I CAN'T BELIEVE I'm this stupid. Aiden is a player in more ways than one and I've just ruined any chance I have of gaining respect from the team. Me and my damn crush. It doesn't help that I met his family and loved them. I'm an idiot and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it now.

I take my time in the shower and wash off Aiden's scent. When I pick my dirty clothes off the bathroom floor, his smell permeates the material. If there was an incinerator handy, I'd chuck them in. I toss the clothes into a plastic hotel dry cleaning bag instead, stuffing the thing into the depths of my suitcase. I crawl into bed, set the alarm, and do my best to sleep.

My phone alarm goes off at three-thirty the next morning. I calculate I slept all of two hours. During the long night staring at the ceiling, I reviewed everywhere I went wrong with Aiden. Even knowing how detrimental it was to my career, I found it impossible to keep my thoughts away from the things that felt so damn right. Like every place he touched me.

"Argh," I say into the quiet room.

I grab a fruit bowl from the small fridge and add hot water to a container of instant oatmeal I picked up on my return from the airport. My plan is to jog to the stadium for my first day of practice as a Pronghorn. I put my hair in a ponytail and pull a baseball cap low over my eyes. Everything I need will be at the stadium in my very own cubby. I don't bother checking out front, I've learned my lesson and I'm leaving through the side entrance. I'm startled when I open the door and Aiden is leaning against his truck exactly as he was yesterday. He's scrumptious and my insides go mushy at the sight of him.

"What are you doing?" I demand in a throaty voice because he's catching me off guard and I can't quite hide what the sight of him does to me. He's the last person I want to see this morning. Liar, liar pants on fire, I silently chant in my head. His smug expression doesn't help. My mind flashes to his firm ass and I want to sink my fingernails into his taut glutes. I also want to peek beneath his tight shirt and see the marks from my teeth I know are there.

Stop, I mentally reprimand myself.

Aiden stands waiting, looking refreshed with slightly damp hair, and doesn't bother answering my question. "Good morning, Jordan." His eyes sweep over me and heat burns my cheeks. I should deck him, which is totally unfair. I'm the stupid one and he's the man who took advantage of my stupidity. He's lickable in cutoff sweatpants and a Pronghorns' T-shirt that's seen better days. He's wearing some type of athletic sandal, which should look ridiculous. His toes wiggle when my eyes skim to his feet and I try to keep a smile under wraps. He looks good enough to eat, or lick, or stop me right now, swallow.

"I can't ride with you," I say when our eyes connect. His cocky smile is in full force and I'm reminded of the way he kissed me last night. The memory travels straight to my girly parts.

"Sure you can." He shrugs. "No one's there this early but, somehow, I figured you would be. If we're caught, I'm the team captain and it's my job to take care of new players."

I place my hands on my hips and shake my head. "You put all the new players against a door and screw their brains out?" Yes, it's a challenge.

His grin turns full megawatt devilish. "Only the pretty ones with killer lipstick who ask me to."

Damn, I actually begged for it against the door. Also, the man has a serious lip fetish or maybe it's a lipstick fetish. I should knee him in the groin for driving me insane and making my body ache with need. He places his hand out and without thinking, I lift mine. He grabs it and assists me into the truck before I think to stop him. I slink down in the seat and cover my face with the brim of my hat. It's dark outside, but I'm hoping Aiden will think I'm sleeping and leave me the hell alone. Then my decision to stay quiet is shot to hell because I can't keep my mouth shut. "Are you always this reckless?"

"Look," he says as we come to a stop at the first traffic light, "no one on the team or management will know what happened last night. I won't hide that you ate dinner at my family's home, because Candice has the biggest mouth in the state. There's no reason you can't be friends" he pauses when a vehicle honks behind us and then puts his foot on the gas. "with my family." He continues to drive through the small amount of traffic that's out at this time of the morning.

I thrum my fingers on the side armrest. "If you think for one minute that the team won't speculate about the two of us, you're wrong. You're a player and I'm not talking football. I've read the tabloids and seen the photos."

"So," he returns without looking at me. "Did we sign a lifelong commitment last night that I'm not aware of? Are you trying to tell me I'm the only football player you've ever slept with?"

Yep, should have kicked him in the nuts. "As a matter of fact you are the only player I've had door sex with."

The asshole has the nerve to laugh as he turns into the stadium after security waves him through. "Yeah, the door sex was pretty spectacular and that changes things."

"How so?" I say in consternation. The fool never gives up.

"We need to have sex in a bed."

I cover my mouth with my hand and scream into it. It doesn't help at all. I lift my hand and try giving him evil eyes. "Sex between you and I won't happen again. You've solidified your place on the team, but I haven't. Everything I do from this point forward reflects on the type of player I am."

He parks and turns to look at me. "You're right and wrong. Having sex with me should have no bearing on us as teammates. I also concede that it does whether we like it or not. Most of my dates want to be seen with me. It helps their career. We can't do that." His eyelids lower and his voice turns husky. He takes my hand and my pulse skyrockets. "So, we keep our relationship quiet and enjoy the next week or two while you're still here."

I stare at him. Forget the damn smell of him and the fact he fucks like a Godhe doesn't believe I have even a small shot at playing on the team in a real game. It hurts. Maybe it's because I've worshipped Aiden's football playing ability for years. Or it could be because I met his family and they had faith in me. I open the truck door, jump down, and slam it as hard as I can. I'm so furious I slap his hand away when he charges around the truck and tries to stop me. I'll never be good enough, strong enough, or fast enough for him. It won't matter if I can kick the damn football to the moon. Football is the embodiment of a man's world and the only women they let in are the cheerleaders. Barf. Please save me from cheer bunnies.

I flash my card at the door guard and barrel into the stadium. My shoes echo as I stalk down the corridor with Aiden's heavy footsteps pounding behind me. If I turn down the wrong hallway, I'll look like a fool, so I try to concentrate on the path I took yesterday. The gym is only a few turns past the locker room but it's the latter I'm heading to. I place my hand on the door and Aiden's words stop me.

"The ladies' locker rooms are on the other side of the gym," he says smugly.

The satisfaction I get when I turn and give him the bad news is priceless. "I know that, but it's in my contract that I share the guys' locker room." I walk through the door and let it slam in his stunned face.

A few seconds later, he marches in. "That's ridiculous," he mutters behind me like a child.

I walk alongside the lockers, which are really alcoves, and check names until I start seeing players on special teams written on non-permanent white cards. Sure enough, there's my name and my gear. I glance at Aiden with a smug smile and cross my arms.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he shouts while looking between me and my stuff. "You can't be in here."

"Wanna bet," I say with elation. "Contract," I practically sing. I tip my head and flash the biggest smile I can. "Maybe you should consider hiring Larry to handle your contracts. He could probably set it up so a Pronghorns' cheerleader gives you a daily blow job."

Aiden takes a step closer. "I could spank your ass right now," he grinds out.

I'm saved from replying when a young man walks through the doors pushing a cart filled with towels and starts placing them in each player's cubby. He's shorter than me, unbelievably skinny, and has red curly hair. "Hey, Aiden," he says when he sees us standing there. The hero worship in his eyes when he looks at the Pronghorns' star quarterback is obvious.

Aiden's expression softens. He sucks in a long breath and manages to answer with a pleasant tone. "What's up, Bobby?"

The kid blushes and it's so darn sweet. "Are we going to win this year?" he asks bashfully.

"We can't do worse than we did last year," Aiden says and ruffles Bobby's hair. "Meet Jordan. She's our new kicker."