Playing Hard: A Bad Boy Sports Romance by Eve Maddox Page A

just not in the mood tonight. You can have them both. My compliments.”
    With that, I turn away, walking straight past the people hanging out on the porch, and out into the cold night air.
    There’s something really wrong with you, my brain informs me. Well, no shit. That’s the first time I’ve ever turned down pussy served up hot on a platter in my life.
    I know what the problem is, though — it’s Ava. Somehow, she’s gotten a hold of my cock, and she won’t let it go.
    This chick, who I’ve had a grand total of two conversations with. Both of which have been complete disasters.
    It doesn’t matter, somehow. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t.
    The only thing I do know is that the only way I’m going to get her out of my head is by getting her into my bed.
    And the only way that is going to happen is if I keep on finding ways to be around her.
    In other words, I’m going to have to keep playing her and her father’s stupid fucking game for a little while longer yet.
     

CHAPTER NINE
     
    AVA
     
     
    “I admit, I wasn’t exactly pleased when I saw the way the pictures had turned out, and it necessitated a change in strategy on my part. But it seems like the media took the opportunity to weave their own narrative about the incident, and I must say it’s worked out in our favor.”
    I stare up at Murray. He’s the only person I know who can sound like this in everyday conversation. Weave their own narrative. Christ on a cracker.
    I suppose I should be used to it by now. After all, I’ve known Murray most of my life. He knew my parents at college, and my dad’s always had political ambitions. Murray has his finger on the pulse of these things, and my dad donates heavily to the think tank he works for.
    I’d been brooding about how he was going to react to the way the pictures with Riley turned out. I thought that Murray would finally agree that this whole thing had been ridiculous, and call it off.
    But then I wouldn’t get to see Riley anymore.
    And that’s a good thing, I remind myself. I don’t want to see him anymore. He’s arrogant and all he thinks about is sex. And he probably thinks you’re a raging bitch, seeing as that’s how you’ve behaved toward him every time you’ve talked.
    Murray’s talking again. I give myself a shake, trying to listen.
    “These first two meetings were an experiment, to see what the response would be. But now that we’ve stirred up interest, things will have to be a lot more… mediated, from now on. Co-ordinated. Now that we have people’s attention, we can less afford to put a foot wrong.”
    I nod, trying to stop my thoughts from racing. Obviously this means this stupid fake dating thing is still on. And obviously that means I’m going to be seeing a lot more of Riley, provided his coach can still convince him that this is a good idea.
    “Did it really stir up that much interest?” I ask, not really sure if I want to know the answer.
    Ever since last week’s… little incident in the restaurant, I’ve been trying to lie low. The nerds in my chemical engineering program probably wouldn’t be able to pick Riley Knox out of a lineup, so I’m safe in my classes. But as soon as I step outside, I start getting the feeling people are looking and pointing at me, whether they are or not. Usually, they’re not. But I still feel all my hairs stand up on end whenever I’m outside.
    Murray nods in his usual calm, measured way. “As I said, I had to modulate my strategy after the pictures turned out somewhat differently from how I had envisioned them. But the speculation has been building — the fact that you’re not well-known on campus has played well for us too. It fueled a guessing game as to your identity, and why you might have been arguing. This has turned into quite a gift.”
    I notice that at no point does Murray enquire as to whether Riley and I were actually arguing, or what we were arguing about. My father’s away on business, but I suddenly