YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE, LEE BURROWS (Kingsmen Football Stars #1)

Chapter 2

two

Shayna

You got this, Shayna. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

I place my hand over my stomach to calm it. I swear acrobats are inside, practicing their tumbling act.

The first day of any new job is nerve racking. The first day of a new job in a new city, even more so. But the first day working alongside the man who broke your heart brings on a whole new anxiety level. Especially when the man is the star quarterback and captain of the team.

I’ve spent eight years avoiding the fact Lee Burrows even exists. If his picture came on the TV, I’d change the channel. If I found myself in a sports store, I’d avoid the football section. And if I’d scroll past his picture with some beautiful woman on a social media gossip site, I’d click off the page. I definitely didn’t stop and zoom in to see what kind of woman caught his eye these days. Spoiler, they were all the complete opposite of me.

Okay, my willpower waned a few times, but I quickly realized how miserable seeing him with someone else made me and how it forced me to question all the self-confidence I’d rebuilt since college. So yeah, I recently stopped, but the important thing is I’m on the road to recovery.

But it doesn’t mean I don’t think about him all the time.

The plus side is I no longer think of him through the haze of a girl infatuated with a boy she thinks she can never have. Now I think of him with narrowed eyes because I realize what a snake he really is.

His affable, good old boy charm is a front for a lying, manipulative, self-serving asshole.

And with that reminder, I wrap my hand around the door handle to the San Francisco Kingsmen’s training facility and walk inside, ready to face him. I’ve been to the training facility for my interviews as well as last week to familiarize myself with the space, so I head straight down to the head physician’s office to say I’m here.

I did my introductory interview with Dr. Frampton, who I really like, since Dr. Carlisle was traveling at the time the position was announced, but I did my final interview with Dr. Carlisle. He’s… intimidating to be sure. He has strong feelings and isn’t afraid to express them, even if it might come across as belittling or rude sometimes.

Still, he’s the head of one of the best medical teams in the NFL and neither he, nor that jerk Lee Burrows, was going to prevent me from accepting my dream position. When I got a job with a professional team after loving football all my life, I could have pinched myself.

After all, a quarterback’s career is relatively short lived, whereas I can spend my entire career with the Kingsmen. So putting up with Lee until he retires in a few years is an acceptable trade-off for the chance to do what I’ve always wanted.

Besides, Lee already screwed me over once. Like hell I’ll let him do it again by turning down this job because it might be awkward between us. I’m no longer the shy, mousy girl he knew in college. I’ve worked hard to develop the self-confidence I always had before he entered my life.

I arrive outside Dr. Frampton’s office and knock on the doorjamb since the door is open.

He glances up from the paper in his hand and takes off his reading glasses. “Good morning, Shayna. Ready for today?”

I smile and step inside. “Good morning. A little nervous, truth be told.”

He nods and offers me a nice, understanding smile. “First day with the athletes. I get it. But just remember, we wouldn’t have hired you if we didn’t think you could handle the level of testosterone within these walls.”

I chuckle. “Fair enough.”

He stands from his desk. “I was just about to head down to see if Dr. Carlisle is ready to head out to the field with the players. Coach Baker always starts training camp with an info session for all the new players, part of which is introducing staff to everyone.”

I nod because talking right now isn’t an option. The words “players” and “introduction” are lodged in my brain. My first run-in with Lee will be standing before him where he can examine me for as long as he wants, and I’ll have to ignore the fact his eyes are even on me.

Oh please, Shayna, you’re probably long forgotten in his head.

He grabs a tablet off his desk and walks around it to stand in front of me. “I can see you’re nervous, but don’t be. These may be the guys you’ve been watching on TV for years, but at the end of the day, they’re people just like you and me. And they need us.” He winks.

“Okay.” I nod again, suppressing a cringe. Dr. Frampton doesn’t know my history with their top player.

Great. My reluctance at coming face-to-face with Lee again has made one of my bosses think I’m all starry-eyed at the prospect of being around professional athletes. Professional athletes that it’s my job to put my hands on to make them feel better. I could strangle Lee all over again.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve long been a bit of a football nut and it’ll be strange to be working with athletes I’ve cheered on from my couch for years, but that’s not what has me so nervous.

With any luck, Lee won’t recognize me or will have forgotten me entirely. As much as that would piss me off, it would make my life a heck of a lot easier.

I follow Dr. Frampton out of his office. We have a quick meeting with the rest of the medical team, most of whom I’ve already met, before heading to the big meeting room where all the players and coaching staff are.

My breakfast bubbles up in my stomach and I paste on an air of confidence. I’m more than capable of doing this job and doing it great, but there’s always the question of what my new coworkers—and my bosses—will think when they see me in action. Not to mention setting eyes on Lee in person for the first time in years. He’s the star of the show around here, and even if I’m probably going to want to spit in his face when I see him, I can never let anyone know.

While Dr. Carlisle waits for Coach Baker to introduce him, I stand behind him, silently repeating my mantra that I have this. Lee isn’t all that. He’s just a guy who wronged me. No one special.

But when Dr. Carlisle says my name, I step out from behind him, smiling and giving a small wave to the players, quickly scanning the room for one man in particular.

He’s right in the middle, as anyone of his caliber would be.

My breath catches.

Lee Burrows.

The man who made me feel both the highest and lowest I ever have in my life.

Of course, I know what he looks like these days. It’s hard not to be aware of what the number one quarterback in the country looks like, but the magazines and television don’t do him justice.

He’s as attractive as ever, but the boy has grown into a man. His brown wavy hair is cropped short on the sides, and his angular jaw is covered in a dusting of facial hair. Even covered by his shirt and shorts, there’s no doubt his muscles are bigger and stronger. The fact that he’s still as hot as ever is an annoying truth I’ll have to deal with.

But it’s his look of shock that gives me satisfaction. His mouth hangs open and he blinks his hazel eyes a few times as if he’s a genie who can clear me from his vision.

Dr. Carlisle carries on, talking about how each of the players will be meeting with the medical staff to undergo an assessment over the next couple of days, but Lee’s gaze doesn’t stray from me. It’s like a spider crawling over my skin.

Okay, maybe not a spider. Maybe more like a single finger dragging slowly over my heated skin, but big whoop. It’s still annoying.

My willpower betrays me and I glance his way a couple of times. That’s when I spot him looking beside him at Miles—clearly those two are still thick as thieves. Miles catches me looking and slowly nods with a wry smile.

I shift in place since they’re both looking at me, and I listen intently to Coach Baker as he gives the guys a rundown of the morning’s plans. He lists off a few players who need to come with the medical staff for their workups, and I’m finally able to escape Lee’s intrusive gaze.

As soon as I step out of his view, I rest my back on a wall and inhale deeply. Of all the s**t I’ve gone through in my life, that might have been the worst.

Okay, that didn’t go so badly, right? I only have to do that however more thousand times until he ultimately retires. And if luck is on my side, the Kingsmen won’t renew his contract for next year. Easy peasy.