The Toughest Play

4. Autumn

CHAPTER 4

AUTUMN

I ’m still dealing with the embarrassment of tripping and meeting Rogan O’Rourke for the first time when I notice Brett’s attention on us. I can tell by the tightness in his jaw, he’s annoyed. Oh, dear God, and now he’s walking over.

His eyes narrow into an angry glare as he stops in front of Rogan. “Get the fuck away from her.”

I briefly place my hand on his arm. “Brett, he’s not doing anything wrong.”

Rogan grins, carelessly pushing his damp hair back from his forehead. “Don’t worry about it. I never pay much attention to what he says anyway.”

Brett’s gaze jumps to me. “Autumn, why are you wasting your time talking to this cheap imitation when you have the real deal right here?”

I barely hold back the pressing urge to cringe. “My job involves interacting with the entire team, not just you, Brett.”

“How unfortunate for you,” he tells me, then sneers at his backup quarterback before walking away.

“So, Brett’s your friend?” Rogan asks, recapturing my attention. I get momentarily distracted by the vibrant blue shade of his eyes before I shake my head.

“Not exactly.”

“What is he to you, then?”

“He’s my ex.”

He grimaces. “That’s even worse, but it’s not a dealbreaker. I can overlook it.”

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. I never asked you to.”

He leans forward, invading my personal space, which makes my pulse kick up a few beats. “I’ve got a break for a couple of hours. What do you say we get out of here?”

“No, thanks.”

“What do you mean, ‘no, thanks’?” he asks, as if he’s never had a woman refuse him before.

And, sadly, he probably hasn’t.

I shrug. “Just what I said. I’m not leaving. I’m working.”

“I don’t mind waiting for you.”

I laugh. “I’m not asking you to.”

He nudges my arm with his. “Maybe I want to.”

“I don’t even know you.”

“I’m Rogan.” He holds his hand out, but I don’t take it.

“I know who you are.”

His lips curve into a cocky grin. “You do?”

I roll my eyes. “It’s literally my job to know who all the players are.”

“Then what’s the hold up? Let’s get out of here.”

Jesus. The last thing I need is to get involved with another cocky quarterback. No matter how hot he is.

“This might be difficult for you to believe but I’m not interested in leaving with you at any point.”

“So, you have a boyfriend?”

“Nope.”

“A husband?”

“Nope.”

“A girlfriend?”

I’m tempted to say yes just to put an end to this.

“Nope.”

“Are you asexual?” he presses.

“Only when it comes to cocky football players.”

Canting his head, he studies me. “I feel like you just threw down a challenge flag, and I sure do love a good challenge.”

“That’s ironic because I feel like you’re a walking red flag, and I avoid those like the plague.”

“But I look so good in red.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re only wasting your time.”

His lips spread into a slow smile, revealing his perfect teeth. “How could talking to you ever be considered a waste of time?”

“Because I’m not going to fall for your schtick.”

“Leave my stick out of this.” He winks.

I sigh with frustration. “That’s my cue to get back to work.”

“It was nice meeting you, Autumn. It’s always a pleasure to meet a beautiful woman.”

He walks away before I can form a reply. My eyeballs zig-zag across the muscular width of his shoulders hugged by his practice jersey. He really does look good in red. His tight pants show off his lean hips, well-muscled ass, and thighs that flex with every step he takes.

Lisa clears her throat. “Uh, Autumn?”

My focus shifts from the dangerous temptation I shouldn’t be looking at in the first place to my assistant. “Yeah?”

“We’re still filming,” she informs me.

I glance at Frankie, who has the camera aimed at me. “Shut it down.” Heat suffuses my cheeks, and it’s not from the sun beating down on me. Unfortunately, he caught that entire interaction between Rogan and me on film… and me ogling his ass as he walked away.

“Are we done, boss?” Frankie asks. To his credit, he doesn’t even smirk.

“Yes. We have enough content for today.” And lucky me, now I get to head back to my office and watch all the footage Frankie shot. I can’t wait to see how pathetic I looked.

It’s a quick ride back from the practice field to the Silverbacks’ stadium and then I head directly to my office. It takes me longer than I planned to edit the practice footage Frankie shot, mostly because I’m picky and want to get it exactly how I’d like. But the number of views I dedicated to the interaction between Rogan and me could also be to blame.

Dammit, he’s so fucking gorgeous. It’s a wonder I was able to remember my name, never mind fire back sensical replies.

I’m actually proud of myself for how well I held my own. As an introvert, I have a history of naturally being shy, but it’s even worse when I’m around the opposite sex.

When I was with Brett, I’d clam up and let him do most of the talking. In hindsight, I realize I never got to the point where I was comfortable speaking my mind with him. And he certainly didn’t encourage me to. Like most narcissists, he made everything about him—good or bad—which didn’t leave much room for me to express my opinion. And God forbid I disagreed with him—you’d think the world was ending.

Opening my docs, I choose the one that’s titled “posts” and type up what I want to say. This reel is on the longer side, so I keep my words brief but try to make them interesting enough that the followers will not only watch the video but also engage in the comments. I upload the reel and add a song that matches the fast pace of the footage. Then I copy and paste the short paragraph from my doc to the actual post. Reading through one final time, I proofread for spelling or grammatical errors and make sure I’m happy with my word choice.

Are you as excited as we are that Silverbacks football games will be coming soon? In the meantime, do you wish you could be a fly on the wall at their camp? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a taste of what you missed from today’s practice…

As soon as I share the post, people immediately begin commenting on it.

Rogan’s on fire.

Is the backup about to overtake the starter?

Come on, football season. Let’s go.

I’m ready for the games to start.

Team Rogan.

Team who cares? We just need to fucking win.

Might be time to hand the reins to Rogan.

Brett’s not looking so great.

What’s wrong with Brett?

Brett, we need you!

Rogan, I want you!

Coach Chubbs needs to make a change, quick.

Are the coaches watching the same thing we are?

Get off your asses and put the backup in.

I reply to some of the comments before I log out. I already know Brett is going to lose his shit when he sees what some fans are saying. But I’m not going to let him put this on me. He’s the one who’s been practicing poorly, and I’m just doing my job.

I’ve only been home long enough to heat up the leftovers from last night when there’s a knock on my door. Sighing, I send a longing glance at the steaming chicken, potatoes, and green beans on my plate before I walk away. Glancing through the peephole, I see Brett standing there.

Oh, fuck me.

I’m not ready to deal with him, and I definitely didn’t expect an in-person visit.

I open the door. “Brett. This is a surprise.”

“Can I come in?” he asks quietly.

I move back and he steps inside. I let out an internal groan as I shut the door. Would it be rude to bang my head against the wood?

I head toward the kitchen and he follows me. I stand on one side of the island while he takes a seat on the other. “I was about to have my dinner.”

He shrugs. “That’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Maybe I do, jackass.

Picking up my fork, I start to eat. I’m not going to ask him what’s up. He’s the one who showed up unannounced and is interrupting my meal.

He drums his fingers on the granite. “I saw the video you posted.”

Of course he did.

I continue shoveling my food into my mouth.

“Why do you hate me?”

I finish chewing and swallow. “Huh?”

“Why do you hate me so much?”

I shake my head in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You posted footage of Rogan looking so great and then showed clips of me when I missed my target. Are you purposely trying to make him seem better than he is? Are you trying to make me look bad?” The hurt expression on his face makes my stomach sink. I place my fork down and push the plate to the side.

“Brett, I would never use the team’s social media posts against you. I only use the footage we’ve shot, and if your accuracy is off during that time, I can’t change that.”

“You made Rogan look so much better than he is.”

“No, I didn’t. He just practiced that well.”

Sliding from the stool, he walks around to lean against the island next to me. “Look, I know I hurt you and you hate me now…” He leans closer. “My job is the only thing left I care about. Please don’t make the backup guy look better than me.” His brown eyes stare deeply into mine.

“I’m not,” I deny.

“Please, Autumn,” he whispers.

“I won’t.”

He tugs me into his arms with my cheek pressed to his chest and my arms hanging at my sides. “I knew I could count on you. Besides being with you, all I’ve ever wanted out of life is to be the quarterback of the Silverbacks.” He releases me from his embrace, briefly gripping my shoulders. “Thanks, babe.”

“No problem,” I murmur.

“I’ll let you get back to your dinner,” he says. I follow him from the kitchen, and he pauses with his hand on the doorknob. “Tonight, can you please post something positive about me? I think it would go a long way to make up for the negative footage from the past couple of days.”

I nod. “Sure.”

He grins. “That’s my girl.”

I watch him walk down the stairs, and he’s almost to the door of his Corvette when I close and lock the door. Returning to the kitchen, I scrape the remaining food into the trash and then load my plate and fork into the dishwasher. After Brett’s visit, I no longer have any appetite and I feel bad for upsetting him. It’s easy for me to justify my posts by saying he’s not playing well, but don’t I owe him some loyalty? He put in a good word for me when I got this job. Granted, I never asked him to and I’d already been hired by that point. But still…

Picking up my phone, I sit at the island and open one of the social media platforms. I make a reel using a slew of action shots featuring Brett and add the song “Eye of the Tiger . ” Before I share the post to the Silverbacks page, I add the hashtags #quarterback and #ournumberone.