Hearts in Overtime: A Bad Boy Sports Romance by Daphne Swan Read Free Book Online

a sofa somewhere in this training complex, relaxing with his teammates.
    He certainly doesn’t look any worse for wear. His cheeks have a healthy pink glow and he’s emitting a fresh, clean scent. He’s obviously just come from the shower. Looks like his short, dark hair is still a little damp.
    Mmm… Ryan in the shower…lathering his naked body up with soap as the water beats down on his sore muscles…
    Get a grip, Marshall.
    “Well,” I say in my most cheerful voice, “I have to say I’m really pleased with the way things have gone so far. We’ve covered a lot of ground in the past couple of days.”
    He answers me with a blank stare.
    “Is it okay if I record today’s interview?” I ask.
    “Whatever.”
    Thank goodness that’s out of the way. I recorded yesterday’s interview without any resistance on his part, hoping that would help me get his permission to record today’s interview. I can’t help but congratulate myself on the smooth way I got that taken care of. With any luck we’re going to get into the meaty stuff today and I’m going to need to be 100% present. If I’m busy taking notes manually, I might miss out on an opportunity to draw Ryan out of his shell.
    So far, so good.
    I make the necessary adjustments to my phone, and once I’ve got it on “record” I set it down on the table and smile up at Ryan. I want to appear as warm and as friendly as I possibly can, so that he’ll feel comfortable with me and more likely to open up.
    His body language doesn’t read like he’s closed off, which I take as a very good sign. On the contrary, his legs are stretched out before him and his arms are casually draped over the arms of his chair. He looks extremely relaxed. Definitely more relaxed than I’m feeling right now!
    “Okay,” I say, clasping my hands together on the table and widening my smile.
    No more stalling. Just do it!
    “Let’s talk about your high school years,” I suggest as casually as possible.
    Silence.
    “What was the name of your school?”
    No answer.
    “Did you grow up in Ohio?”
    Icy glare.
    Exhaling heavily, I lean back in my chair and glare back at him.
    “Ryan, you know as well as I do that you have to open up about your background. If it were up to me, I’d be happy to write a book about your years with the Vipers, but it’s not up to me. And it’s not up to you either. It’s my job to ask these questions, and it’s your job to answer them.”
    “Whatever.”
    If I hear this man say “whatever” one more time, I swear I’m going to smack him clean across the face…
    I take a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm down, and then I weigh my options. Maybe I can at least figure out where he’s from by analyzing his accent. But I scrap that idea almost as soon as it comes to me. Ryan has one of those non-regional accents. He’s got the voice of a national broadcaster—aside from the fact that he always sounds like he’s in a bad mood. He could be from anywhere.
    All right. Well, I’m getting nowhere, so what I need to do is to come at this from another angle.
    “Did you play football in high school?”
    Silence.
    “How old were you when you first got interested in the game?”
    Nothing.
    “Were there any players in particular who inspired you?”
    He cocks his head ever so slightly to the side. Finally, one of my questions got through to him.
    “All right,” he says as if he’s doing me some huge favor by answering. “I always sort of idolized Joe Montana.”
    Well, this is hardly the stuff that makes for a riveting read, but at least I’ve got him talking. Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about Joe Montana or any other football player apart from Ryan Blake so it’s not like I have an arsenal of thought-provoking questions. That being said, I’m determined to focus on the bright side of matters. He’s talking now. Sort of.
    “Joe Montana, yeah? What is it about him that captured your fascination?”
    He gives me a look like