Page 43 of Striking Heat
“I think they might be hidden at the bottom of the bed somewhere,” I tell her as I begin looking through them. I find her little daisy dukes and hand them to her.
“Thanks,” she says, pulling them on. “So, we did this, but no one needs to know?”
There’s a question in her voice, and I can’t tell if she’s asking me or just making sure she understands.
“I hope this wasn’t the only time we’re going to do this,” I tell her, drawing her close to me.
But she abruptly takes a step back. “Yeah, it seems like it might be a possibility that this could happen again.” She looks around and grabs her sneakers before putting them on. Once she’s all ready to go, she says, “So I’ll see you later?”
“Wait a minute. I drove you here. How are you getting home?” I laugh, pulling on my own clothes.
“Oh yeah.” She stops at the entrance of my bedroom. “I guess you can take me to the bar, and I’ll walk from there.”
“What if I take you to your apartment?”
“People can’t see you dropping me off. They’ll know,” she replies, stomping her foot.
“Did you just stomp your foot at me?” I laugh.
“Just take me to the bar or a coffee shop or something. Anywhere but the team apartments. I mean, the girls can’t see you, of all people, dropping me off.”
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Shaking my head, I tease her, “I can’t believe you stomped your foot at me like a child.”
She’s looking over her phone at me and arches an eyebrow asshe watches me. “If you ever want to see me naked again, you’ll stop referring to that moment.”
I shake my head. “I think I should be able to write about that.When she doesn’t get her way, she stomps her foot like a child.”
“Whatever.” She leads the way to my front door, looking around as she heads out.
I take it in, too, and wonder what it’s like to see this place through her eyes. It’s nothing too special. Just a living room done in gray and blue; a kitchen that’s blocked off but has state-of-the-art appliances that she may never see. There’s a pool in my backyard too. I wonder if she’ll ever get to swim out there or lounge beside it. I almost make mention of the pool, but she’s waiting by the door.
“Let’s go,” I tell her, leading the way to my Tesla. When we get there, I’m impressed that she can open the door without assistance. Some people can’t figure out the handle. Mac slides into the car and buckles herself up.
We don’t talk on the way to drop her off. There’s a Starbucks near the bar, so I go there.
“Do you want me to get you a coffee?”
“Nope, I’m good. I’m going to go in and get a coffee and then walk home. You’re welcome to get a coffee. We just won’t be doing it together.”
I laugh and nod in understanding. “The shields are back up, I see.”
“Have a good day, Danny,” she says in a way of reply and hops out of the car. “Thanks for last night.”
That’s all I get before she hurries into Starbucks. I don’t miss the way she looks around, quickly making sure no one saw her exiting my car. I pause for a moment. My car windows are tinted, so I’m pretty sure no one can see me inside the car. I wonder what it will be like the next time I see her. Will we talk about it? Or will she ever want to come back and do it again?
And most importantly, why do I want her to?
Chapter Eighteen
~MAC~
I’m pretty sure I got home without being detected. I checked my phone and none of my friends or teammates texted me. There’s only a message in the group chat—Coach Andie reminding us of the team bonding event today at the beach. It should be fun. As long as no one asks me too many questions about last night. If they do, I’ll only mention John, I decide as I head to the bathroom. I’m in serious need of a shower.
I also want to relive every minute of last night. The shower is the perfect place because even if I have a stupid smile while I’m doing it, no one can see it. And no one can ask me why I’m smiling so big. I’ve been holding back this smile my whole walk home. I wasn’t sure who I would run into and what they would ask me. Again, I could have played it off as John, but I didn’t want to lie and make them think there was some sort of relationship happening. This way, I don’t have to say anything. I don’t want to lie to my teammates, and they definitely can’t know anything about this.
I hop into the shower, and as I wash my hair, I think about the way he kissed me and caressed my body. I get out of the shower and towel off. My long blonde hair gets combed out andplaced into a braid. It’ll be a beach day, so there’s no need to do it. As I get ready, everything makes me think of him. Putting on lotion makes me think of the way he brushed my legs with his fingertips. Or the gentlemanly way he slowly took off my clothes. I shiver just thinking of it.
“Fuck,” I say to myself, looking into the mirror at my blue eyes, which are sparkling. “How am I going to hide it from them?”
