Free Hard Tackle: A Bad Boy Sports Romance by Jessica Ashe Page A

dinner.”
    Clyde sighed in that way he always did when he realized he wouldn’t be able to bring me round to his way of thinking. He’d been trying for years. It was remarkable we were still friends, really. Even at school, he’d been the serious one, while I’d spent all my time playing football and chasing skirt. Now he was at law school while I was a professional footballer.
    “We could double date,” Clyde suggested. “Me and Tasha, and you and Kristi.”
    “I don’t date.”
    “You might have to with a girl like Kristi. I don’t think she’s the type for casual hook ups.”
    “I don’t care, I’m not doing the dating thing. I keep telling you, I’m not that interested in her. If she puts out then that’s all good, but if not, I’ll go and stick my dick in the next pussy that opens up in front of me.”
    Is that what I had to do to get Kristi? Go on a date? It had never even crossed my mind. I knew what dating was. I’d seen it on television, and I had friends like Clyde who insisted on doing it. Dating to me always looked like a pointless exercise that people went through solely to avoid being labeled as easy. If I wanted to fuck a woman and they wanted to fuck me, then we fucked. Simple. Dating sounded complicated.
    “You have such a way with words,” Clyde remarked. “I really don’t think you need interview training at all.”
    “Couldn’t agree more, but the manager insists on it.”
    “So no double date?”
    I shook my head. “Not unless you really need the help, and to be honest, you don’t. Not with Tasha. You’d have to try damn hard not to get laid with her.”
    Clyde narrowed his eyes and looked at me sternly. He was going to make a good defense attorney if that’s what he ended up doing.
    “Don’t talk about her like that,” he scolded. “She seems like a lovely woman. I don’t care if she’s slept around a bit.”
    “Yeah, sorry, man,” I said genuinely. “That was out of line. She does seem pretty cool.”
    I had to remind myself that describing a woman as easy wasn’t always considered a compliment in this stupid world we lived in. Clyde was right though; Tasha had a lot more going on between the ears than the women I typically introduced him to. I shouldn’t have expected any less from the sister of Kristi.
    “I’m going to treat Tasha how I would treat any other woman I’m interested in.”
    “That’s what I’m doing with Kristi.”
    Clyde laughed. “Yeah, to your credit, I suppose you are.”
    “I’m nothing if not consistent.
    “But Kristi’s not like your normal women.”
    “Deep down, she wants my cock just as much as any other lady. She’s just better at hiding it.”
    “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    “Yeah, yeah. Now, let’s go get something to eat, because I’m starving.”
    “You’re always hungry.”
    “What can I say?” I replied. “I have an appetite for all the good things in life.”

Chapter Eleven
Kristi
    I barely went into the office now. All my work could be done from home, and so long as I logged my hours, no one seemed to care all that much. After all, I was only an intern. Not an unpaid intern, though. Not anymore.
    Human Resources must have decided that perhaps a client-facing member of staff working sixty hours a week should at least be paid minimum wage. I ended up getting $10 an hour, backdated to when I started. That didn’t go far in San Francisco, but it did mean I could give Tasha some money towards the rent which she’d been paying single-handedly.
    She took that rent money and went out for drinks with some girlfriends, because, well, she was Tasha. No doubt I would be meeting a new guy over breakfast tomorrow.
    At least Tasha was out of the house. Tonight was devoted to one-on-one time with Barton. Tonight I would be paid to sit and stare at Barton Fenner. Not a bad way to make a living.
    Barton arrived promptly at eight, just after Tasha had left. He’d brought Chinese food and a bottle of