucks, and headed to the training facility. Brian was already in the gym when I arrived.
“Do you sleep here?” I asked. “You’re always eating up that treadmill when I get here.”
“It’s a stress release,” Brian said, breathing hard in between words. “Not all of us can fuck women to relax.”
I shrugged. It was relaxing. “You could if you wanted to.”
Brian didn’t answer. His feet slamming into the treadmill was the only sound between us for a while, while I stretched out my muscles to warm them up.
I couldn’t get her off my mind. It kept flashing on Lacey’s face and her body. I didn’t usually think twice about the women I’d slept with. Once we were done, that was it.
Lacey was different, though. Not just in bed, but intellectually and emotionally. I wanted to see her again.
Of course, I didn’t have much of a choice in that. She was my PR Manager, and we would still be working together for a while. That made me happier than it should have. The thought of seeing her again was just as satisfying as the sex had been.
What the fuck has gotten into me?
When I was done stretching, I hopped onto the leg machine and started my sets. It wouldn’t be long now until I would be back on the field, and I wanted to be ready.
Brian finally switched off the treadmill and stepped off, breathing hard.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” he asked.
I looked at him, pumping my legs to my chest and down again.
“Who can’t be happy about leg day, right?”
Brian chuckled. “You got some, didn’t you?”
I shrugged.
“You’re an animal,” he said. “And another one bites the dust. Who was it? Or can’t you remember her name again?”
I didn’t answer him. A part of me didn’t want him to know that I’d slept with Lacey, now that it had gone that far. Maybe it was because I cared about her enough to want to see her again. Maybe it was because I didn’t know what I was feeling about it, yet.
Or rather, I knew exactly what I was feeling but I didn’t know what all it meant just yet. And I certainly didn’t want to admit that to anyone, not even Brian.
Maybe I didn’t want him to think she was just another piece of ass. As much as I didn’t understand it, that was how I felt. I had no idea what I felt, but I didn’t feel that she was disposable.
“Fine, if you don’t want to give me the dirty details, I’ll talk football.”
I shook my head. “Bite me, Brian,” I said.
He laughed. “Seriously, though. We need you back on the team. We’re barely pulling through.”
I nodded. “That last game was a close one, but you still won.”
“I think it was all because of the injury. On the other team. Otherwise, we would have had our asses handed to us.”
I nodded. I hadn’t watched the game. And my head hadn’t been in the game lately, since I’d been so focused on Lacey. I’d only caught the highlights, but I knew what he was talking about. The injury had been bad, and it had knocked their team morale down a little.
“Well, it’s only one more game, and then I’m back in the lineup,” I said. “It will be over in no time at all, and then we can kick some ass again, you and me.”
Brian nodded. “And with your new image, who knows how much support we’ll have now.”
I stopped pushing weights and blinked at Brian. He grinned at me.
“You’re a real dick,” I said.
“I just want to give the children so much money to say I’m sorry for sleeping around so much,” Brian said in a mocking voice.
I grabbed my water bottle and threw it in his direction. He laughed, ducking away.
“Hey, it was a pansy move, in my opinion, but the press ate that shit up. Your mysterious PR girl must have been right about her advice. And I was right to tell you to talk to the reporter. Did you see the article?”
I shook my head. I had stopped reading the news about myself a long time ago. It was only ever bad.
“You should. They’re painting you as a hero.”
Lacey had said they liked heroes, not winners. With her, I had won, though. If the rest of them wanted to see me as a hero, cool. But with Lacey, I’d scored. But the last thing I planned to do was let Brian in on just how much I’d been thinking about her.