Page 36 of Lucky Baller
His eyes are heated as they rake over my body. “Tess.”
“Turn around, Landon!” I screech. He does as I ask, and I pull my shirt over my head as fast as I can.
Chapter Ten
Landon
I’m turned around, facing the door, and my heart feels as though it’s about to beat out of my chest. Tessa and all her creamy skin. My cock throbs in my shorts, and I suck in a deep breath. She’s fucking gorgeous. This I already knew, but now… How will I ever get that image out of my head?
“You can turn around.”
Slowly, I turn to face her. “Tess,” I whisper, and reach a hand out to her.
“Don’t.” Her words are final.
My hand drops to my side. “Are you okay? Your ankle?” I ask.
“I’m fine, Landon.”
I’m suddenly in new territory. I’ve never cared enough to step in or get… jealous. It’s not an emotion I’m used to feeling, but I’m a smart man. I know that’s what it was. When I saw him hovering over her, the way they were laughing and she was peering up at him, I hated it. Every single second of their connection. It took everything in me not to rip him off her. Luckyfor him, he seemed more interested in me than he did her. That is, until he mentioned the date.
She can’t date that guy.
“I’m not your girl, Landon. We’re barely even what I would call friends, more like two strangers who have shared a couple of meals. You can’t just go around spouting off that kind of shit.” She’s seething, and her green eyes are lit with fire. My cock doesn’t understand that she’s mad at us as he begs for her attention.
I shift on my feet to alleviate what she’s doing to me. “I’m sorry.” Two words I don’t say often, but I can admit when I’m wrong. “I saw the two of you, and I just… I’m sorry.” Those two words are easier to say than the truth. That I’m falling for her. I don’t know what to do with that.
“Okay.”
That’s it?
“You can’t do that. I’m not your concern, and what are you even doing here? I told you that we had plenty of help today.”
“Practice was shorter than normal. I brought you lunch.” I point to the bag on her desk that I’m sure she missed in her haste to change her clothes. Maybe she missed it due to her anger at me. Either way, it’s there in front of her. “Turkey club and chips,” I tell her. “It’s not much, but…” I shrug. I don’t know what to say.
“Thank you.” She looks over to her desk, where the bag filled with our lunch sits. “That’s very nice of you.” She pauses to turn and look at me. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I… uh… got some for you, me, Autumn, and Jeremy. I wasn’t sure if he’d be here.” I shrug.
“Have a seat. Let me go tell Autumn and grab us a couple of waters.”
She moves to walk past me, and I hold my arm out, stopping her. My arm hits at her waist, and I pull her into me, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. “I’m sorry, Tess.”
“I know. It’s fine.” She pulls out of my hold and moves around me to grab Autumn’s and our drinks.
It can’t be that easy. Is she really not going to make a big deal out of this? Is she not going to make me grovel?
“Here you go.” She hands me a bottle of water a few moments later. “Autumn said Jeremy is on his way. He went to pick up JJ at daycare. We can go ahead and eat without them.” I pull two sandwiches and two bags of chips out of the deli bag and hand her one of each. “Thanks. You can grab Autumn’s chair or sit at her desk,” she says, taking a seat in her chair.
Not willing to miss an opportunity to be near her, I grab the chair and roll it to her side of the desk. We both dig into our lunch, letting the quiet surround us. This quiet isn’t comfortable. It’s full of everything that goes unspoken between us. I need to tell her that I’m feeling things, things I’ve never felt.
“I appreciate you looking out for me. You were being a good friend. I can appreciate that. Just… pipe down on the ‘my girl’ stuff,” she says, offering me a kind smile.
Friend-zoned.
“Sure,” I say, swallowing my lunch, which now feels like cardboard in the throat. I guess if I can’t commit to how I’m feeling, being friends with her is the next best thing. I can be near her, because a day not witnessing her smile or hearing her laugh is a day filled with gloom. She’s magnetic.
“What can I do?” I ask as we clean up our empty wrappers.
