Dirty Players (Dirty Players 1)

Chapter One

Zoe

I stormed down the hall of the Southern Eagles training complex, feeling irritation clawing at my mind. My annoyance was held at bay, for now, only because things had gone as I’d expected. I was so preoccupied, I bumped into someone. He caught me as I stumbled, and I wanted to apologize, until I lifted my head and saw that smirking face. I froze, staring at him in surprise.

“Hey, Zoe.”

I gaped. “Howard! What the hell are you doing here?”

Glancing around, I grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the way. My first instinct was to hide him. If he got caught here with me, he would be in some serious trouble.

He just smirked. “I came to show my dedication for the sport, of course, Zoe. That, and I missed you, so I wanted to come see you.”

“Did it have to be here of all places, though?” I hissed.

He laughed. “Maybe I wanted to see how you look while you work.”

If that was what he came here for, he was going to be sorely disappointed. I didn’t have any work today, so I’d planned to stop by somewhere to eat and go home for some alone time to get over my bad mood. Then Howard just casually walked in and shocked me out of it.

“You should try and think of your situation a bit more. You do realize what could happen to you if you get caught, right?”

He’d been letting me pull him behind me, but then his body suddenly went still, and I was jerked to a stop. With a hungry growl, he tugged me closer, whirling me around and kissing me before I had time to complain. I froze for a second, before pressing my hands to his chest. I wanted to push him away, but he bit down on my lip, causing me to gasp, and his tongue swept into my mouth. He kissed me, until I forgot what I’d been thinking before, pulling away only when we both needed to breathe, resting his forehead against mine.

“Do you remember what I said, about why I came here?” He murmured, lips brushing against mine with every word.

I shuddered, a moan escaping my throat as I dug my nails into his biceps. There was something he’d said, what was it again?

“Dedication?” I blurted.

He chuckled. “Exactly, Zoe. My dedication. Should I show you?”

Somehow, I didn’t think he was talking about football.

He released me, and I was so startled I blinked my eyes open, then wondered when I’d let them close. Howard wasn’t done yet, though. He grabbed my hand and tugged me behind him, headed for the locker rooms.

“Howard?”

If he heard me, he didn’t indicate it.

As soon as the door closed behind us, I found myself pressed up against it, and a hard, male body plastered to my front. Soft lips slanted over mine, and I tried to resist for a second, because there was something important, I was supposed to remember. I couldn’t remember, though, because I was too busy melting into the hot kiss with a moan, parting my lips for the tongue that licked at the seam of my mouth.

The kiss was slow and languid, almost lazy, but it quickly grew heated. We shouldn’t be doing this in the locker room. Even though no one was supposed to be around, that didn’t mean we could take our time here. Still, I didn’t push him away and ask him to wait until later. He wouldn’t want to wait, and if I was honest, I didn’t want to wait, either.

Howard Field had a way of driving me crazy to the point I forgot myself. This was a problem, but most of the time, it felt damn good.