Page 65 of Wild Love
“Sorry. Sorry. Out of line. But actually, I kinda like that. Mark me up, baby.”
“Oh my god.” I smack a hand down on his lower back. “I’m working here.”
“I know. I’m sorry. If I don’t say them out loud, my dick will take action, and I cannot get hard right now,” he whispers. Although his whisper is loud enough, I turn around to make sure no one heard him.
“Oh my god, Maverick. Shhh. I will send Reese in here to finish oiling you up if you hit on me one more time. Hooking up with players is not allowed. Remember?”
“We’re not hooking up,” he says and then mutters, “You made that abundantly clear.”
“Yes, I know that, and you know that, but I don’t want it to look like… you know.”
He turns his head to look over his shoulder. “Like we’re super attracted to each other and might break the rules at any moment?”
“Yes,” I admit. I’ve thought of nothing else for the past two days. I know it’s a terrible idea, but it doesn’t stop the fantasies from playing in my head on a loop.
He holds my gaze for a beat, nods, and faces the other direction again. “Got it. You want me, but no one else can know. Sexy, secret romance. I can dig.”
I growl under my breath and drop my hands. That’ll have to do because if I keep touching him, it’s going to end with me wringing his neck or shoving him up against the shower wall to shut him up with my mouth. And why am I starting to like the sound of the last one a lot more than I do the first?
The photographer, Lindsey, introduces herself to Maverick, and then it all begins. He stands awkwardly, hands at his sides with this sort of half grimace and half smile on his lips. I can’t imagine how I’d feel with a roomful of people standing around staring at me with my shirt off, but I really thought Maverick would feed off the energy.
I give it a few more minutes. He finds me in the crowd gathered around watching him, and I can’t read the expression on his face, but I know he’s uncomfortable.
“Hey, Lindsey,” I say, approaching the photographer. “Can I have one second?”
“Sure.” She stands tall and drops the camera to her waist.
“More oil?” he asks and shoots me a sheepish grin before looking at the ground.
“Do you have your phone on you?”
“Yeah.” His dark brows pinch together. “Why?”
“You were right. This music sucks.”
He pulls out his phone, unlocks it, and hands it over. I scan the playlists. There are so many. He used to put together music for the morning skate on game days back at Valley, and I’ve heard they’re pretty entertaining. He’d let each of the guys pick one song, and he’d compile it. Just another of the many charms of Maverick.
“Any favorites?”
He crowds my space, and I hold out the phone so that he can see it better. His silky-smooth arm covered in oil brushes against mine. Heat radiates from him. Shit, this is not good. Do I really want to hook up with Maverick?
He smiles and, fuck my life, I know the answer. I do. I really, really do.
“That one.” He points.
“Okay, I’ll get it going. Loosen up. Have fun with it.”
“I’ll try,” he says. “I don’t want to mess this up for you.”
I pop a hip and rest my free hand on it, then give him a quick but blatant once-over. “Not possible.”
“Switch the music playing over the speakers to this,” I say to Quinn, handing her Maverick’s phone. “And do not snoop in his phone.”
She chews her gum, jaw working while she stares at me with an annoyed and disbelieving glare as I boss her. Things have been friendly between us, and I don’t want to ruin it, but I have to fix this, and I don’t have time to worry about how much she might hate me when this is over.
Ignoring her, I look to Reese. “Can you grab a hockey stick from… wherever they keep hockey sticks. Bonus if it’s Maverick’s. We need to get him comfortable and fast.”
“On it.” Reese claps his hands and jogs off.
