CHAPTER 8

JACKSON

I woke up late, unable to take my usual run. I’d been out drinking the night before with Nick at a small pub talking about Emma. With a ball cap pulled over my head, I could go unrecognized and just be a normal guy.

I knew I should have had a few less beers than I did, but it was too late. I’d make it through practice later, but I didn’t have my car because we both got an Uber home. I walked out of my room to grab a water before taking a shower, checking to see if Emma around. She’d been asleep when I got in and I stopped by her door for a second, wanting to tell her everything that I’d confessed to Nick.

I knew that it was useless as I thought again about Greg and kept walking.

The apartment was quiet and I wondered where she’d gone.

I was looking forward to seeing her today. I wanted to spend a little time with her, with no intention of telling her about my growing feelings. I needed to find a way to make this between us work sooner rather than later. I supposed as I got into the shower that it wasn’t going to happen today. I closed my eyes as the nausea passed. I needed to make something for breakfast to even myself out.

It was times like this I wondered what it would be like to just be a normal twenty-three-year-old guy. I could be finishing school and just hanging with friends. I went right from my second year in college to the pro league and barely lived a life without a football schedule. I wondered what it would be like to date a girl without her knowing about my salary or that I could get her in anywhere in Nashville with just my name.

I shook my head as I stepped out of the shower and dried off. I dressed in some black shorts and a practice T-shirt before I ran my hand through my hair.

I got another Uber to the bar to pick up my truck and headed to practice. The parking lot seemed to have more cars than usual. There were a few people in the hallway as I headed to the locker room.

One of them was Emma, pacing back and forth with a bottle of water in her hand.

“Em? What are you doing here?”

She glanced up at me with wide eyes.

“I unknowingly agreed to try out for the new cannon girl position yesterday.”

I frowned and she shrugged.

“I met a girl, Bella, at school and we got to talking. Before I knew it, I agreed to come to this, not aware of what this was. I was so caught up… in school stuff.” She looked around and sighed. “I’m nervous.”

“We’ll both be playing b-string,” I joked. She just stared at me. I heard they were increasing the number of people on that team but never expected to see Emma here.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m so nervous. The stands are so full of people!” Her eyes were as big as saucers again. I grinned and took her arm, leading her to a quieter area of the stadium just outside.

“You don’t strike me as the cheerleader type,” I said.

“Thank God, I’m not going to be a cheerleader. This sounds hard enough,” Emma murmured. “I just liked Bella a lot and once I thought about it, I felt like it might be fun. I can have a job and meet some people this way. It should be fun, right?”

“I think I know Bella. She dated one of the guys for a bit,” I said, not mentioning that it was more than one of them. Bella was a huge flirt, though I never touched her. “I think it will be good for you. You’ll be safe with all the security around and the fans get into the games.”

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of keeping an eye on her. I could talk to the team and tell them that she was off limits personally this way.

She smiled and I pulled her to me for a quick loose hug, wanting to reassure her, but only smelled her addictive citrus scent.

I felt her push harder against me and choked on my own feelings as I felt her heat. I’d been with women in every position before but there was more intimacy in this hug than any of that. I felt lightheaded as she pressed her face into my shirt.

“I will?” Emma asked as she pulled away and looked into my face. I knew this was getting to be too much and stumbled back against the wall as she frowned.

“Yeah. I’ll put in a good word and help you get the job. It’s going to be great,” I forced a smile as she dropped her hands to the side and nodded. “You should probably get in there. I think it’s going to start soon.”

Emma stared at me for a long moment as she nodded slowly. She looked at the building and took a deep breath before leading the way back inside. I pointed her to the area where they’d be taking care of hiring before we started practice and then walked to the locker room.

I was hard as a rock and dreaded going in to see the guys, not wanting anyone to know about Emma. It wasn’t that they didn’t know I could be a horny bastard, but I didn’t want this connected to her, even though the only one who would know anything would be Nick.

I was calm when I walked into the locker room to get my gear on, talking to the players since we had a few minutes. I couldn’t stop thinking about Emma working here and how much more I’d see her.

Coach came out after a few minutes, letting us know that we could head in. I wondered how many girls showed up for this as we headed out as a group.

We gathered at the edge of the field and watched the commotion.

Emma was standing there with some of the other girls with an overwhelmed expression. Bella slipped an arm around her. It looked like Emma got hired and was part of the group who wandered the stadium and interacted with the crowd, shooting shirts at them from a team-color painted cannon.

“Check out the blonde,” I heard someone say. It was our quarterback. I knew that there were three blondes on the team, but they worked the job last season and Emma was the newest cannon girl. He was the shining star of the team and got all the women, but he wasn’t going to touch Emma.

“Hell, yes. We’re going to have to hit that,” one of the other guys agreed.

I set my jaw and took a deep breath.

“I’d suggest leaving her alone,” I said and some of the guys looked at me. “Her brother is my best friend from back home. She’s like my kid sister.”

“Is he here in Nashville?” the quarterback asked with a smirk. Jesus, he was a fucking asshole sometimes. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“No, but I am and she’s off limits. She’s too good for you animals.”

Nick gave me a look.

“Maybe you already have her for yourself,” another hinted.

I shrugged. “Nah. Just overprotective since I’ve known her forever.”

A few of the guys gave me a curious look and then back at the girls.

Emma met my gaze and gave me a thumbs up with a nervous smile as she walked in with the rest of them.

If she was any other girl, I’d make some comment about how we hooked up. I was an ass that way when it came to the groupies who were always around, but so were the other guys. I wouldn’t let Emma fall into that category.

We went out to practice, and I glanced over to see some of the girls had come back out and were watching us. I grinned. Emma looked at me and I nodded as I turned back at Coach to see what he wanted us to do.

Emma went home afterwards as we prepared for our first pre-season game.

I was one of the last ones in the locker room. I met up with the staff who took care of the cheerleaders and cannon girls and asked about Emma. Sara said that she was adorable and came highly recommended by Bella. I grinned and told her how I knew her. Sara giggled as she tossed her pink hair back, giving me a knowing look.

“It’s not like that. She’s like a little sister to me,” I assured Sara.

Things were happening quickly this year, and I knew that it was going to be different than ever before. Having Emma living with me was giving me feelings that I’d never felt about anyone and I worried about life at the apartment and now where we were both going to be working. Between my feelings for Emma and the way the other guys were going to be talking about her, I might go fucking insane.

That wasn’t a great thought. I gritted my teeth and reminded myself to make this work. I was doing a favor for my best friend and that was that. I had to see this through and keep her safe.