Page 29 of Nailing Heat
“Are you kidding me? We already did those,” Hendrix whines.
“Oh look, it’s started early!” Dex says, his voice laced with good-natured sarcasm.
“He has to.” August’s tone is stern. “He wasn’t left with much and I told him that he got to do whatever he wanted as far as checkups go. So, now that we have a full-time trainer, let’s please let him get a baseline.”
“Sir, yes sir.” I salute August and he grins warmly at me.
The group heads out the door, and I follow, bidding them all good night. I turn around to the living room and see that Dex is gathering up crumpled napkins and paper plates.
“You don’t have to do that,” I tell him, rushing over to help him.
“Why wouldn’t I clean up? I’m not a dick.”
I chuckle. “No, you’re not. I mean that I can do it too.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can, peach. But I am not going to make you do this all alone.”
“Thanks,” I mutter to his back as he heads into the kitchen with some empty bottles and plates.
I stare at him retreating back, wondering why he chose the name peach for me. But I don’t get the chance to ask him.
“Are you gonna just stand there or are you going to help me?”
“Oh yeah, sure, let me get some of these pizza boxes.” I move quickly to grab them.
Dex laughs at me. “Relax, I’d do the whole thing if you would like to go to bed.”
I nod and we finish in silence. The clean-up takes less than five minutes, and I’m left standing in the entry way of the kitchen.
“Well, I’m going to hit the hay,” he says, walking past me. I continue standing there, not sure what to say, when he turns tome. “Thanks for letting me hang with you all. I know I know August, but I appreciate you letting me fit in here so nicely with you and your friends. They are good people.”
“Yeah, they sure are.” I smile, glad that he likes my friends and that he’s starting to feel like maybe this could be his home. For me, that was the hardest part, making this place feel like home.
Dex turns and heads into his bedroom, closing the door with a quiet click. I sigh, staring at the closed door. And uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. Tonight was fun with everyone. I like it when they come over, but it would have been nice if I had the evening with just Dex. I’m not sure why that sounds more appealing than the night we had. But it does.
“You’re tired,” I tell myself as I make my way down the hall.
Dex’s door pops open, “Were you talking to me?”
I can see only from his chest up, but it’s bare. I swallow once, twice and then I answer. My voice shakes as I say, “No, uh, sorry, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to myself.”
“Okay, well, good night.” The door softly closes and I’m alone again. But not completely, I remind myself. My little conversations that I have with myself out loud should probably stop so he doesn’t think I’m crazy.
“Yeah, night.” I say to his closed door. I finish the trek to my room and softly close the door. “Yep, definitely just tired,” I say to myself as I ready for bed. I have an early morning, and I decide that it’s the late night and all the wine that’s messing with my head. Not the fact that I got a peek at his bare chest and from what I could see, his pecs are defined. I slip into bed and drift off to sleep wondering if he is just a sculpted everywhere else.
Chapter Ten
~DEX~
I’m up with the sun and out of the apartment before Amelia even opens her door. I could feel her eyes on me the whole way back to my room. I turned and I swear I caught a flash of something in her eyes, but I couldn’t place it, and it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
The stadium looks pretty with the rising sun the background. August told me that I could come in here early and work out. I want to do that; I have so much to get organized in the training room. It’s not as big as I’m used to, but that’s the trade-off from coming from an NFL team to the NWSL. One of the many things that I’m going to have to get used to, but that’s what winning a few Super Bowls will get you. Another aspect of my new job that I’m going to have to get used to is working almost exclusively with woman. Athletes are very similar, but men and women don’t seem to be.
There are a few cars in the parking lot. I can’t be sure who they belong to. I know Jase drives an Audi and I can see he’s already here. I park mine near his and head into the building. The blue and yellow line the walls like a racing stripe that outlines the whole building.
“Earlier riser, huh,” an English accent calls to me from the end of the hallway.
I nod and smile, making my way to Jase. “Yeah, I thought I’d get in here and get some things organized. I want to watch them practice. See who is favoring what.”
