Page 77 of The Red Zone
“I saw that,” she grumbled in a snarky tone.
“You ever going to ask him out, or what?”
The guy was an attractive looking dude—six-foot-four, jet black hair and a chiseled jawline. My opinion didn’t matter much, but the two of them would make a good-looking couple.
“You ever going to admit to yourself that you’re in love with Mae?” She glanced up at me with a popped brow, but I tried to keep my face as impassive as possible.
Touché, Miss Sterling.
There wasn’t a chance in the world I was going to confess my feelings for Mae to another person before she heard them from my mouth herself. Now that we were officially together, I’d been contemplating how to go about it for days. Was I supposed to ask her out on a date, or would that be too formal? Telling her mid-sex probably wasn’t the brightest idea either. The more I thought about it, the more I got in my head, trying to talk myself out of doing anything.
Maybe if I stopped stressing over it the right time would come naturally. Exactly how it was supposed to.
“Back to your original question… even if I wanted to go on a date with him—which I don’t.” Lea looked up, pinning me with a stern look. “You know I couldn’t.”
“Oh yeah, how could I forget that Daddy’s little princess is forbidden from dating the players.” An amused laugh spilled past my lips at the reminder. “The real question though, is whether or not Coach is trying to keep you away from the players or the players away from you?”
Lea in her own right was terrifying—in a demented, yet maternal way—but Coach Sterling? Sure, the guy could be stern when he needed to be, but everyone knew he was secretly a softie. Somehow the man was the only person on earth who unnerved her.
His intentions made sense—hell, I wouldn’t trust half these players with my daughter if I was their coach either. And maybe I was overreaching here, but I had a feeling she wasn’t willing to risk ruining the “picture perfect daughter” persona that her father clearly had of her.
Maybe I was right. Maybe I was wrong.
Either way, I had a feeling if she and Fortune got locked in a room together for more than five minutes they’d come out with disheveled hair and swollen lips.
“Unless you want to find out the hard way by being on the tail end of a rumor that you tried asking me out, I suggest you run along to the showers like a good boy.” She pinched my cheeks with a wicked smile that made my stomach drop. “See you tomorrow.” She perked up with an ornery smile before calling Fortune’s name again and urging him into her office.
The girl was some kind of shape shifter, I swear.
TWENTY-EIGHT
OCTOBER
“Who allowedyou to come into my house?” Mae stood in her kitchen, drinking a glass of water with a scrunched face as she eyed me up and down.
“The unlocked door.” Her face softened to an amused smile at my remark and I followed up with one to match hers. “Nice dress.”
She stared at me blankly for a second, setting the glass onto the granite countertop, before turning on her heels and walking past me down the hall.
“What… where are you going?”
Was I not supposed to say that or something? I thought telling someone their outfit looked nice was a compliment, no?
“I’m changing. Stay right there.”
She had to be messing with me.
I caught up to her in two steps, grabbing her by the elbow. “Don’t even think about it.”
The only way she was getting out of that dress tonight would be if it was my hands taking it off of her, but with the way her boobs looked in the damn thing, she could keep it on for all I cared.
Whirling her around to face me, I wrapped my hands around her waist, tugging her against the front of my body. My hands glided over her figure instinctively before I slid them both down to her ass, squeezing tight.
“If you don’t stop…” she moaned as I dropped down to kiss the side of her neck. “We’re going to be late for dinner.”
Friday night dinner was the least of my worries right now. In fact, skipping dinner and making a three-course meal out of her sounded way better than the chicken parmesan Scarlett was making tonight.
Mae tightened her fingertips around my biceps as I continued sucking on the hollow part of her throat. “Are you ever going to let me in here, or are you going to keep sneaking out to the pool house and crawling into my bed every night?”
