Page 10 of Naked

Time to fight fire with fire

Hunter

I’m almost never uncomfortable. Generally, I can get along with just about anyone for a few hours. And if they don’t like me? Well, fuck them. It’s not on me tomakepeople like me. I am who I am, and I’m very comfortable with that.

But sitting in a small, confined space for two hours with Adam glaring at me, Elizabeth studying me, and Tilley doing expert level sudoku puzzles because she’s freaking out?

I might be a bit uncomfortable.

I was also exhausted. Seriously, I barely slept on the flight from Seattle. I was too nervous and excited. Plus, after a game I’m usually up for a long time from the energy and then crash out. Only I couldn’t crash out because by the time the wave hit, I was kissing Tilley. I napped a little while she was in her meetings, but all in all, I really needed a good night of sleep.

I wiped my palms down my jeans more out of a need for something to do than an actual need to wipe my palms. For the record, my palms almost never sweat. It’s advantageous to have non-sweaty palms when your job is to catch balls and throw them, sometimes all in one move. “Nice plane you have here.”

Tilley stiffened beside me.

Adam’s eyes narrowed. We were sitting in the section of the plane where the seats all faced each other over a table. “It’s borrowed.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Adam’s business partner owns the plane and lent it to us for this trip.”

“That explains the iON Industries stamped on everything.” With Tilley gone I only had the guys to hang with. And while I definitely had fun with them, there was a big hole in my social life that I filled with information. (Yes, Tilley had worn off on me.) I knew exactly who Theo Sutherland was and that he owned, among many things, his flagship iON Industries. He, along with Luis Evans, the inventor and creator of Evans Automotive, were Adam’s business partners at Vector Racing.

“iON Industries owns three planes,” Tilley blurted, turned red, and then dove back into her puzzle.

Because I felt compelled to soothe her, I scooted closer, looped my arm behind her, and lightly massaged her stiff neck. And holy crap it was stiff. I swear she was a solid block of tense muscle. I knew there wasn’t anything I could say in front of her boss that would make this situation any easier, so I focused on the tension relief.

“Do you enjoy playing for the Mantas?” Elizabeth asked, clearly trying to break the ice.

“It’s my dream job. I’ve been living a dream for the last two years, actually. I never in a million years would have thought I’d be lucky enough to be drafted by the Mantas, let alone move into a starting position so quickly.” I pinched myself constantly.

“Eve mentioned you are a hard worker. That you play nearly every game?”

There are generally 162 games in a season, not counting playoffs. That means we play anywhere from four to six games a week. It’s a lot for a body to take, so while I might be the starter—the guy who plays the position “best”—it doesn’t necessarily mean I will start or play every game. It’s too much strain on the body. That’s why we have general infielders who can step into any position, and most of us have a backup of some kind.

Except for most of the season I didn’t. So while the other guys could feel comfortable riding the pine for a day off, I couldn’t. I knew my position was too critical to entrust to anyone else. Therefore, I worked day in and day out to stay healthy and on the field.

Luckily Runyon came along. He was still a little green, but that would go away with experience.

I shrugged off Elizabeth’s question just like I did when anyone asked about my work load. “I love the game.”

Her smile twisted to the side like she knew something I didn’t. “Ah, another one.”

Adam chuckled.

I asked, “Another one?”

She waved me off and reclaimed her wine glass. “Oh, just another extremely talented athlete with an obsessive need to be the best. I seem to be surrounded by this type of human ever since I met Adam.”

Adam smirked. “Extremely talented people enjoy the company of other extremely talented people.”

I tried not to notice the way he cupped Elizabeth’s knee and then ran his fingers up the inside of her thigh. It was a possessive but also incredibly intimate gesture.

I wanted to have that kind of comfort with Tilley one day, but at the moment I was pretty sure if I tried anything like that she’d cut off my hand. Probably with extreme precision, and using a knife I didn’t know she had on her person.

“What do you do, Elizabeth?”

She sighed (and not because of me.)

Instead Adam, who was still touching his wife in ways that seemed to make her senseless even though his hands were in plain sight, answered. “She makes historic properties modern and energy efficient while maintaining their integrity.”

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