Chapter 0007

•DECLAN•

James appeared in the corridor from the showers and saw me looking at Nymeria when she left.

"She is a beauty, isn't she?" he murmured, standing beside me. "She made my groin engorged the entire time she was talking about physical training. But what I need from her is sexual therapy." He released a soft groan under his breath. "I could already imagine how she tastes with that round butt."

I turned to him and scoffed. "Yes, you are absolutely right. And what else have you imagined with her?"

He turned to me. "I will ask her out on a date in the morning and take it from there. I want nothing serious with her, but to squeeze that ass and leave the rest for anyone who wants to tap that ass after me."

I leaned closer and grabbed him by his neck. He choked and tried to pull away from my grip, but it tightened until his feet were off the ground.

James clawed at my wrist with both hands, his face going red, his eyes wide and panicked. He kicked once, twice, and found nothing but air beneath him.

I held him there for a moment, wishing I could snap his head from his neck, and leave the dogs to feed off his body.

The only person who was allowed to speak like that about her was me.

"Let me be very clear with you," I snarled, keeping my voice low so that only he could hear it. "You will never look at her that way again. You will not think about her that way, you will not speak about her that way, and if I ever hear her name come out of your mouth in a sentence like that again, I will make sure that this is the last team you ever play for." I tilted my head. "I will end your career. Every door in this league will close, every scout, every manager, every GM who has ever considered your name will forget it exists. Do you understand me?"

His face had gone from red to something closer to purple, so I put him down.

He stumbled against the locker behind him, one hand braced on the metal, the other pressed to his throat. He coughed hard and sucked in a breath, blinking fast as if he was still trying to locate himself.

"I was just talking," he rasped.

"And that will be the last time her name is on your lips."

He looked at me, and whatever he saw there was enough. He gave one short, silent nod.

I turned away from him and finished dressing without another word. The other players who were in the changing room avoided my gaze, and some nodded when I looked at them.

I pulled on my jacket, picked up my duffel, and walked out.

Sloane was already waiting in the driveway when I came through the front entrance of the facility.

She was leaning against the passenger door when I approached. Her arms folded and her sunglasses pushed up into her hair.

"You took a long time," she sighed, opening her door as I approached.

"I was held up." I tossed my duffel into the back seat and got in behind the wheel.

She settled in beside me, and for a few minutes neither of us said anything. The engine turned over smoothly and I pulled out onto the road, heading away from the facility.

"Chris asked me to check on Nymeria and Millie before the week is out," I informed her when we had cleared the main intersection. "I want to stop by the house."

"Tonight?"

"It won't take long."

Sloane turned to look out the passenger window and said nothing for a moment. "You just saw her this morning."

"I know. This isn't about this morning. Chris asked me before the honeymoon and I told him I would check in on them. It would take two minutes."

"Fine," she answered, in the tone that meant it was not fine at all.

I didn't push it, or change my mind. I knew that they weren't as close as they were before she left and that was my fault.

When we pulled up to the house, the downstairs light was on behind the curtains. I cut the engine and reached for my door.

"I'll be quick," I muttered to Sloane. "Come on, don't pout. Nymeria and I are nothing more than Chris's family. And she has a child now, so I must look out for both of them."

She didn't answer. She had her phone in her hand and her eyes fixed on it. She was mad but I didn't want to be fixated on that.

I left her in the car.

The path to the front door was short, and I walked toward it with my hands loose at my sides, telling myself there was no reason for my chest to be doing what it was doing.

I was checking in on her. It was something a reasonable person did for the sister of a close friend.

I knocked.

There was silence before I heard the sound of footsteps.

The door opened, and the moment she appeared, something in me shifted in a way I had no language for.

Her hair was down, loose around her shoulders, and she looked with a frown on her face. Her eyes found me and went flat immediately.

I stepped inside when she moved back from the door, and I looked around the entry hall out of instinct, checking the space, the corners, the staircase.

There was no one else.

Nymeria folded her arms across her chest and looked at me. "What do you want, Declan?"

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell her that I had come by to check on her because Chris had made me promise to before he left.

But I stopped when I felt two little arms wrapping around my legs from behind. And before I could react, she exclaimed.

"Daddy!”