Kicked: A Bad Boy Sports Romance by C. M. Stunich Read Free Book Online

snapped at him, turning back to my locker and tossing shit around like I was actually looking for something. In reality, I was just pissed. Again. And for no reason. I was seriously going to need some therapy after this. “I just don't want to hear you talk about her like that, okay? We grew up together.”
    “So I heard. How come you've never mentioned her before?” I shrugged my shoulders and stared at the rose tattoo on the back of my hand, at the sparrow taking flight between my thumb and pointer finger. It gave me something to focus on while I calmed my suddenly frantic heartbeat.
    “Dunno. Didn't think it was important,” I said, snatching my practice gear and covering up my dick with a jockstrap and a cup. Kai waited until I was covered before he broached the subject again. “She seemed to think it was. As soon as your name was mentioned, she fell apart. She was a fun girl and all, but holy crap. She went all super goth on me when we started talking about you.”
    “Yeah, well, maybe you should keep our mouth shut around Teagan,” I said, slamming my locker closed and tossing Kai a glare over my shoulder. “In fact, maybe you just shouldn't talk to her at all.”

    At least practice wasn't a complete bust.
    We spent our day on the outdoor practice fields with full pads, giving me a chance to let out the pent up frustration I was feeling. This is why I left, I kept telling myself as I went through the motions, leading the first string players in a game simulation. This is why I disappeared. With Teagan around, I can't think straight. I bent over and blew out a breath of sweat, enjoying the burn of my muscles before standing up and surveying the field. Kai was still giving me weird looks, but I didn't give a shit. He could have any girl he wanted, so screw him. What was wrong with having some limits? I'd never screwed his exes. Although Teagan was never anything like that to me. She wasn't an ex because she was never my girlfriend or my lover, just … a friend.
    I gritted my teeth and forced myself back into the game, the green of my uniform a beacon of hope in my suddenly cluttered brain. Shit might be going down around me, but I had this. I'd always have this. Football was both my god and my muse, my reason for living. It was the reason I'd left my hometown, come all the way up to the Eugene metro area to play, to snag that scholarship out of nowhere. I'd followed a dream and I'd made things happen.
    While leaving a nightmare at home behind me.
    I refused to think about Teagan's mom, Venus. Knowing she was gone was fucking devastating, and if I let myself go there, I'd screw up my whole game. Smack dab in the thick of the season, going to the dark places in my head wouldn't get me anywhere. I refused to let that happen. I shut all of that down and dove back into practice with a vengeance.
    My team had a three point lead with four minutes on the clock so I moved the chains once, used a hard snap and got the defense to jump offsides. Easy as frigging cake.
    “Nice job today,” Coach said was I made my way off the field. “Looks like you finally got those panties untangled?” I gave him a one shoulder shrug and a smirk, my helmet tucked against my body on the other side. “Well, whatever it is, don't let it distract you on Saturday, you hear me?”
    “You got it, Coach,” I said as I made my way back towards the locker room.
    I had to wonder the whole way if that would be a lie.

    The next day, I went running again, as if that was a surprise.
    Coach was seriously going to kick my ass. Let's just hope I don't twist my damn ankle out here, I thought as I wound my way through the park. At nearly four hundred acres, the chances of actually running into Teagan again were pretty slim. Hell, having it happen even once was a goddamn miracle. It was fate.
    I gritted my teeth and pushed myself harder, veering off the cement and onto a winding dirt path, the trees swaying overhead in the dying twilight. Even though