Winning It All (Hometown Players Book 4) Read Free Page B

“Do you even remember how to have sex?”
    “I’m sure it’s like riding a bike,” I snark back.
    “Test your theory.” Audrey is the only person I know who can trump my snarkiness with her own. “Ride him .”
    I shake my head at her like she’s an incorrigible puppy, but as I think about how this night has gone…I have to admit I want to. Watching him watch me from across the room and then swapping innuendos felt like foreplay. It made my skin tingle and my heart race and the long-dormant space between my thighs comes to life. I might actually even masturbate tonight. I haven’t bothered to do that in…months. I blush at the thought.
    “What’re the red cheeks for?” Audrey inquires and then claps excitedly. “Oh! You want to do it! You want to sleep with him!”
    “Of course I do. He’s delicious,” I confess, and it makes her clap again. “But I won’t.”
    Audrey sighs dramatically. “Come on, Shayne! Live a little!”
    “I live just fine.”
    “Nuns get more action than you,” she retorts, and I laugh. Then she digs into her purse and pulls out a tiny, square foil packet. She shoves it at me, and I take a step back like she’s trying to hand me a tarantula.
    “Take it. In case you change your mind,” she urges, and I look at the condom, horrified. She rolls her big brown eyes and presses it into my palm.
    I open the door to leave the changing room, planning to throw the condom into the closest trash can I find, and come to face-to-face with my future masturbation material. He stops, but not as quickly as he could, or should. I know he sees me as soon as I see him, which is about two feet away in the narrow hallway, but he keeps walking toward me. He doesn’t stop until he’s basically towering above me, his wall of a chest almost touching me. I can’t help taking a step back, but his hand goes to my elbow like he’s holding me in place so my step falters and I stay wedged up against him. I cover the silver packet in my hand with my fingers to hide it from him.
    “Were you…” Why is my heart racing? I suddenly feel serious and giddy at the exact same time. This is intense, and that makes it feel ridiculous because I don’t even know his name. That and the wine, which I rarely drink, is making me loopy. I swallow and push out the rest of my sentence. “Looking for the restroom?”
    “No. I was looking for you.”
    He glances past me briefly, to notice Audrey. He gives her a quick nod of hello. I turn to face her, away from him, and with no other option, subtly shove the condom under the front of my dress and into my padded bra. Audrey steps up beside me grinning like a crazy person. “I’m Audrey. I’m her best friend. And I’m going to disappear now.”
    Her heels click in quick succession as she darts down the hall, pausing only for a second to glance over her shoulder and mouth the words “Do him” at me.
    “I never got your name,” he explains, pulling my gaze away from my crazy friend and back to his stunning face. “And I never gave you mine.”
    “Shayne,” I reply, barely above a whisper for some reason.
    “What?”
    “My name is Shayne.”
    “That’s a boy’s name.”
    “My father wanted a boy,” I explain for the millionth time in my twenty-four years. “He got one later, but I was born first so…”
    “I’m calling you Shay,” he announces, and I’m a little stunned that he has just arbitrarily renamed me. “It’s more feminine and soft, like you.”
    I want to explain to him that I’m hardly feminine or soft. I’m a tomboy. I prefer sweats and ponytails to makeup and heels. And soft? Sure, he fills out a fancy suit well, but I’m the daughter of a professional athlete, and my job is fitness. I bet I could kick his ass. I don’t want to kick his ass…but I wouldn’t mind grabbing it. That’s why I don’t get too flippant with him even though I should. Desire trumps all, apparently.
    His lips spread slowly into a hot little smile, and his