Free Catching the Pass (Football Fantasies) by Alexandra O'Hurley

was in Jennings’ best interest for her to leave.  The thought of walking away made her ache inside, but she wasn’t going to ruin his chances.
    “I got him a look see next month with Houston.  I tried, and failed, to get him a look see at the combine.  Right after the combine, the Houston GM and coaches agreed to look at him, thanks to my badgering and Rhett’s insistence that Jennings get a shot.  I know they’re only agreeing to shut us up, but once he walks in, if he wows them, then it could change his life.”
    Maggie looked at Taylor, excitement running through her veins.  Pro coaches willing to look?  That was huge.  Good thing Jennings had friends in high places.
    Rhett sent a perfect spiral down field, and Maggie sucked in a breath.  When Jennings snagged it from midair and pulled it into his chest, she relaxed, especially once she saw the smile of victory come across his lips. 
    If he could keep doing that, he might have a shot.
    Which meant she needed to bow out before she ruined him.

Chapter Nine
     
    Jennings groaned as Maggie pushed his leg over in an assisted stretch the following day.   After the fight, he’d been sore as hell, and he was still sore today.  His ribs were bruised, and there were some ugly marks up and down his back from the fight.  The workout on the field and the run that morning had been hell, but he’d pushed himself through the pain.  Now, she was adding insult to injury by pushing on muscles that didn’t want to be moved.
    “Are you okay?” 
    He felt her fingers on the end of his shirt.  She began to lift the material out of the way, and he stopped her.  Maggie didn’t need to see the damage to his body; it would only make her feel worse and make her talk more.  He didn’t want to hear it.  “I’m fine.  Just get on with it.”
    Maggie was silent for a long moment.  “Are we going to talk about yesterday or the night before?”
    “Nope.  No reason to,” he answered.
    “After the night we shared, that’s how you want to leave it?” she asked.
    Jennings sat up.  “You’re not going to let it alone until we have it out, are you?”
    “I should’ve broken things off with Brian before I came.  I just wanted to get away from all that.  I never expected him to find me here and come in like that.  I’m sorry.”
    Jennings knew she was sincere, but there was more to it than that.  “I’ve been attracted to you since the moment you knocked on my door, but I fought it.  Night before last, I lost the fight.  Your ex showing up on my doorstep the following morning was like some cosmic sign that I needed to get my eye back on the ball and off your ass.”
    Maggie stepped back a little.  “So, we’re going to act like it didn’t happen?”
    “It happened.  There’s no getting around it.  But we need to be professional.  I need training, and you’re my trainer.  Can you handle that?”
    The look on her face told him no. 
    “Yes.”
    “Had I known you were coming out of a relationship, I would’ve kept my distance.  You should’ve told me.”  Would he have been able to keep his hands off her had she told him?  He doubted it, but it sounded good.
    Maggie tilted her head and looked up at him.  “Would you really want to go around telling people your ex-fiancé was caught with some underage girl, drugged up giving him a blow job in the front seat of his car, which he crashed so the entire world could see what he’d done?”
    “He wasn’t your ex-fiancé until yesterday morning,” Jennings quipped.  “ After we had sex.”
    Maggie scrubbed her hands up and down her face before letting out an exasperated sigh.  “If this is your way of backtracking away from what we shared, you’re as big an asshole as Brian is.”
    She got up and walked away from him.  He watched her march up the stairs and suddenly felt like a total jerk.  Maggie had been pulled through the ringer yesterday and here he was compounding the beating she’d