More Than A Game (The Kings of Kroydon Hills Book 2) by Bella Matthews (the best electronic book reader .TXT) 📗

to my mother though. God forbid I ever skip a day of exercising. She has a sixth sense for these things. She knows when I eat crappy or when I slack off, and she calls me on it right away. She’s more worried about me gaining the freshman fifteen than I am.

Apparently, senators don’t have daughters with more than 10 percent body fat.

Looking around the yard, I find Brady and Bash in the shallow end of the heated pool throwing a football to Tommy, the boy who’s become everyone’s little brother. They met when Natalie took a job at the local dance studio last year. I’ve met Tommy a few times, and he is such a sweet kid. He has autism and doesn’t usually like to be in big groups of people, but he loves this group.

Annabelle, Tommy’s big sister and Natalie’s boss, is sitting with her feet in the pool, happily watching her brother enjoy himself. Her boyfriend jeans are rolled up and her ever-present rose gold, sparkly Doc Martens are sitting next to her.

Declan is relaxing behind her on a chaise lounge, and I’m betting behind those mirrored sunglasses, he’s got his eyes on her. Hmm. Another thing to make sure I talk to Nat about when we catch up for coffee and yoga this week.

This backyard is like a hot-guy convention. These guys could make serious Pinterest inspiration pics.

“Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees is pumping through the outdoor sound system. As I look around, everyone seems happy until my eyes land on Murphy. He doesn’t look unhappy exactly, but there’s something about the look on his face. His eyes are hidden behind his Ray-Bans, but his expression seems tight. He’s sitting on the diving board with his feet dangling in the pool. Green camo cargo shorts cover his powerful thighs, and I really wish his t-shirt was off so I could get a chance to drool over the muscles I know are hiding beneath it.

Since our conversation last night was still bothering me when I woke up this morning, I take a deep breath and make my way over to him, ready to apologize. When I manage to cast a shadow over him, he leans back on his elbows on the board and sighs.

“Listen, Princess, it’s already been a fucking crazy twenty-four hours. Do you think we can call a truce for today? I don’t think I have one of our sparring sessions in me, especially with no chance of all the buildup leading to actual fucking.”

I open and close my mouth with nothing coming out, feeling like a fish out of water, gasping for air. Finally, I manage to ask one question, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Seriously, Sabrina. My brain is fucking fried. I can’t do this today.”

“Well, I was coming over here to apologize for last night. I think somehow I managed to start our sparring session. I swear, you just bring my inner bitch out to play. I don’t even know why I’m so bitchy to you.” Well, I do know why, but I can’t exactly say, Sorry, Murph. I have a huge crush on you, and you make me nervous, so I’ll stick with my excuse.

“Yeah, I was an ass last night too. It was a fucking shitty night.” Murphy cringes and sits back up.

I cross my arms over my chest and ask, “Want to talk about it? I’m a good listener. It might help to get an outside perspective.”

“Christ, my weekend has been so fucked up. It would be easier to talk about what isn’t wrong with it than to list all of the ways I took it up the ass this weekend.” He swings his legs to the side, no longer straddling the diving board. “Metaphorically speaking.”

Now his body is turned and facing me, so I kick off my pink and green plaid Sperrys and sit down on the concrete by his legs. I slip my feet into the warm water. “Spill it.”

“Let’s see, where do I start? In the last twenty-four hours, I was told I might be a dad in a few months. I walked in on Coach Sinclair banging my mom on the fucking kitchen table. Saw his naked ass and everything. I had to have the most uncomfortable conversation a son could ever have with his mother after that clusterfuck. Oh yeah, and then I watched her and Coach get engaged. That’s not actually a bad thing. It just caught me off guard. I feel like someone fucked me up the ass with no lube.” That visual should not be hot, but Murphy’s naked ass always has been on my top ten list of things to see.

I look down at my feet moving around in the warm water to give myself a moment to get that image out of my head before I answer. Cocking my head to the side, I look him over. “Wow. I’m not sure what to say or where to start unraveling that future therapy bill. Do you want to talk about the ‘might be a dad’ thing?”

He closes his eyes, and his shoulders rise and fall before he speaks, “No. Not really. I was going to my mom’s house earlier today so I could talk to her about it but got sidetracked with all the nakedness. I have to go to an appointment Tuesday afternoon. Guess I’ll get more information then.”

“Holy shit, you’re serious.” I can’t help the astonishment in my voice. I really wasn’t expecting him to say that.

“I know I like to fuck around, Princess, but not about this. I’m not ready to have a fucking kid. I can barely take care of myself. I always wanted kids someday. But when I pictured that, it was way far off in the future, once I was playing ball professionally. I had a wife in my picture, not a baby momma. I had a house I owned, not a house that’s a step up from a frat house. When I pictured it in my