Playing By The Rules (The Players)
Playing By The Rules: Chapter 4

I SHOULD’VE NEVER GONE to Logan’s.

I’m here with Derek and a bunch of other guys from the team, including Ace, my backup quarterback. The kid is amazing. Fast. Not afraid to run the ball if he can’t replace anyone to throw it to. He’s taller than me, wider than me, and charismatic as shit. I refuse to let this kid make me feel less than, but it’s tough. The one thing to my advantage?

I’m on top of my game and set to play the best season of my football career.

Ace will get his shot—after me. He’s a sophomore and set to take over my position next season. He’s currently chomping at the bit to take my place right now, but the fucker needs to learn his place. Luckily, my teammates feel the same way, and we’ve been giving him endless shit all night.

Oh, and I’m well on my way to being buzzed. Drinking my third beer and not in the mood to stop. Girls come around the table every few minutes, all of them overly flirtatious and dressed to kill. As in, showing off all of their physical assets in the hopes to entice us.

Not cappin’ on them, just stating facts.

We’ve got groupies, and most of the time, I’m interested. In fact, ninety-nine percent of the time I’d already have my sights set on one and I’d currently be trying to figure out a way to get her to leave with me. A hookup in the back seat of the Challenger happens more often than not, or I go back to her place. It’s a rare occasion that I bring her back to my apartment. I don’t like doing that.

They don’t deserve to see my inner sanctum. Worse, they get kind of weird and start having expectations. Like maybe they could move in.

What the actual fuck?

For real, I had that happen once, which Knox thought was hilarious. The fucker. He doesn’t really bring girls back to our apartment either.

The groupies tonight though? They’re not interested in me—they’re all swarming Ace. It doesn’t matter that he’s not twenty-one yet and currently drinking copious amounts of beer, thanks to the fake ID he has on him that says he’s from Louisiana. He doesn’t even have an accent.

The asshole is from Washington state for God’s sake.

The groupies aren’t bothered by the fact that he’s only twenty either. The girls are digging him, and I just don’t get it. I guess he’s decent looking. Doesn’t seem to say much to them, just grin like an idiot, but they’re still fawning all over him. The rest of us are giving him grief and he takes it all good-naturedly, which is even more annoying. I play along and steadily sip from my beer, my mood shifting. Darkening the longer the night goes on. I hate being a jealous fuck but…

I’m a jealous fuck.

Until I see her.

The moment I lay eyes on Blair Maguire, every hair on my body feels like it’s standing on end, completely aware of her presence. My heart rate kicks up and there’s a sense of relief, knowing that she’s here.

Within reach.

Not sure when she slipped into Logan’s, but there she is, as beautiful as I’ve ever seen her. Her blonde hair cascades down her back in soft waves, and she can’t stop smiling and laughing at whatever the other two girls she’s with are doing and saying. She’s currently wearing baggy jeans—the girls rarely wear skinny jeans anymore, which I always appreciated because I’m an ass man—and a cropped black T-shirt that shows off the flat expanse of her stomach and emphasizes the generous curve of her tits.

I scrub my hand over my face, like maybe my vision is blurry, and it’ll change, but nope. There she is. Fucking gorgeous and oblivious to my existence.

All thoughts of the rules I made for myself in regards to Blair Maguire fly right out the window at seeing her. I want to go talk to her.

Touch her.

Shit.

“What’s your problem?” Derek slaps my chest, and I glare at him, wishing he’d leave me the hell alone. “What, are you jealous of Ace getting all the ladies’ attention?”

“Of course not,” I mutter.

“Oh. Because I am. That little fucker doesn’t deserve it.” Only Derek would call the six-foot-five, two-hundred-and-ten-pound backup quarterback little. That’s because Derek is bigger than Ace. “With that pretty boy face and the awe shucks attitude.”

“He’s fine.” I wave a dismissive hand.

“He thinks he’s the shit.”

“He is the shit.” I don’t bother denying it. What’s the point?

“You’re better.”

“For now. Once I’m gone, he’s still got two years to go, and he’s already impressive.” I hate feeling subpar, but I’m wallowing in it tonight, something I rarely do. But shit, when you’ve got a constant reminder that you’re on the way out and your replacement is dying for you to leave?

It’s hard not to focus on that.

“While you’ll be in the NFL, number one in the league and winning championships,” Derek says with way more confidence than I’m feeling.

“Sounds like a dream, bud.” I grab my bottle and bring it to my lips, tipping my head back and taking a swallow, my gaze never straying from Blair.

She glances over at me, our gazes locking, and I don’t look away. Neither does she.

It’s like I can’t. We can’t.

I set the bottle on the table in front of me as a slow smile curves her lips, and we’re still staring at each other. I feel that smile all the way down to my balls. I smile in return and she looks away, like she’s embarrassed or some shit.

Come on. I’ve known her for years. She needs to get over it and come talk to me.

“Oh fuck, there’s Maguire’s sister.” The panic in Derek’s voice makes me chuckle.

“So?”

“I don’t even want to be near her. Knox will kill us.” Derek ducks his head as if he’s in hiding.

“No, he won’t,” I drawl. I stare blatantly at Blair, wishing she’d look in my direction again. Her friends keep glancing over at our table and I can’t help but wonder if they’re talking about us.

Is Blair talking about me? In my fucking dreams. And who are those girls? Her friends? Roommates?

“Oh shit, I think she’s headed over here right now.” Derek sounds completely freaked out. “Who is she with? The dark-haired girl with the long red nails is hot.”

Jesus. Derek bangs anything that walks, I swear.

I play it cool as Blair comes closer, but deep down, I’m agitated. Nervous. The girl makes me feel all sweaty-palmed and ready to make a fool of myself. And when she finally stops right next to me, a friendly smile on her face, her perfume flooding my senses and tempting me to bury my face in her neck so I can inhale her, I brace myself.

“Hey, Cam.” Her sweet voice wraps around me, leaving me dizzy, and I tell myself it’s just because I drank too much beer.

But I know the truth. It’s the girl.

It’s always been the girl.

“Blair.” I nod, trying to maintain my calm façade. “How are you?”

“Great. Haven’t seen you in a while.” She’s teasing. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are sparkling, and I’d guess she’s had a few drinks already.

When the hell did she sneak in here anyway, and how did I miss it?

“Right. Only a couple of hours.” I glance over at Derek, who’s watching our interaction with a mixture of curiosity and fear in his eyes. “You know Derek, right?”

“I don’t think so. Hi.” She holds out her hand, leaning across me as she does, her tits brushing against my arm, my chest.

Fuck.

“Hey.” Derek shakes her hand, releasing it quickly like she might bite. “Knox’s sister, right?”

“Right.”

“Speaking of Knox.” The dark-haired girl with the red nails suddenly appears behind Blair. “Is he here tonight?”

“Afraid not,” I say.

The disappointment on her face is clear, but it’s also gone in an instant, her focus shifting to Derek. “Aw, that’s too bad. I’m Rita, by the way.”

“Derek.”

“We had Intro to Communications together,” Rita tells Derek, moving over, so she can stand right next to him and continue their conversation.

Blair glances over at the other girl standing just behind her, indicating she wants her to scoot closer. “This is my other roommate, Cheyenne.”

“Cam. Nice to meet you.” I shake the girl’s hand, who’s watching me with wide eyes, like she can’t believe she’s in my presence.

“Nice to meet you too,” she squeaks like a mouse.

Oh boy.

“When did you get here?” I ask Blair.

“About an hour ago or so.” Blair brings the glass, that I just notice she’s clutching, to her lips, sipping from the skinny black straw. “It’s packed tonight.”

“It’s crowded every night,” I say, glancing around the busy bar. Everyone comes to Logan’s. They have the best drink specials and they’re not too strict when it comes to the fake-ID situation. This is why Ace is having the time of his life tonight.

Cheyenne touches Blair’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

We both watch her go, silent for a moment, Blair continuously sipping from her straw, which is giving me all sorts of thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking. Like how good her lips would look wrapped around something…

Thicker. And attached to my body.

Shit. I need to say something. Maybe even make a move, but Knox’s face is suddenly looming in my mind, reminding me of what he’ll do to me if he replaces out I was talking to his sister while thinking all these pervy thoughts, which keeps me silent.

“I was hoping I’d run into you here,” Blair finally says, shocking me.

“You were?”

She nods, her cheeks pinker than normal. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

She blinks, seeming at a loss until she says, “I forgot to tell you earlier when I ran into you at the library.”

“You forgot to tell me what?”

“I had a dream last night and you were in it.” She says the words all at once, so they sort of run into each other, and it takes me an extra couple of seconds for my brain to compute.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Her voice is a whispered rasp. “Yep. Yes.”

“Well, what happened?” I’m curious. Now this girl is dreaming about me?

That’s promising.

“What do you mean?”

“What happened in your dream? What did we do?” I pause, giving in to my curiosity. “Did I do something to you?”

I can think of about a bazillion things I’d like to do to her in my dreams. And my reality.

“Oh…” her voice fades, and she swallows hard. “You were, uh, chasing me across a football field.”

“No shit?” I don’t know if I believe her. Maybe she’s just saying this to make conversation.

“Weird right?” She laughs nervously. “I don’t know why you were in my dream.”

If she wasn’t Knox’s sister, I would take the opportunity to explain that I’m in her thoughts because she’s into me, but I keep those observations to myself simply because of her last name.

But then I go ahead and do it anyway.

“Can’t stop thinking about me, huh?” I raise my brows, pissed at myself for even bringing it up.

I shouldn’t carry on this conversation with Blair, but it’s like I can’t help myself.

“Maybe.” She scoots closer, so she can set her glass on the table in front of me, her shoulder brushing mine, and it’s like an electric jolt to my system, making me aware of how close she is. How warm she is and how sweet she smells. Fuck, what perfume is she wearing? “I’ve known you a long time, Cam.”

“A few years,” I agree with a nod, grabbing my beer bottle and taking a giant swig. I hold the bottle in front of me like a shield of armor.

“And we’ve never really had any…deep conversations.”

“I don’t know you that well. You went to another school.”

“Right. And you’re busy with football.”

“Extremely.”

“Plus, you’re my brother’s best friend.”

“Damn straight.” I bring the bottle to my lips once again.

“Which is probably preventing you from making any type of move on me, right?”

I nearly spit out the beer currently in my mouth, instead swallowing it down with extreme difficulty. “Blair…”

“Or maybe you’re not interested. I get it. I’m just me while you’re you and you can have any woman you could ever want. Take your pick.” She laughs, but it sounds nervous, and she’s waving her hand around the room, indicating all the other options I supposedly have. Like I’d rather be with anyone else than her.

The woman is obviously mistaken.

“Blair.”

Those big green eyes meet mine once more, blinking at me in seeming confusion. “You don’t have to let me down easy. I’ve got liquid courage flowing through me and I had to say something.”

“To me.”

“Yes.”

“That you’re into me?”

She blinks again, but doesn’t say a word.

“Or you could be into me?” I amend.

She shrugs one shoulder.

“Don’t you think that’s a terrible idea?”

“Why would you say that?”

“Your brother will kick my ass if I disrespect you.”

Blair shifts closer, her sweet floral scent getting stronger as she tilts her head toward mine, her mouth right at my ear. “Maybe I want you to disrespect me.”