Playing the Game (The Renegades) (Volume 3) (16 page)

“
You’re a good guy, Ty. This phase
you’re in doesn’t change that. So tell me, what’s so different
about this girl?”

“
I wish I knew. I was pretty sure
she thought it was just a one night stand, until—”

“
Wait, go back… Aren’t all of them
just one night stands?”

“
They usually are.” Tyler massaged
his forehead with his fingers. “We were drinking. I don’t even know
how it happened.”

“
Ty, it was a long practice and I’m
kind of tired of the twenty questions, so let’s get to the problem.
What’s got you such a mess?”

“
I haven’t felt like this since
Gia. I haven’t
wanted
to feel like this.” Usually just the
thought of Gia made his stomach flop, but not this time. It was
twisting and turning at the thought of
her
. Paige. This was
crazy. He was done with falling in love, and he wasn’t about to be
used again. But his brain kept replaying that night. Paige’s eyes,
so full of desire. Her body, the way she was toned, yet so soft and
feminine. Her little noises, and the sweet way she’d given herself
to him. His mouth watered at the thought of tasting her again. He
wasn’t even sure he’d ever felt so knotted up inside about
Gia.

“
So what’s the problem?” Kris broke
into his thoughts.

Tyler looked up at him and had no words. What was the
problem? Why did any of this even matter?

Kris sighed. “Who is this girl who has you so
twisted? Is this what’s got you so preoccupied that you haven’t
picked a fight with Pat in days? Not that I’m complaining.”

Looking at Kris, he wondered why he hadn’t just told
him before. Why had he lied to his best friend? Kris knew he wasn’t
the son of a bitch that he led everyone to believe he was; he knew
the real Tyler. He was there for him when Gia screwed him over,
even though she was his sister-in-law. He’d never given him any
reason not to trust him.

“
Paige.” The words slipped out as
naturally as breathing, and after saying it he felt a thousand
pounds lighter.

“
I figured. There was never any ice
girl, was there?” Kris snickered.

Tyler shook his head. “You know me so well.”

“
You know if Mel finds out she’s
going to kill you.”

“
I know, I know. Honestly, I’m not
sure what to make out of this. I mean, we were both drinking—more
than we should’ve been. Maybe she thought I was drunk enough that I
didn’t remember.”

“
Why?”

“
Because she hasn’t said one word
to me about it. As a matter of a fact I hadn’t even seen her again
until last night.” That look on her face was burned into his brain.
Why was she so mad? “I was in the bathroom with some chick… don’t
look at me like that.”

Kris shook his head and sighed. “You’re all tangled
up over Paige but still whoring your way around the bar? What is
going on with you, Ty?”

“
I don’t know anymore. You said it
yourself—Mel will kill me. Anyone in the organization is
off-limits. I figured I just needed to move on and get Paige out of
my head. I only know one way to do that, but I couldn’t do it. I
went in there with this chick, but nothing happened. I realized I
just didn’t want to. When we left the bathroom I ran right into
Paige. She looked furious, tossed her beer in my face and
ran.”

“
Maybe she’s hurt that you haven’t
talked about your night together. Go talk to her. She’s not going
to go away anytime soon. You’re going to have to face her sooner or
later.”

Kris was right, and since she obviously wasn’t making
the first move, it looked like he had to. “I don’t know man. This
can only go one of two ways.” He wasn’t entirely sure he was ready
to face this.

“
You need to talk to
her.”

Tyler knew that. He just didn’t want to admit it.

“
You’ll never know until you try.
Maybe you like her more than you realize?”

“
No. I’m not going down that road
again.” He heard himself saying the words, but that’s not how his
heart felt. This girl had somehow gotten past those walls he’d
built, and nothing good could come out of this. Whatever has got
him so messed up needed to stop.

“
That’s what I said after Anna, and
look at me now—happily married with a son.”

“
Even if I wanted it to, nothing
can happen.”

“
But you still have to face her.
And what can Mel really do to you? I mean, besides kick your ass,
‘cause she’s a tough cookie.”

“
Funny, real funny.” The sad truth
was she probably
could
kick his ass if she wanted to. Tyler
stood up and neatened his locker, methodically putting everything
in its place.

“
Look, you know where to find me if
you need to talk.” Kris patted his shoulder before grabbing his
gear to leave. “Good luck.”

Tyler stood staring into the locker in the silent
room. It felt good to tell someone, but that didn’t solve his
problem. Why did he even have a problem though? It wasn’t like he
wanted to see her again. Did he?

What is my problem? Look what losing Gia turned me
into. What would happen next time
? Fear wasn’t something he was
used to feeling, but Paige scared him. He had butterflies as he
slowly walked down the hall to her office.

Turning the corner, he saw her sitting at her desk.
Her long, dark blond hair was pulled back into a clip, and she was
chewing on the eraser end of a pencil. What he wouldn’t give to be
that eraser. Memories of her soft lips brushing against him warmed
his body.

“
Can I help you?” Paige’s sharp
words snapped him back to reality.

“
I hope so.” Without being invited
in, he took a deep breath and shut the door behind him. Not letting
the tone of her voice intimidate him, he strolled into her office,
and planted himself in one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“Paige, I think we need to talk.” Puffing his chest out and filling
himself with confidence, he continued. “About the other
night—”

“
I don’t know what you’re talking
about. Now if you don’t mind, I’m very busy.” Paige moved her eyes
back to her computer screen. Her face was tense with no expression,
her eyes had no sparkle; they were dull and tired
looking.

“
Okay. Well, I still want to talk.”
She doesn’t know what I’m talking about? Is she for real or is she
playing me?

She huffed and with an irritated glare, turned away
from her computer. Keeping hold of that pencil, she lightly tapped
it against the desk as she stared at him. “What?” She snapped.

“
Why did you throw your beer in my
face?” Seemed like a good place to start, since she was playing
games.

With a huff she placed her hands on her desk and
started to stand up as her voice became loud and agitated. “I threw
my beer in your face because you were coming out of the woman’s
bathroom with that—” Stopping herself, she took a breath in and sat
back down. Letting the breath out slowly, she laced her fingers
together in front of her. “As I was saying, you were in the ladies
bathroom. You startled me. I didn’t know it was you.”

“
So, say that’s true. Why did you
run?” He wasn’t buying her explanation. Part of him wanted to know
more and the other part wanted to leave things be. He didn’t want
to be involved with anyone, so why couldn’t he just let this
go?

“
I didn’t run. I just wasn’t
feeling well and had to get out of there.”

Did she think he was that stupid? “I may have been
hit in the head a few times, but I’m not that gullible. You
ran.”

“
Believe what you want.” Turning
her attention away from him, she moved back to the computer and
began typing. Not looking away from the computer screen, she said,
“Is that all? I’m kind of busy.”

“
No, that’s not all. We need to
talk about you”—he pointed to her, and then himself—“and me ending
up in my bed the other night.” Just saying the words made him
hard.

She stopped typing, but didn’t look away from the
screen. Her foot tapped against the desk. A gentle pink flush was
appearing on her neck. It was so damn cute he wanted to kiss the
spot.

He leaned forward. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding
me?”

“
No. I’ve been busy. Keeping your
ass out of hot water is my job, and you don’t make it easy on me.”
Her eyes dropped to the desk.

If she didn’t want to talk about it, should he keep
pushing or let it go? “Yeah, about that—”

Paige finally turned her attention to him. Her eyes
were dark and hollow, there was no light, only pain. “The other
night, I think we both drank too much, and neither of us really…
Well, we weren’t making the best decisions. Considering we work
together, I think we need to just move past that… whatever it was
that happened.”

He wasn’t buying that she didn’t remember. He wasn’t
buying that it didn’t matter to her. But maybe she was right, and
this was best. He nodded his head.

“
Is that all?” she asked,
emotionless. She turned back to her computer. What would happen if
he leaned across her desk and kissed her? Would she lose the ice
façade and warm to him, heat for him? But she’d made it clear that
she wanted to move on.

“
I guess so.” Tyler retreated to
the door, stopping to take one last glance back at Paige. She was
busy typing away on her computer, a little frown on her beautiful
face. “See ya, Paige.” Gently he closed the door behind
him.

An ache hit him inside that he hadn’t felt in a
while. And he knew it well, the ache of losing something important.
He was supposed to feel better once they’d cleared the air, but
nothing was resolved and he sure didn’t feel better. The pain in
his chest told him all he needed to know. No matter how hard he’d
tried avoiding it, Cupid’s arrow had found him again.
I’m going
to kill that little arrow-shooting sniper with wings
.

CHAPTER 18

“You still here?” Melanie strutted into Paige’s
office. She had her briefcase in one hand and her purse on the
other.

“
Yeah. You leaving so
early?”

“
I am. Tonight I have a dinner date
with the hubby. Finally a break in the game schedule gives me a
little extra time.”

“
That sounds nice.”

The Renegades had a few days off in a row, but just
because there were no games didn’t mean the team—or particularly
Tyler Kidd—wasn’t going to get into any mischief.

“
What are you working on?” Melanie
nudged her head in the direction of the manila folder on Paige’s
desk.

“
Oh, it’s just a request for
Tyler.” She’d been staring at it all afternoon since he left her
office. “I’m just not so sure it’s a good idea.”

“
Why? What is it?” Melanie sat on
the edge of the desk.

“
It’s a Make-A-Wish
request.”

“
Oh, I love those! They’re so much
fun, Paige.” She frowned. “Why do you think it’s not a good idea?
Ty loves doing anything with the kids.”

Why did she doubt that? “Well, he doesn’t seem like
the best role model, you know?”

“
Paige, he isn’t as bad as you
think he is. Trust me.”

“
I’m not so sure about
that…”

“
Why do you have such issue with
Ty? It almost seems personal.” Melanie tapped her finger against
her lips and narrowed her eyes as if she was in deep thought. “Is
there something you aren’t telling me?”

She hated lying to Melanie. But since Tyler had
agreed with her that they’d forget that night, there was no point
in confessing now. “No, I just don’t know if it’s the best idea.
That’s all.”

“
Paige, you have to be able to see
the big picture. I’ve known Tyler for a few years, and things
aren’t always what they seem. I know the image he gives off, and up
until now I’ve been the one covering his ass. But I also know
there’s more to him than that. He’s been through things, and it’s
changed him, but that good guy is still there.” She stood up
re-arranged her bags and smiled. “Just think about it.”

Paige waved to her as she left, closing the door.

Think about it. Those words played over in her head
until she was tired of hearing them. Her stomach growled, and
looking at her watch, she saw it was already six o'clock. She
shoved the folder into her briefcase, shut off the lights and
headed home.

****

“Are you girls sure you don’t want any chicken before
you go out?” Gram asked, as they entered the kitchen. “I can heat
some up real quick. You shouldn’t go out on an empty stomach.”

“
No Gram, we’re fine. We’ll
probably get something. But thanks.” Paige kissed Gram goodbye,
grabbed her purse and waited for Rylee.

“
Don’t wait up, Gram!” Rylee placed
a kiss on Gram’s cheek.

“
Oh to be young again.” Gram
smiled. “Have fun and be careful.”

Rylee backed her Honda out of the driveway and Paige
turned on the music. “Where to, girl?”

Paige didn’t give it much thought before saying,
“Mannie’s bar.”

“
You should wear your makeup like
that all the time. You look hot.”

“
What do you mean ‘all the time’? I
wear makeup every day.” Annoyed, Paige played with her large hoop
earrings.

“
I know that. I just mean you have
more on than usual, and I like it. Plus you’ve been wearing your
hair up a lot for work lately, and it looks really nice
down.”