Page 2 of The Red Zone
Despite her insufficient sharpness, the tension that swarmed between us was as electric as ever. It was practically tangible. A profuse static humming that consumed the five feet of space separating us. And frankly, I’d be a stone-cold liar if I said I didn’t get a bit of a high off of our deranged dynamic. As much as Mae’s presence annoyed me, there was no denying that I found our little feuds to be quite entertaining.
I wouldn’t continue taking part if they weren’t.
“Seriously? You’re still staring.” Mae balled her hands into fists at her sides before making two giant strides forward until her chest was flush against mine. “You’re shameless. You know that, right?”
With utmost honesty, I could confirm that I hadn’t been gawking at her like she was accusing me of. Then again, why on God’s green earth would I need to steal a look when I could feel her nipples hardening against me instead? Someone entertain me and make her logic make sense.
Like I said, I knew the girl needed some work on those argumentative skills, but I never would’ve guessed she was this out of practice.
Raising a brow in silent question, I matched her steadfast stare while a wry smile tugged at the corner of my lips. After a beat, she fluttered her gaze down to our connection, and it was only then that I watched in amusement as a flurry of emotions rolled over her features.
Shock. Disgust. Uneasiness.
Just to name a few.
“I… I…” she stammered, fluttering her gray-blue eyes up to mine before dropping them down to our point of connection once again.
Mae was rarely one to waver in a fight, and while there wasn’t a prize to be won here, I couldn’t resist the hint of triumph that ignited in my chest knowing I’d rattled her a bit.
Man, some small victories sure tasted just as sweet as the big ones.
“You what?” I challenged, lifting a hand to brush away the strand of blonde hair that had fallen into her eyes. And no, I didn’t suppress the amused grin that took over my face as she avoided eye contact by looking up at the crystal blue afternoon sky.
Accepting her downfall with an eye roll, Mae sagged away a fraction of an inch so we were no longer touching. Somehow, the minimal space between our bodies only seemed to intensify the rampant spark between us. The yearning desire blooming tenfold with each passing second.
“So, tell me… when can I move into the pool house?”
“Let me think…” Mae hummed, resting her palms on her hips and tapping her right foot against the hardscape before her face went flat. “Never. It’s occupied. Indefinitely.”
“Don’t lie to me, March baby. I know Scarlett moved into Abel’s place across the street a few weeks ago. I was at their housewarming party last Friday, remember?”
“Hmm, doesn’t ring a bell.” She brushed me off as if we hadn’t had a spirited debate over whether lime crema and mango salsa could be used together on fish tacos simultaneously. The answer was, without a question, yes. Yet, she insisted on arguing over the subject while a handful of my teammates sat back, sipping on cold beers while watching the two of us argue like we were some sort of hired entertainment.
“Mae, seriously,” I exhaled, running out of patience. My lease was ending in two days and I had more important things to spend the next forty-eight hours focused on, like preparing for the Matrix’s first preseason game that was coming up in a week.
“Why do you need a place to live in the first place? You’re a professional athlete, and unless you’re financially reckless—which would make sense now that I’m saying it out loud—you have to have at least a few million sitting in a bank account you could use to find somewhere, anywhere, else to live?”
“First off, I am not ‘financially reckless’,” I mocked her shrill voice in an exaggerated feminine tone. “Second, my contract with the Matrix was only for a season. They haven’t offered me an extension yet, and there’s still another month before the fifty-three-man roster is finalized. Even then, there’s always the possibility I could get released.”
She threw her head back and let a wicked laugh ripple past her lips. “Sounds like a personal problem if I’ve ever heard one. Maybe if you played better last season, you wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“We were undefeated, won the League Bowl, and I broke four franchise records. Only a handful of players in League history have had a season as good as I did last year.”
“If you say so…” she stretched her arms up over her head, pretending to yawn. “But it doesn’t sound very impressive, if you ask me.”
I expelled a ragged sigh while poking my tongue into my cheek,trying tosimmer down my growing desire to challenge her thought process. “Look, I’ll only be here until the Matrix decide to extend my contract, or I get signed with another team.” I paused, wiping another dot of sweat from my forehead. “Trust me when I say you’re the last person I wanted to ask. But it’s hard to find a place that will rent to me for an unknown period of time that also has enough security.”
Didn’t hurt that she lived ten minutes from our practice facility either.
“I can think of a few places for you… oh yeah, they’re called hotels, you imbecile.”
“Where anyone off the street could walk in and lurk outside my room?” I countered.
“Why are you acting like you’re not a six foot three, two-hundred-thirty-pound football player? Hell, even if you weren’t, you could always hire a bodyguard.” She fired back effortlessly. “Besides, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Abel’s house got toilet papered by a few heathens a while back, so this neighborhood isn’t exactly the safe haven you might think it is.”
I leveled my gaze at her with a blank face. “If I recall correctly, you and your girl posse are the ‘heathens’ that were found guilty of that offense, weren’t you?”
“Once again, I do not know what you’re referring to.” She deflected, darting her gaze to the pool house on her left.
