Page 54 of Playing the Field
If he only knew I had Gracie in my mind during the entirety of the conversation, he’d probably blow his stack.
Then true to form, Bogie finds his way into trouble, staring at a mud puddle and barking at it. I take off at a run because I know what comes next, but despite my speed on the soccer field, navigating around joggers and walkers gives me a different challenge. I reach Bogie about five seconds after he decides to slide into the mud, roll onto his back, and coat his entire body in filth. Then he runs, tries to stop, and slides across the damp grass.
When I turn back, I catch Kyler laughing his ass off. Reminds me of how Gracie did the same thing.
CHAPTER 28
Gracie
The Following Morning
I knock lightlyon Hunter’s door, which has been closed since I got home after a lazy brunch on the hotel rooftop with Tatum. It was hard to leave that view behind, but the thought of seeing Hunter ignited a nervous thrill that I still feel now, standing outside his room.
“You awake?” I ask softly, hoping he’ll sleep through it if he’s lost in dreamland.
When he opens the door, it’s clear from his look of concentration that he’s been doing anything but sleeping.
Well, likewise. I didn’t get a great night of sleep sharing Tatum’s queen bed in the hotel room. Not for lack of room. And Tatum barely moved all night.
I was lost in my thoughts, replaying potentialconversations in my head. None of them seems important now that I’m standing in front of Hunter, who’s wearing only a pair of low-slung black sweatpants that hug his muscular thighs.
My eyes roam over his pecs and abs and I lose track of time. Again.
Must. Control. That.
Hunter catches me staring, and his bleary eyes crease at the corners. He smirks at my gobsmacked expression and crosses his arms, obscuring his magnificent chest, but giving me a great view of his sculpted biceps. It’s a fair trade.
“Morning,” he says, gravel in his voice.
“Afternoon, actually.”
He pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the time, nodding. “How’d that happen?”
“Well, you see, time waits for no one. You may delay, but time will not. Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” I spread my hands wide. “Take your pick from my useless mental encyclopedia of time quotes.”
“Not useless.”
It feels like our usual banter, and that calms me. But I still don’t know what to say to Hunter, and that makes my heart race.
“I was thinking about a walk around the neighborhood. Wanna join me?” I ask.
It’s a lie. I wasn’t thinking about a walk. Kyler’s neighborhood is hilly, and it doesn’t have sidewalks, making it more of an urban hike with cars in danger of sideswiping us at every turn.
“Sure.” He reaches for a tee hanging on the desk chair and pulls it over his head. From a neat row of shoes against one wall, he grabs a pair of flip-flops and slips them on before putting on a baseball cap and glasses. “Okay, ready. Let’s walk.”
Before we get to the front door, Bogie comes bounding through the patio door and tries to stop between us and the front door. His paws slip on the floor, and he goes sliding like Tom Cruise inRisky Business.
“I think someone heard the W-word,” I say, laughing and giving Bogie a good scratch behind the ears.
“Yeah. Mind if he comes? He could probably use some exercise.”
“No prob. If I get tired, he can pull me up the hill.”
Hunter leashes up his dog and puts some water into a bottle, then we head out the door. He tips his head in the downhill direction, and I gratefully follow his lead. We walk in silence for a couple of minutes, letting Bogie sniff his way along the road and investigate several bushes and rows of flowers growing near the curb.
Every so often, he strikes gold, finding an In-N-Out burger wrapper that fell out of someone’s trash can or a smushed lizard that bears investigating.
I wonder how long we could keep going in silence. Sneaking a look at Hunter, I can’t tell much from his expression. As usual, he’s wearing a baseball hat, but I can’t see his eyes under the sunglasses, so I have no idea what he’s thinking.
