Page 130 of Playing for Keeps
“As feral as Cookie Monster when you offer him crackers.”
We grinned at each other and my heart broke. Fuck, I just wanted to kiss him. I wanted to kiss him and hug him and never let go.
But I held back.
Theo chatted to Luke at a mile a minute while I got fish fingers out of the freezer and threw some on an oven tray.
Luke’s mouth quirked. “Fish fingers for dinner tonight, is it?”
“You know me, top shelf in everything.” I stuck the tray in the oven.
I straightened up to see Luke’s eyes had softened.
“Definitely top shelf in everything.” The words were filled with so much affection it suddenly hurt to breathe.
Theo ran off to grab the latest rocks he’d collected so he could show Luke.
Shit, without Theo here as a buffer, I didn’t know if I trusted myself not to touch Luke. I grabbed some carrots out of the fridge and concentrated on peeling them.
Luke ran a hand through his hair. “Theo seems better.”
“Yeah, he’s settling down. Your parents took him to visit Char yesterday. I thought the visit might upset him but he seems to have handled it okay.”
“Have you seen Char?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Your mother didn’t think it was a good idea. Seems I’m now permanently in Alison’s naughty corner.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “That must be scary.”
“Yeah, the company isn’t the most glittering. Putin’s here of course. Along with the next-door neighbor’s dog who pees on her lawn.”
Luke chuckled darkly.
Theo came back with his rocks. Luke’s dark head bent toward Theo’s blond one, identical expressions of concentration on their faces as they studied the rocks.
I tried to ignore the way my chest contracted and focus instead on cutting up the carrots.
Eventually Theo looked up. “Dad, can I go watch someDinosaur Destruction?”
“Okay.”
He ran off to the living room.
Luke shuffled from foot to foot. “You hear about Angus Ross’s retirement?” he asked.
“Yeah, I saw it on social media.” I plopped the carrots into a pot of water.
“The Greens have approached me to sign with them.”
I whirled around to face him. “You’re thinking of playing for the Greens? You’re going to leave?”
Luke’s throat worked. “I’m looking at all my options for next season.”
My stomach hollowed.
Fuck. It would make so much sense for him to play for the Greens alongside Jansen and Kelso. Build chemistry that could then transfer so easily to the New Zealand team.
But Luke playing for the Greens would mean him relocating to Auckland.
