Free Running Interference by Elley Arden Page B

Jace wouldn’t even know. But, he couldn’t bring himself to get up and walk out without clearing the air between him and Tanya. Not after her earlier admission. He’d hurt her once. He wouldn’t hurt her again.
    He lifted the boy’s feet, set them gently behind him, and slid off the couch. The minute he landed beside Tanya, her eyes opened.
    “Can I ask you something?” she whispered.
    He rolled onto his side and faced her. “Anything.”
    “Why do you hate it here so much?”
    “It’s not that I hate it here, it’s just … ”
    “That it’s better in Boston.”
    Sounded reasonable. He nodded.
    “That’s the easy answer. You’ve been trying to get out of Cleveland since the day we met. I used to think it had something to do with your father.”
    He tensed.
    “’Cause you know if it did, it would make sense. The idea that Cleveland wasn’t good enough for him to stick around, so it wasn’t good enough for you either.”
    Hardly. “Cleveland didn’t draft me. That’s all there is to it.”
    She stared at him long enough to make him doubt his own words. Cleveland hadn’t needed a wide receiver in the first round. If they had, he would’ve been praying they passed on him. Why?
Because they sucked, man.
Nobody wanted to play for a losing team.
    But maybe there was more to it.
    “All there is to it, huh? So are you moving your mom to Boston because your grown ass really needs her there, or because then you wouldn’t have to feel guilty about never coming back here?” She blasted him with those eyes.
    “T, what do you want from me? I thought it was no strings. If that’s it, then me leaving town and being scarce seems to be honoring your request.”
    She blinked, rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
    He lay there, listening to her breathing, and when she didn’t say anything, he slid a hand over her belly and watched the muscles in her long neck tense. “Just because I move my mother to Boston doesn’t mean we have to lose touch again. It won’t happen. I promise you.”
    Her exhale echoed in the quiet, and then her hand rested on top of his. She looked at him. “I feel absolutely crazy for wanting this.” Her other hand landed on his thigh and climbed until her fingers brushed his fly.
    Crazy was the operative word. Messing around like this with a kid on the couch and all this chaos between them. But the chemistry was even crazier than that, and he didn’t want to resist.
    When he propped up on his elbow to move in for a kiss, a ruckus sounded at the opposite end of the room. He bolted into a sitting position just in time to see Jillian flip on the lights and say, “What the f … ”
    “Shh!” Tanya jumped up, but it was too late.
    Jace sat up too.
    Jillian’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me you were having movie night? I would’ve come straight home after the gym. Looks
cozy
.”
    Tanya shook her head. “It wasn’t planned.”
    “I’m spending the night,” Jace said.
    “And I’m leaving.” Cam held out a fist for a bump from Jace before he grabbed his coat off the back of a kitchen chair. “Thanks for letting me hang with you guys.”
    Jillian bobbed her brows as he passed. “Are you coming to practice tomorrow night?”
    He glanced at Tanya. “I don’t know. You might need a break from me.” Hell, after she had a chance to sleep on all of this she might want to rescind their deal.
    She turned away, fiddling with the remote for the DVD player. “It’s up to you.”
    He’d think about it. He’d think about
all
of it. Now that he knew how much he’d hurt her, he wouldn’t hurt her again. So, he was going let her call the shots from now on.
    • • •
    “I walked in on what exactly?” Jillian asked after Jace had fallen back asleep.
    Tanya crossed her arms atop the kitchen table and laid her head in the crook of her arm. “
X-Men
.”
    “You know what I was talking about, smart ass. How did you and Cam end up here instead of at the gym like you