Page 71 of Everything's Better With You
“Talk about it? Fine. But all I can think about is whether you’re naked in bed right now.”
Leslie’s full-bodied laugh made Joe smile in the darkness of his apartment. He stripped out of his clothes, too tired to shower before bed; besides, he’d already decided tomorrow was laundry day.
“I am nearly naked in bed with an ice pack, so no, not completely naked.”
“Ice pack?”
Leslie growled. “Yeah, I ran with the kids today. I’m fine when I do it on my treadmill, but I hit a damn rock and tweaked my knee. I hate this bullshit.”
“Tell me about it. I gotta try to squeeze in a visit with my chiropractor when I get to LA to see if she can pound this rib back into place before rehearsals for the show. Every time I throw a stunt it’s like it’s stabbing me in the lung.”
“Joe, you need to be careful,” Leslie breathed.
“Says the guy out running with teenagers. How far and how fast, huh?”
“I made just under 5K before I had to tap out,” Leslie rasped. “Did it in about twenty-five minutes. Shameful.”
“That’s so hard on your body. You try swimming? More effective but with less pain after. I’ve been thinking of checking around for pools since ours is out of commission.” The Greenvale pool hadn’t beendamaged, but the roof needed to be replaced due to a few leaks found after the tornado. Nothing major, but it would have to wait for the field and the gym/athletic center.
“Ooo, swimming. You want to come swimming? I have a pool, but Sandy fired the last pool service company. I’ll have him get someone else out here and we can go when you get back from LA.”
“That sounds awesome,” Joe murmured. “I’d love to swim with you. But I can’t afford tan lines. Are suits optional?”
“Not for you,” Leslie growled. “It’s indoor, though. And if you aren’t wearing a suit, I’ll drown. I couldn’t handle it.”
Joe grinned. “You’re too good to my ego. But Leslie, what about the whole us springing us thing? We need to talk about it before we take any more chances of being seen together, clothed or not.”
“Personally, you know, I don’t care about the press, but this is bigger than us. If the media comes sniffing around for any other reason than us raising funds for Greenvale right now, it’ll be yet another distraction for the kids. Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this because I know I’ve been the one pushing things, but maybe we should wait until football season is over, at the very least?”
Joe pouted and kicked at the clothes he’d left on the floor, nearly stubbing his toe on a chair. If Joe didn’t know Leslie, didn’t trust in him to be true to his word, he might take this as a rejection. But he knew how important the football team’s success was to him. It was one of the things he admired about Leslie, how dedicated he was. Joe was tired of waiting for that dedication to be directed toward him.
“I know you’re right, but this really sucks.”
“Itdoessuck. Joe, I want you.”
“God, I want you, too.”
“This is worse than before,” Leslie said, his voice cracking. “Before you came here, it was always ‘what if,’ then ‘why not,’ and now it’s ‘be patient’ and dammit, I’m tired of not being with you.”
“Just hearing you say that makes me feel better. But, Leslie? You better be ready, because when I finally get you alone, I’m going to use your body in all the ways I’ve dreamed of over the years.”
Several loud cracks came through the phone followed by Leslie’s swearing.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, babe, I’m here. What happened?”
“God, Joe, you’ve got me a mess over here. I dropped the phone. You can’t say things like that—”
“Oh, I’m going to say those things, and so many more things until I get to put my hands on you.”
Leslie panted on the other end and Joe felt a thrill. If this was all they had right now, he was going to see how far Leslie would go with him.
“How about we try a little of that guided imagery? See if we can’t work some of that tension out over the phone.”
Leslie groaned. “Please, Joe. Wait, hang on. Let me lock the door before I have unwanted visitors.” He was gone mere seconds. “Okay, baby. Tell me where to put my hands.”
“You’re such a quick study.”
