Page 29 of The Fantasy League
Scarlett winced with every step as she made her way through the parking lot. I noticed her feet had been hurting her all night, although she tried to cover her pain when others were watching.
“Here, let me carry you,” I said, scooping her up swiftly before she could decline my offer.
I should’ve loved having her close to me, but right then, I hated it.
So fucking much.
I wanted her to wrap herself around me because she wanted to. Not because we were trying to impress a bunch of sixty-year-old men with money or attempting to sell our relationship to my teammates.
I hated knowing that tomorrow she’d go back to being detached and aloof with me. I knew it was a lot to expect her to act how she did tonight with me all the time, but I wanted her to.
A lot more than I was willing to admit out loud.
NINE
SCARLETT
I wishedI could’ve said that my first public outing with Abel was awful, but that would make me a stone-cold liar.
Schmoozing creepy old men? My forte. Poking fun at Abel’s stamina in bed? Absolutely comical. And pretending that we were a couple that wassuper massively majorin love? A lot easier than I’d envisioned.
If Abel were asking, I would never admit it, but he was actually a pretty great date.
I tried to hide my blush when he picked me up bridal style and carried me to the car like I weighed nothing. Though, I realized I’d failed miserably when he opened the passenger door for me. My face must have been the color of a firetruck based on the way he tried to hide his grin by wiping his thumb across his lips.
It definitely wasn’t hot either.
My boss? Hot?
Nope. Not here. Absolutely not.
Abel steered the car through the desolate streets and the two of us sat in uncomfortable silence. We lived away from the buzz of the city, but it was an unusually quiet night which made it feel like time was slowed down.
He wore a solemn expression on his face for the last twenty minutes and hadn’t once glanced over at me despite my frequent peeks over at him.
Truthfully, I hadn’t meant to respond as bluntly as I did earlier when I told him I didn’t know how to act around him when we weren’t playing pretend. But now that it was out in the open, I didn’t regret saying what I said.
I peered over at Abel, enamored with watching him possessively grip the steering wheel. Jesus Christ, why did he have to look like that while driving? Add on the way his perfect three-piece suit accentuated every one of his hard-earned muscles and my thighs were clenched together for the second time tonight because of him.
Pretty sure it was illegal to think about your boss like that. And if it wasn’t… it should be. This was probably a repercussion of the one too many drinks I snagged off of serving trays throughout the night.
“You good over there?” Abelfinallylooked over at me with a coy smile.
“Huh? Um. Yup.” I cleared my throat, bringing myself back to reality where I was absolutely not allowed to think about what my boss looked like naked. “Doing fantastic. You?”
Cursing myself, I bounced my gaze toward the window. My words had betrayed me nearly as much as my thighs did. I might have been alittledrunk but not enough to act like the freaking idiot I was being.
I needed to get it the hell together.
Immediately.
I didn’t allow myself to look over at him, but I had anoverwhelmingfeeling that if I were to glance in his direction that I’d find one side of his lips curved up into a grin.
He hadn’t said a word in almost an hour and now he wanted to make jokes?
What an asshole.
I gulped down a steadying breath, trying to gather my bearings. Given my state of mind, I didn’t trust that the next time I opened my mouth I wouldn’t start oversharing.
