After All These Years (One Pass Away #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

escalates.”
    “I guess you’re right.”
    “The guys are making cracks about Riley?” Sean felt his blood
    begin to simmer. “Why?”
    “Because of you.”
    “Me?” Sean gave Gaige an amazed look. “She’s like a little
    sister. Everybody knows that.”
    “Riley doesn’t.”
    The kiss. Sean thought it had been a spur of the moment
    impulse. If he were to believe Gaige and Sol, there was much more to it.
    “How long?”
    “Now that you know there’s a problem? Ask her.” Sean nodded,
    getting up. “Don’t mess with her, Sean. She’s not as confident as she acts.”
    “Jesus, Gaige.” Sean spiked his helmet. If he weren’t
    worried about the Riley situation, he would have enjoyed Sol’s yelp when it
    bounced off the back of his head. “Do you think I would take her to bed?”
    “Sex is always the first thing that pops into your head. Why
    is that?” Not expecting an answer, Gaige continued. “That’s right. Manwhore.”
    “Fuck you.”
    “Do you deny it?” Gaige challenged.
    “No.”
    Sean had no problem with the label. He liked sex. A lot. And
    he liked variety. Tall. Short. Curvy. Thin. Give him a big, heaping helping of
    it all. What he didn’t like was the implication he would touch Riley in
    anything but a brotherly fashion.
    Gaige pushed to his feet. He was sympathetic to Sean’s
    dilemma. However, he wanted him to understand what had to be done.
    “Hope, Sean. It can keep the tiniest of flames flickering.
    Don’t let Riley walk away thinking there’s a chance you’ll change your mind. Be
    brutal.”
    Agitated, Sean ran a hand through his hair.
    “I’ve never broken anyone’s heart before.” When Sol snorted,
    Sean shot him a dirty look. “Not on purpose.”
    “A manwhore with a heart of gold.” Sol stood beside Gaige,
    watching Sean leave the field. “Hey. Don’t look so glum. You did good.”
    Gaige shrugged. He had been in the league for eleven years.
    Sometimes it was hard to remember what it was like to be Sean’s age. Hell. Had
    he ever been twenty-five? His old man used to accuse him of being too
    serious.
    Forget the fucking football , Larry Benson would yell
    out when he was sober enough to speak coherently. It’s a fucking pipe dream,
    stupid . Then he would hurl an empty vodka bottle at Gaige’s head. He became
    adept at dodging the projectiles. Practice for a life spent evading determined
    defensive ends.
    It was ironic that a man who had grown up with that warped
    example would now be giving fatherly advice.
    “Need to get home right away?”
    “Nope.” Sol slung a companionable arm over Gaige’s
    shoulders. “The wife and kids are having dinner with her mother.”
    “How did you get out of that?” Sol’s contentious
    relationship with his mother-in-law was the stuff of legend.
    “Big game on Sunday. I need to study my playbook.”
    “Racine fell for that?”
    “Hell, no,” Sol laughed. “She knows all my tricks.”
    “So she let you get away with one?” Gaige and Sol grabbed
    their helmets. Without a second thought, Gaige picked up Sean’s.
    “Mmm. I love my wife.”
    “Me too.” Racine Bellows was one of the good ones. A
    football wife who supported her husband and wasn’t obsessed with pursuing her
    own fame on his coattails.
    “My woman, Benson.” Sol pounded his chest, caveman style.
    “You have to admit, my taste is impeccable.”
    Sol laughed. “Yes, it is.” He held the door for Gaige. “Beer
    at The Extra Point ?”
    The crowded locker room smelled like sweat and antiseptic.
    For Gaige, they were the most natural aromas in the world. Several of their
    teammates heard Sol’s comment and before he knew it, half a dozen Knights were
    sharing long necks and laughs.
    This was his family , Gaige thought, the noise around
    him welcome. Three thousand miles away from his abuse-filled childhood, he had
    found his place in the world. It wouldn’t last forever, but for now, it was
    pretty damn perfect.
     
    RILEY WAS STILL mulling