“Jasper.”
“Sorry…Simple Simon.”
There was no point in defending Simon against Jasper’s teasing anymore. There hadn’t ever really been a point. Jasper would say what he wanted to say, and it was one of his most annoying traits as well as one of the reasons she loved him.
“Yes, I broke up with Simon.”
“About damn time.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Jasper hopped up on the edge of one of the massage tables and continued winding a roll of tensor bandage. Judging by the pile of tight skin-colored rolls on the counter, he’d been at the task for a while.
“Oh come on. You and I both know it was a long time coming. Everyone knows it’s been a long time coming. And now you can put me out of my misery and go climb the tall, handsome tree that is Tucker Lloyd.”
Emmy would have given anything right then for an off switch on her incessant blushing. If her expression wasn’t already a dead giveaway, the hot flush that flooded her cheeks wouldn’t escape Jasper’s attention.
She tried to turn away and busy herself with the dugout med kit, but avoidance was almost as bad as facing him outright.
“Emmett Rose Kasper, you look at me.”
“Jesus, Jasper.” She faced him, hoping her cheeks weren’t half as red as they felt. “Did you just channel my mother?”
“I hope not, because I don’t want your dearly departed mom seeing the Emmy Got Fucked billboard currently lit up on your forehead.”
Emmy huffed a sigh and put her med bag on the table next to him, stealing a few of his tensor rolls. “Don’t say another word.”
“You sure didn’t waste any time.” His tone was teasing and nonjudgmental, but all the same Emmy felt a pang of guilt. The corpse of her relationship with Simon hadn’t even been cold before she jumped into Tucker’s bed.
Though, in all fairness, she had woken up in Tucker’s bed, which made it a short hop.
“Was it amazing?” Jasper asked, his voice going dreamy like a middle school girl asking about a friend’s first kiss.
“I’m not going to tell you.”
“But you admit it happened?”
“I’m not going to tell you that, either.”
“It’s cool, your rosy-red cheeks already spoke volumes for you.”
“Goddammit.” She rubbed her cheeks as if she could tamp down the color, not that it mattered. The damage was already done, and there was no sense in trying to hide it from Jasper now. “Look, he’s going to be here any minute for his session. I would consider it the biggest favor you’ve ever done for me if you would not say anything.”
Jasper mimed zipping his mouth shut. The blessed silence lasted all of a minute before he spoke again. “I’m not going to say anything…”
“I hear the unspoken but.”
“If you’d given me two seconds, it would have been a spoken but.”
“Carry on.”
“But, I want to make sure this guy isn’t just using you.”
It was the sweetest, most brotherly thing Jasper had said to her since, You don’t want to chase the swim coach. He likes the peen. He’d been right then, but Emmy didn’t think she had anything to be concerned about when it came to Tucker. It had been a long time since she believed in the honesty of someone’s affections. Even with Simon she’d known a large part of their relationship was based on comfort and ease rather than real love.
“He’s not,” Emmy assured him.
“Okay. Because if he is, I’m going to kick his ass from here to next Sunday, I don’t care how much his contract is worth.”
“Last time I checked, one hundred and forty-eight million over five years,” Tucker said from the doorway. “So depending on the length of the ass kicking, you might owe the Felons about sixty dollars a minute. Give or take.”
Jasper was unabashed, but counted on his fingers. “You make ten thousand dollars a game?”
“Sounds about right.” Tucker joined them in the room, apparently not one of those people who was ashamed to admit what they were worth. It was hard to be shy about income when your paydays were broadcast to the world via ESPN.
“You make my annual salary in less than a month,” Jasper said with a dramatic sigh.
“Don’t feel so downtrodden,” Emmy said. “In that month he makes your and my annual salaries combined.”
“Pretty damn good week,” Jasper noted.
“Only if all my parts work,” Tucker offered. “And that’s all on you guys.”
The team’s massage therapist came in, helping herself to a cup of coffee and trading greetings with everyone, but also nipping any of Jasper’s commentary in the bud. Tannis was a sweet girl. A little too sweet to be working in a locker room daily, and Emmy had needed to scold most of her staff about their lewd conduct, lest they all be taken to the Felons human resources department.