Page 16 of Phoenix

Chapter 4

One Week Later

Case

It’s a Saturday, in September, in the South and that only means one thing: football. This sport, especially of the college variety, is a way of life here. People eat, sleep, and breathe football.

Namely Grayson and me. We root for rival teams, of course, and today they are playing each other, which means it’s on.

I show up to the home he shares with his fiancée, Amelia, decked out in my orange and white.

“Who’s ready to watch their team lose?” I announce, after he opens the door, dressed in his red and white.

“Like hell.” He steps aside and lets me in and the most incredible smell fills my nose.

“Ohhh marry her faster. I need guarantees of this kind of food for the rest of my life,” I say.

“I’d marry her tomorrow, but she is determined to wait a little bit. At least I got the ring on her. Hard part is over.” He sinks back down to the couch. “Beer is in the fridge if you want.”

“In a little bit.” I take off my leather jacket and sit on the other end of the couch. “Cadence not here? She normally attacks me at the door.”

“She’s with Mom and Dad tonight. Nora’s in town and Amelia wanted to get her settled in, so Mom and Dad took Cadence for the night.”

My heart stopped at the sound of her name. “Nora’s here?”

“Yeah, she’s in the kitchen helping Mills with dinner.” He looks my way with a shit-eating grin. “Sorry. I should have given you a heads up.”

I clear my throat. “Why would you? Nora’s cool. We’re cool...how is she?”

“You’re cool, huh? Why does she rattle you so much?”

“She doesn’t rattle me. No one rattles me. Especially not her,” I deny.

“Especially not who?” A new voice chimes in. A voice I’ll never forget. Nora

She steps into the room and my body immediately responds at the sight of her. It may be fall here in Georgia, but it’s still warm, so she’s dressed in a simple pair of tight jeans and a flowy, wine-colored top. It looks so striking against her blonde hair. Hair I want to wrap my fists in and tug on while I’m balls deep in—

“Case? Hello? Earth to Case?” Her voice pulls me from my fantasy.

“Hmm? What? Sorry. I was just...distracted. Long shift last night,” I lie.

“You didn’t work last night,” Grayson says from behind me, and I want to smack him upside the head like his mom does.

Nora just smiles in return. She knows how she rattles me, but I’ll never admit it out loud. She’s the only woman who’s ever rattled me like this. She wooed me with those fucking eyes and that fucking body and that fucking mind of hers then poof; back to California she went.

Without even a kiss shared between us.

Not for lack of trying on my part, though. I was drawn to her instantly. We spent a lot of time together the last time she was here: laughing, talking, and even flirting heavily, but when I made my move, she shot me down.

She never truly gave me a reason, and after that, we saw each other in passing here and there until one day, she was gone.

I try not to admit to myself, or anyone else, I was sad when she left. I just did what I did best.

Worked, dated lots of women to keep my mind off of her, went to the gym, and jerked my cock in the shower to the thought of Nora’s laugh...lather, rinse, repeat.

I clear my throat and finally respond to Grayson’s statement. “Called in for an emergency.” The lie floats easily off my tongue.

Nora just stuffs her hands in her pockets. “Well, Amelia is taking a call while we wait on the food to finish, so I’m going to head out to her car and get my suitcase.”

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