Game On (A Bad Boy Sports Romance) by Olivia Lancaster Read Free Book Online Page B

that flash and glam right off the bat. Imagine how leery you’d be of someone if they’d offered you the world on a silver plate on the first date.”
     
                  I bobbed my head thoughtfully, frowning. “Well, I don’t want to show her a dull time.”
     
                  “First off, from what it sounds like, she’s just got your number,” Jamal said. “You can’t rush into things like this, Kieran. You’ve got a good heart, but romance isn’t a football field. Strutting around and throwing your fame up in the air for everyone to see is just gonna reel in more gold diggers like that last girl you went out with.”
     
                  I raised my eyebrows with a nod at the unpleasant memory.
     
                  “If this girl is a little cautious going forward,” he went on, “it sounds like you might have someone worthwhile on your hands.”
     
                  “So what do I do?” I asked, looking up at him at a genuine loss.
     
                  He smiled. “Just be yourself, man. Don’t sell the real you short. Take it easy, and have the kind of laid-back good time you’ve talked about wanting so much.”
     
                  I gave a little laugh, but nodded, knowing him to be right. Maybe I should reel it in a bit. Worked for the interview, might work here, too. “Alright. Maybe I just will. Thanks, Jamal.”
     
                  “All good,” Andrei spoke up, having been watching the exchange silently, “but for now, the ‘real you’ needs to work on his arms, and these weights won’t lift themselves. Let’s go.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 5 - DANIELLE
 
     
     
                  “Okay, I gotta ask: what’s with all the interest in my personal life?” Kieran questioned, leaning back against the stadium wall. He looked like a damn marble statue, all sinewy length and bulging muscles. There was just the slightest sheen of sweat on his forehead, as he’d just finished a long, intense practice with the team. His blond hair has formed tight, adorable curly tendrils at his temples and forehead from humidity. His chest was still heaving slightly from the exertion of bolting endless laps around the football field.
     
    I sat across from him in a fold-up chair, my legs crossed at the ankles. I looked up from my notebook to sneak another glance at his unbelievable physique and found that he was staring right at me, an expectant look on his gorgeous face. I felt myself blush.
     
    “Well, you’re an interesting figure, you know,” I answered dodgily. “But everybody already knows your stats and what have you. I want to show more of who you really are. The guy behind the jersey number.”
     
    Kieran tilted his head to one side and a bemused smile hitched itself to his tempting lips.
     
    “You’re not trying to dig up dirt or anything, right? Not planning some half-baked exposé, are you?” he teased. I instantly relaxed, realizing that he didn’t actually suspect I would do anything to hurt him or his career. Still, I could tell he was genuinely curious. It probably wasn’t often that an interviewer cared more about his past than his future.
     
    “Of course not. I just know you’ve got to have an interesting story. Anyone who can make it this far into the big leagues as quickly as you have has got to be hiding some great secret. You’ve got to pull all that strength and determination from somewhere,” I explained with a shrug. He nodded slowly, sizing me up.
     
    “Well, I can assure you there’s no big secret. I’m much more boring than you seem to think I am,” he said with a chuckle.
     
    “I never thought I’d hear you say something like that,” I commented, gently poking fun at his macho all-about-me public persona. “You’re surprisingly humble, Mr. Michaels.”
     
    “Kieran,” he corrected me with a brilliant smile. I was still trying