Page 4 of The Linebacker

“Amil Halsted,” he said with a quick glance at his computer screen. “Trade with the 49ers. We gave them Cooper Hamilton and a draft pick, and we got the guy who famously caused Jalen’s fumble.”

Cooper Hamilton was a wide receiver. Decent stats but nowhere near as good as Jalen. The 49ers had probably wanted Jalen, and honestly, that would have made this trade a thousand times easier, since everybody knew Jalen and Amil did not get along. The number of reels and clips out there on social media, snippets of their smack-talking on the field, was becoming the stuff of legends.

Clips of Jalen’s first fumble of his professional career? Even more so.

Luckily for the Mountain Lions, Jalen was convinced his success was tied to Dante Kelley’s throwing arm, so prying him away from the team would have cost more than the 49ers would have been willing to offer.

Honestly, it made sense to recruit Amil. He was damn good at his job. One of the best in the industry right now. He was also far, far too good at getting under Jalen’s skin.

Jalen, in return, disliked the man with the heat of a thousand suns, and Diana did not think that animosity would dull just because they were suddenly playing for the same team.

Especially since she was all too aware of the reason behind that animosity.

Diana had zero interest in anything remotely resembling a long-term commitment. She liked the rule she’d had since the first time she had sex. She had zero reason to change and every reason to maintain the status quo.

And the guys she slept with had also been happy with the status quo.

Until she and Jalen had gotten drunk at Jillian and Pedro’s Las Vegas wedding and had tumbled into bed together. It had been exactly like every other one-night stand she’d ever had.

Except she’d been so drunk, she’d forgotten to lay out the ground rules up front. She’d not made it clear to Jalen that she did not do repeats.

When she woke up the next morning with a raging headache and Jalen still in her bed, she’d realized her mistake and tried to gently explain that it had been fun, but that was all it was—a temporary good time.

What happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, right?

Not according to Jalen.

Apparently, he had been crushing on her for a while before they hooked up, and he’d viewed their tryst as the potential starting point of a wonderful relationship.

Diana didn’t do relationships, a tidbit of information Jalen had not appreciated hearing. Since the wedding, he’d simultaneously tried to convince her to give him a shot, a real shot, while also being jealous every time her gaze happened to stray in some other man’s direction.

The fling with Amil five months later should have been a secret—sleeping with the enemy and all that—except when he left her hotel room the next morning, she decided she wanted a coffee from the station in the lobby, so they hopped into the elevator together. And maybe they sort of lost control and started making out like they hadn’t just banged themselves silly for most of the previous night.

When the door slid open, Jalen had been standing there, a coffee in his hand. The moment his gaze fell on Diana’s swollen lips and face rash from Amil’s stubble, he’d known.

He’d known.

And he’d been fairly fucked up since.

Probably because Amil had used that moment as a weapon out on the field, baiting Jalen, getting into his head. Messing with his mojo.

The worst part—even worse than videos of Jalen’s fumble being viral internet fodder—was the fact that Diana wished she could go out with Amil again.

That man had mad skills in the bedroom, and two years ago, she’d reveled in every single one of them. The best one-night stand she’d ever had, hands down.

Too bad that was all it would ever be.

She didn’t do seconds, although with Amil…

No. Stop.

Staying away from Amil, she supposed, was likely a solid first step in helping the two men create the sort of bond needed to set them up for a Super Bowl win.

Back-to-back Super Bowls. Yeah, it had a nice ring to it.

Two rings, haha.

Sighing, she made her way out to the practice field, phone at the ready to capture video and still footage of their new linebacker.