Page 66 of Racing Heat
~CASSIE~
Jase is going to be here any minute. I look myself over once more. My brown hair is straight, my makeup is light, and I chose a navy-blue flowered maxi dress for the occasion. Slipping into a pair of tan wedges, I glance at the time. He’ll be here soon.
We talked about meeting somewhere first. Well, I talked about it, and he said no. I told him that I could just drive to his house, but that was also met with a stern no. He wanted to pick me up. He wanted to do this right. So, I gave in and we’re doing it his way.
The thought of him saying he “wanted to do this right” still makes me smile. He’s a bit old-fashioned like that, I guess. It might come with age, experience, or just the fact that his parents raised him right. I try not to think too much about what he’s told me of his past—his close relationship with his family or the fact that he was married once before. I haven’t even come close. The longest relationship I had was in high school. We tried to make it work long distance my freshman year of college, but that hadn’t worked. He ended up finding someone else at his college that he liked better than me. At the time, Mac told me that she thought I would be more devastated over the ending of a three-year relationship, but it just seemed like one less thingto worry about. The pressures of soccer were a lot my freshman year, especially playing at the Division 1 level, so not having a relationship seemed like the right move.
My phone dings and pulls me out of my thoughts.
Jase:I’m here, love.
I grab a small purse and place my wallet and phone into it, then rush out the door. The sleek black Audi is parked right beside my Jeep. He must not be too concerned with anyone from the Blaze seeing him. The only people who live in these buildings are the team. August wanted to make sure we had a place to stay and that everyone was together to strengthen are team bond. We can move out of the housing, but we won’t be given any funds toward our new place. Team housing is almost all taken care of by the Cromwell’s, so it just makes the most sense to stay here. Mac, however, has talked about moving in with Danny on more than one occasion. As I pass her door, I wonder what it will be like once she’s not living right next door to me. A soccer ball with her number and aCfor captain is on the outside of the door. It kind of reminds me of college and how we always had the dorm doors labeled on campus.
As I get closer to Jase’s car, he gets out and walks over to the passenger-side door. He opens it and watches me come toward him. His smile grows the closer I get to him.
“Hello,” he says before leaning in and kissing me on the lips. “You look beautiful.”
I flush at the compliment. “Thank you.”
I fold myself into the car and he closes the door, then he strolls around the car lazily, like we’re a normal couple and not hiding whatever it is we’re doing from the team.
“You don’t think you should be a little more discreet about coming to get me?” I ask him once he’s joined me in the car.
“Nah, it’s almost six, and no one is out here paying attention to you and me.”
He’s not wrong. The rest of the girls are probably either relaxing or out with plans of their own.
“Is it always that quiet there?” he asks me as he eases out onto the road.
“For the most part. Sometimes the girls are hanging out on balconies, or we get together in the courtyard—the middle of the complex. Some of them might be there.”
“It’s not like when I lived in team housing. It reminded me of a frat house,” he says with a chuckle. “A lot of music, partying, and booze.”
I shake my head. “I guess that’s the difference between us girls and you wild boys.”
“I guess so.” He turns the music up a bit, and that ends our conversation.
The windows are rolled down and I stare out at everything passing us by. I’ve been in Tampa for about six months, but I haven’t really explored much. This is a nice chance to sit back and watch the world go by as we head to dinner. I can smell the salt in the air as we get closer, but maybe it’s the humidity making everything take on that wet and musty smell. Jase reaches his hand out for mine, pulls it off my lap, then places our hands on the center console. He gives it a squeeze before looking over at me and winking. I swear this man has winked at me more times than I’ve ever been winked at in my life, and he makes me feels so unbelievably giddy each time. I want to wink back, but instead I just watch him.
Jase’s eyes are back on the road. He’s wearing a lazy smile while he guides us to the restaurant. Glancing over at the GPS, I can see that we have about twenty minutes more until we’rethere. Time seems to fly by when we’re together. I return my gaze to him—his strong jaw, his chocolate eyes that always go molten when he’s turned on. It’s weird how easily I’m able to notice those things about him. There’s a bit of stubble from where he hasn’t shaved his face in a day or two, and I instantly imagine what it would feel like on my thighs. They clench together in anticipation. His eyes dart my way as if he can read my dirty thoughts. He releases my hand and turns down the music.
“What’s on your mind?” he asks, breaking the comfortable silence.
“Nothing really, just enjoying watching you like this. It’s nice to have some time alone with you.”
“It is. I thought it might be nice to get away somewhere where we’re not worried about running into anyone from the team.”
I nod. “That’s going to become a real worry for us, isn’t it?”
“I don’t want to think about that tonight. I want this to be about you and me. Let’s just get to know each other and see where this goes before we worry about hiding or having to come clean at some point.”
“And if it’s nothing, at least we have that one night,” I add in.
He looks over at me for a brief second before turning his eyes back to the road. “You will never be nothing to me, and that night will never just be some night. If or when we end, I’ll always look back on it as one of the greatest nights of my life.”
My throat goes dry at his words. No man has ever talked to me like this or made me feel as special as he has in this short amount of time. The difference between dealing with a boy versus a man, I suppose.
“You aren’t like I thought you would be.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
