The headache Brody had tried to ignore before came back with full force. He reached up to rub his throbbing temples. Damn. He wished he knew which one of his teammates had confessed. Whoever it was, this probably didn’t bode well for tomorrow’s game. How would anybody be able to focus with a possible criminal investigation hanging over their heads?
“It’s not true.”
Hayden’s soft voice jarred him from his thoughts, and he glanced over to see her big eyes pleading with him. “Right?” she said wearily. “It’s not true.”
“I don’t know.” He raked a hand through his hair, then absently picked up a French fry. Not that he had an appetite anymore. That news report had destroyed any desire he had for food. He dropped the fry and looked back at Hayden, who seemed to be waiting expectantly for him to continue. “I really don’t know, babe. So far, there’s been no proof that Pres bribed anyone.”
“So far. But if that report we saw just now is true…”
Her breath hitched, and her pained expression tore at his heart.
“Were you…Did he…” She sounded tortured, as if saying each word took great effort. “Did he offer you a bribe?” she finally asked.
“Absolutely not.”
“But he could have bribed someone else, another player.”
“He could have,” Brody said guardedly.
She grew silent, looking so achingly sad that he reached over to draw her into his arms. Her hair tickled his chin, the sweet scent of her wafting into his nose. He wanted to kiss her, to make love to her again, but it was totally not the time. She was upset, and the way she pressed her head into the crook of his neck and snuggled closer told him she needed comfort at the moment, not sex.
“God, this is such a mess,” she murmured, her breath warming his skin. “Dad is already stressed-out because of the divorce, and now…”
She abruptly lifted her head, her lips set in a tight line. “I refuse to believe he did what they’re accusing him of. My dad is a lot of things, but he’s not a criminal.”
The certainty in her eyes was unmistakable, and Brody wisely kept quiet. He’d always admired and respected Presley Houston, but experience had taught him that even people you admired and respected could screw up.
“Whoever came forward has to be lying,” Hayden said firmly. She swallowed. “This will all get cleared up during the investigation. It has to.”
She slid close to him again. “I don’t want to think about this anymore. Can we just pretend we didn’t see that newscast?” Without waiting for an answer, she went on. “And while we’re at it, we can pretend I came home for a vacation rather than to deal with my father’s problems.” She sighed against his shoulder. “God, a vacation would be so good. I could really use some fun right now.”
He smoothed her hair, loving how soft it felt under his fingers. “What did you have in mind?”
She tilted her head up and smiled. “We could go see a movie tomorrow—it’s been ages since I’ve been to the movies. Or we could walk along the waterfront, go to Navy Pier. I don’t know, just have fun, damn it!”
As much as he hated disappointing her, Brody smiled gently and said, “I would love to, but I can’t. The team’s catching a plane to L.A. at 9:00 a.m. There’s a game tomorrow night.”
The light drained out of her eyes, but she gave him a quick smile as if to hide her reaction. “Oh. Right. Dad mentioned something about an away game.”
His arms felt empty as she disentangled herself from the embrace and inched back, absently reaching for a French fry on her plate. She popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly, not looking at him.
“How about Sunday?” he suggested, anxious to make things right and at the same time not sure what he’d done wrong.
“I have this party to go to.” She pushed her plate away, apparently as uninterested in eating as he was. “It’s important to my dad.”
“Then another time,” he said. “I promise you, I’ll take you out and give you the fun you need.”
Her expression grew strained. “It’s okay, Brody. You don’t have to indulge me. It’s probably a silly idea to go out on a date anyway.”
He bristled. “Why is it silly?”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “This is only supposed to be a fling. Playing out a few sexual fantasies.”
A fling. Something inside him hardened at the word. Casual flings had pretty much been his entire life for the past ten years, serious relationships never even making a blip on his radar. And then he’d met Hayden and suddenly he wasn’t thinking about casual anymore. He liked her. A lot. Hell, he’d actually experienced a flicker of excitement when she’d mentioned engaging in normal couple things like going to the movies or walking by the lake. He’d never felt the urge to do stuff like that with the previous women in his life. He hadn’t cared enough, and that would have sounded awful if not for the fact that they hadn’t cared, either.