The Pop Star and the Playboy Quarterback

hel

e!" a voi

shoulder at the stout man wi

ing heavy in the air. His companion is close be

bt, and these particular co

I glanced over my shoulder again, I pushed the d

at hand. But his concentration shatters as I burst through the

is voice a mixture of a

eg quietly. "

res, his tone firm as he turns away from me,

d, voices sound fro

is way!" one of the

ands close to me, his breath hot on my neck. Now is probably a horrible time to realize how alarming

as I reach and

he realizes what I did. "You just

a withering glare. "Pervert," I accuse,

pervert? You burst i

heavy footsteps of the debt collector. My heart hammers against my chest as I hear his boots walk acro

r before he calls out, "Hey, unless it isn

lets out a cough. "

and we hear the bath

I let out a relieved sigh. The man

eases, stepping closer with

im a pointed look before slipping out of the stall and disappearing into th

week

sh

ive by others still exiting the stadium. I honk my horn t

ing the score to 27-21. It was a challenging game, but we persevered. However, as happy as I am to start

parking lot. "I don't even like country." I can hear t

shr

sphere when I walk in is pretty different than the

antime, Mark's been looking to have some fun. We've been running drills for weeks, practicing until our feet

e bar, mostly unoccupie

per-hot," Mark tells me, loo

"I thought you didn'

t," he

re what he wa

wrong with you?" Mark

understand the pressure I'm under, even without last year's Stadium

tart screaming as loud as possible. Do you want that? Y

down, that's

counting on his

snap, growling. "It's abo

at's that got to

blind? What team d

he asks, clearly

en, my brother's team. Doe

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what AJ was

were to understand me right now, it'd b

ter all, it's all anyone can talk about. 'Which Slater son will become the

, and I'm going

like an ounce of compassion?

der than you are. Why wor

all-obsessed kid could ask for, and I've

et again! I mean, how many times do you have to win before you realize there's no competition? You've been on the team

ess, ordering the two of us beers. She smiles, tucking some of

ike she's a fa

shoulder. "Seriously

beers. "Here, we'll start a tab. And make

credit card, and I can't help but roll my

to see the entire honky-tonk is now packed with people. They

s popular, or rather, was hot, and

It's dragging me towards the stage, and her voice-angelic,

r Slater!" I hea

turn to me. Their eyes grow wide, and th

et an au

ver here,

e you,

, great gam

freak out when she s

, her eyes shining as she sings to the crowd, her heart into her entire performance. I've never heard so

rude and ruin someone's night by not saying hi to everyone. But the woman...she's so far, an

h her, I start pushing some people out of my way, determined to get close to

s the inside of my chest grow warm, and my

auty finishing up the final words of the song she's been performing. She

age, jostling me around so quickly that the wind knocks me out. I'm not a small man by any means, but the crowd was so unexpe

one. I frantically search the room, looking for her glossy red hair, shining eye

's