Rookie Move (Playing for Keeps 1)

“Damn, harsh critic.” I scrubbed my hands over my face with a grin. I couldn’t even be mad about it now. “I’ll try to do better next time. Promise.”

“You will.” Jared nodded with all the certainty of someone twice his age. I felt like my mom was talking to me. “My dad says you’re just getting your legs under you.”

“Something like that.” I elbowed Cross, who was still snickering.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” The guy in scrubs approached while the camera crew snapped some pictures of Cross and Jared.

I looked him up and down. There was something familiar about the dark hair and eyes, but I couldn’t come up with a name. I gave him an apologetic smile and glanced at his badge: David. I hadn’t even paid attention to it before. “I’m sorry, I don’t. Don’t hold it against me.”

He laughed lightly. “It’s okay. It was a…umm…” He shot a glance toward Jared, then lowered his voice. “A short encounter, and I looked a little different. We…” He gestured vaguely, but enough for me to get the gist. Still no recollection of him, though. “While you were home on break one time. You were a junior, I think.”

My eyes went wide as the memory caught up with me. “Holy shit!” I said, way too loudly, and apologized quickly when everyone looked over at me. We’d traded blowjobs at someone’s holiday party. I couldn’t remember whose, but I remembered the action had been good. “You look completely different. Your hair used to be—”

“Platinum and spiky. That was back in my burgeoning emo-twink days. I was going through a phase.”

I looked him over again. “Damn, you’ve made some serious gains.” He was stacked as hell and had definitely graduated from twink to twunk.

He preened teasingly. “Thank you.”

“So I guess life’s treating you pretty good these days, huh?”

“You could say that.” He tapped his badge. “I ended up getting my BSN and got hired here right after. Love working with these kids.” As he glanced over at the camera crew, I caught Ramsey staring at us. I smiled. He didn’t. David’s gaze moved back to me. “Anyway, I know you’ve got to visit other rooms, but I’d love to catch up sometime.”

“I—”

Ramsey’s hand clapped down on my shoulder, and he gave me a pointed look. “We’ve gotta go to the next room.”

“Yep.” I turned back to David. “We’ll see if we can make that happen.”

“I’m easy to find on social. Hit me up.” He winked.

“Who was that?” Ramsey asked once we were back in the hallway. Cross had veered off to use the restroom.

“Guy I hooked up with once at a party. He looks totally different. Like mind-blowingly different.” I shook my head and gauged Ramsey’s expression with a smirk. “He just wants to catch up.”

“I’ll bet he’d like that.” Ramsey snorted. “I get it. You’re hot.”

“You feeling okay?” I reached out, and Ramsey smacked my hand away before I could press it to his forehead. “Was that an actual compliment?”

“I’m just repeating what I’ve overheard. Doesn’t reflect my personal views.”

“Uh-huh. Jealousy makes your jaw get all tight. It’s kind of attractive.”

“That wasn’t jealousy. That was me keeping you on track. We’re here to spend time with the kids, not at a fraternity mixer, you gigantic fucking flirt.”

I cracked up. “That wasn’t even flirting.”

He gave me a level stare. “You did the anchor look.”

“The anchor look… Oh, you mean this one?” I let my gaze drift over him, up and down, lingering around his mouth. It was one of my favorite parts of him.

He smacked the back of my head, making me crack up all over again, then started off down the hallway.

I trotted after him, still grinning. “It’s cool. I’ll give you a compliment back to make you feel better: your ball-handling skills are incredible.” I leaned in closer, mouth near his ear. “And that ass is something else.”

He shoved me away and picked up speed, but the fucker was definitely smiling.

After we finished up at the hospital, we all headed to the parking lot. Tomorrow was an off day in the sense that practice was lighter, but I still planned on getting in a solid workout and spending some time watching film. I didn’t want a repeat of the last game, and I’d promised Jared, after all.

Ramsey caught up to me as I walked toward my car. “You want to come over later?”

It would have been way more suave if I’d hesitated longer than the nanosecond it took me to respond. “Bet.”

15

RAMSEY

“We should go out and get laid tonight.” Tucker tugged his shirt on, then straddled a bench in the locker room. My gaze automatically traveled to Garrett, who cocked a dark brow. I wanted to wink at him but figured that might be a little too obvious. I could cover it up when I flirted with him in other ways, but likely not in a conversation where Tuck wanted me to go out with him and find someone to fuck.