Worth the Risk

Chapter Thirteen. Lennox.

I left Connor standing on the sidewalk, scared out of his mind. I thought his fear was unfounded, as my father was all bark and no bite. Could someone really be that scared of my father?

"Hey," he said, catching up to me. "I'm going to go catch up with the guys. I'll find you later?" I nodded and offered him a smile.

Apparently Connor could be.

"See ya," I told him and watched as he walked away. His muscles moved deliciously underneath his fitted shirt, and his ass... His ass was perfect, squeezable.

Damn it, I was beginning to think that I didn't care what my father thought of him. I wanted things with him that I hadn't wanted in a long time.

I sighed as I turned my attention toward the rest of the party, searching for someone I knew.

As I was searching the crowd, I saw someone waving frantically. I stopped my gaze and landed on my mother sitting with the other coaches' wives. I waved back and walked over to join them.

"Hi, Lennox," Margaret, the head coach's wife, greeted. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Hi, Margaret," I greeted.

"How's Saylor doing?" my mom asked, standing to take her from me.

"Careful, Mom. She's asleep. If you wake her up, you're stuck with her."

The women chuckled. "Nonsense," she dismissed me.

"She's been in a mood today," I warned her and Mom just rolled her eyes. I held my hands up in surrender and took an empty seat.

The women interrogated me about my life and my job since moving back home. I happily obliged them, knowing their children didn't live here; they just needed someone to dote on.

But when the conversation turned to who I'd walked in with, I became uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable because everything they were saying about him was so right, but I had to deny everything, especially because I knew whatever I said would get back to my dad and I couldn't do that to Connor, I wouldn't.

"You better be careful, though, sweetheart," Margaret said. "He's a player."

"Yeah," I told them, even though I really couldn't tell that about him, not yet anyway. I mean, he alluded to it that day at the arena and there was the girl outside his apartment claiming to be a girlfriend, which he adamantly denied. But he seemed like a good guy. Ugh. Not that it mattered, though.

"Lennox!" I heard my name being called, so I turned to see where it was coming from.

Veronica and several of the people from the office were sat around a table. I waved and then turned back to my mom and her friends.

"I'm going to go say hi to everyone. Are you good or do you want me to take her?" I asked as I stood up.

Mom held her closer and I chuckled. "You go enjoy yourself for a while. She'll be fine," Mom assured me.

I said my goodbyes to everyone and then walked over to the group.

"Hey, guys," I greeted.

"Hey Lennox," Matt greeted. He offered a warm smile and I returned it.

"How're you doing?" I asked.

"I'm good. The party's going well."

"So..." Veronica cut in, sitting forward in her seat.

When she didn't say anything else, I raised my eyebrows at her. "Yes?"

A wicked grin spread across her face. "How'd you already manage to land one of the guys?" At her question, everyone turned their attention to me.