Текст книги "Game On"
Автор книги: Katie McCoy
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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 17 страниц)
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I can’t make any promises,” I told him as we set off towards my hotel. “But you were right. You are boring,” I said, even though I didn’t really believe it. I was only hoping that Tim did.
Nathan laughed. Glancing over, he looked almost relieved. “I told you so.”
“Guess I should have believed you,” I teased back. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. I still had to convince my editor. Considering neither of us had been that excited to share that with the public, I could understand why he was hopeful the article switch would be approved.
I, for one, just wanted to write something that mattered.
And I couldn’t deny that it had been nice to let the interviewer/interviewee dynamic drop between the two of us. To have an afternoon just being Nathan and Sophie. No guy had ever cared enough to spend a day just trying to cheer me up. Especially a guy who had a career-changing game to look forward to. I knew he could have been practicing. I knew he could have been doing a million other things that didn’t involve taking me to an animal shelter and reading with kids.
I also knew that he didn’t have to come to my room and tell me that Tim was planning on taking all the credit for the article. Nathan didn’t owe me anything, not really. We were basically strangers. Right?
I glanced over at him, admiring the view. His eyes were focused on the road, his hands at the proper ten and two, just as I assumed they would be, and he seemed more relaxed than I had seen him since we met. This was the real Nathan Ryder, I suspected. There was a small smile playing at the corner of his lips, one I doubted he even knew was there.
Something was happening between the two of us. Something that we had been fighting since we met. Something that I wasn’t sure I wanted to fight anymore.
I couldn’t help taking in the sight of him, the perfect chiseled profile with his strong jaw and cheeks bearing the lightest dusting of stubble. I imagined how it would feel if I ran my fingers across it, how it would tickle rubbing against my cheek, my stomach, my thighs.
I bit back a moan. Throughout all of this, my desire for him had not faded. If anything, it had intensified. And I could tell it was the same for him. At each light, he would look over at me, fire flickering in those beautiful green eyes of his. I wanted him.
And I was tired of fighting it. All my life I had worried about being different than my mother, about doing better than my circumstances, about being professional. And where had it gotten me? My boyfriend had dumped me for a sexy band member with no talent, my mom kept praying for me to quit my job to marry rich, and my co-workers thought I had slept my way into my job. No matter what I did people thought the worst of me. So maybe it was time to do what I wanted. What I had wanted to do the moment I first saw Nathan. The hell with the consequences. I had played by everyone else’s rules for too long. Now it was time to play by my rules.
When we arrived at the hotel, I had made my decision, and when Nathan got out of the car and came around to the door, I decided that I wasn’t ready to say good night.
“Maybe you should come up,” I told him, stepping out of the car.
He froze.
“If you want to,” I added quickly. Had he changed his mind? Had I misread the signals?
But he quickly tossed his car keys to the valet and took my hand in his.
“I do,” he said, his voice low and full of desire. I didn’t know if I was making the smart decision, but I did know at that moment that it was the right one.
***
I babbled all the way up to my room, my hand tucked in his elbow as he listened and said nothing.
“I think the article could be really good publicity for the shelter,” I was saying as I unlocked my room, grateful that I had both asked for my room to be cleaned and that I was wearing red underwear. It wasn’t lace, but it wasn’t old and stretched out, either. “If more people learn about it then maybe they’ll volunteer, or even better donate. I bet we can get people to donate a lot if we play up the possibility the shelter could get shut down. Lots of pictures with kids and those kittens. Lots of sad eyes. Probably in black and white. Really tug at the heartstrings. People will donate money, especially if they feel guilty about not volunteering or adopting.”
I was in the middle of the room facing the bed, when I heard the door click behind me. I whirled around to find Nathan leaning back against it, an amused look on his face.
“Did you invite me up to talk about the article?” he asked.
“I, uh…” I felt suddenly tongue-tied. I knew that if I said no there was no turning back. That I was officially taking the reins off whatever wild horse was pulling this carriage. I would be flying head first into dangerous territory.
But before I could second-guess it, he came over and took my hand. It was warm and comforting. It felt right.
“Tell me to go and I’ll go,” he said.
I looked up into his sweet, searching eyes and I was lost.
“Don’t go,” I told him. “Please, don’t go.”
And then I kissed him.
***
Unlike our first kiss, this one was slow and tentative. Reaching up on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his, savoring the feel of them against mine. Nathan took my lead, his hand coming up to trace the line of my jaw. The gentle touch of his fingers against my skin made me shiver and I felt his smile against my lips. He took my face with both hands and I sighed, my mouth opening, his tongue finding mine.
I leaned forward, pressing my chest against his, my hands fisted in his shirt. The kiss shifted, the tenderness replaced by intensity, as Nathan plunged his tongue into my mouth, the hot taste of him filling my senses. I moaned this time, pulling him closer, my fingers dipping down to the hem of his shirt, sliding under and then up, touching the hot, smooth skin beneath.
He pulled back, grabbing my hands. He was breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against mine.
“Careful,” he said. “I don’t seem to have much control when it comes to you.”
I tilted my head up and caught his bottom lip between my teeth. “Good,” I murmured. “Control is overrated.”
He groaned deep in his throat and captured my mouth with his. This kiss was deep, my tongue tangling with his, wanting only to taste him. His hands slid down my body, palms curving around my breasts. I leaned into him as he cupped them, thumbs brushing against my nipples, which hardened and strained against my bra. One hand left my breast to busy itself with the buttons on my shirt, while he dragged his hot, perfect mouth away, to take gentle nips at the soft skin beneath my jaw.
My need for him, hot and wet, throbbed between my legs as his hand freed my shirt from my shoulders, peeling it away until I was standing in front of him in my jeans and a black lace bra. He lifted his head, his eyes intense as he took in the sight of me, my chest heaving, my skin flushed.
“Fucking gorgeous,” he said and lowered his mouth.
“Oh god,” I moaned as his hot mouth closed over the pearled tip of my breast. My fingers dug into his shoulders as he wrote his desire with his teeth and tongue. I felt that ache between my legs build, nothing short of agony, wanting nothing but release. I threw my head back as he moved to the other breast, lavishing it with the same delicious attention.
His hands were tight around my waist, my fingers fisted in his hair, my moans spilling from my throat without any restraint. But still it wasn’t enough. I needed more.
As if he could sense my frustration, he lifted his eyes towards mine and gave me a wicked smile. Before I could say a word, he raised one of his hands to his mouth and wrapped those perfect lips around two of his fingers. With his other hand, without looking, he flicked at the button of my jeans, undoing it neatly. Goddamn he was good. I was mesmerized by him. Couldn’t take my eyes away and he seemed to feel the same, his green eyes focused on mine. Pulling his fingers, wet and slick, from his mouth, he slid them down my stomach, into my jeans, into my panties and found the spot where I ached the most.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuck,” I moaned as his fingers curved down, stroking me. When he moved against my clit, drawing perfect circles against the tender skin, I nearly fainted. God, it felt so good. His fingers were calloused but in a way that gave him exactly the right amount of friction against my most sensitive spot. It was the perfect combination of sensations and I couldn’t get enough of it. My hips rolled towards his touch, never wanting it to end. Everything inside me seemed to be centered at that very spot, my entire body attuned to Nathan’s hand against me.
“You’re so sexy,” he whispered, his mouth hot against my neck. I felt like a violin being played by a master. Tension built and built with every thrust. I was pulled tight, everything focused on his hands against me, their perfect rhythm, and the sweet pressure. “Now come for me, Sophie.”
And I did, my body bucking against his hand, my screams muffled by his mouth as he claimed my lips with his, his tongue drawing the same patterns as his fingers. The entire world went bright white for a moment as I collapsed against his chest, every part of me drained of thought or sense.
After a moment, I realized that Nathan had withdrawn his hand from my jeans, but was still clutching me, his own breathing ragged. I might have come, but he had been left wanting. I lifted my head, meeting his gaze.
“You are incredible,” I said, my voice thick with satisfaction.
He smiled, but I could see the tension in his jaw. “I aim to please,” he said.
“Well, considered me very pleased,” I told him, finally finding the ground beneath my feet. I reached up to place a kiss on his chin. “And now it’s my turn.” I gave him a sharp nip beneath the earlobe, much like he had done to me.
“You don’t have—” he began but I lifted my fingers to his lips.
“Shh,” I said. “Just enjoy yourself.”
But the moment I sank to the floor, my hands reaching for his belt, there was a loud knock at the door.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nathan and I both froze, my hand on his belt buckle, his fingers tangled in my hair.
“Saucy! I know you’re in there!” Tim’s voice thundered from the hallway.
“Fuck!” I leapt to my feet, clipping the top of my head against Nathan’s chin in the process. “Owww,” I moaned as he grabbed my shoulders to steady me.
“You OK?” he asked, his own expression dazed.
“Is someone in there with you?” Tim shouted from the other side of the door.
I exchanged a wide-eyed look with Nathan.
“Maybe he’ll go away?” Nathan whispered.
“Saucy! Let me in!” Tim was now pounding on the door. “Come on, babe. I know you’re in there. I have something to tell you about the Nathan Ryder piece.”
“Bathroom,” I muttered at Nathan, shoving him in the direction of it. “Be quiet. I’ll get rid of him as soon as I can.”
“Soooooooooooooooophie,” Tim crooned and I cringed.
Nathan narrowed his eyes in the direction of the door and I could tell he wasn’t pleased either.
“Let me handle him,” I said, about to shut the bathroom door, but Nathan held it open.
“Your shirt!” he gestured downward.
My shirt was still hanging open, displaying two very wet spots on my bra.
“Shit,” I said, scrambling to button it and my jeans. Once I was semi-presentable, I shut the bathroom door on a scowling Nathan and ran to where Tim was still pounding and calling out. I smoothed back my hair, prayed to God I didn’t look like I had just had the best orgasm of my life, and yanked the door open.
“Tim!” I said, trying to keep a cheerful tone in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I got some leads on the Nathan Ryder piece,” he said, barging into the room. He had changed from that morning. Same leather jacket and pants, of course, but a new, even more garish Hawaiian shirt. He also reeked of whiskey and cigarettes. Lovely, fucking lovely. I tried not to gag.
He also seemed to notice my change of attire.
“Looking hot, Saucy,” he said. “Got a date tonight?”
“What leads?” I asked, knowing better than to engage with Tim on his habit of inappropriate questioning.
He frowned, clearly disappointed. “I got the names of some kids he went to high school with.”
“I thought he went to school in Houston.” I was confused. One of the reasons we had been given the opportunity to talk to Nathan was because we were from his hometown paper.
But Tim just rolled his eyes at me like I was the dumbest person in the world. I fucking hated Tim. “Well, duh, Saucy. But some of them go to school here. And they’re willing to talk to us.”
He was still saying “us,” which meant he still needed me to finish this assignment. Just like Nathan said, he was probably expecting I’d do all the grunt work so he could get all the credit. Well, he didn’t know that I had no interest in furthering his career. But I also didn’t want to get sent back home and leave Tim to wreak havoc all over Austin.
My stomach did an unpleasant little loop-de-loop. Nathan had said that there wasn’t anything Tim could find on him, but he didn’t know Tim the way I did. He didn’t have the connections he had in Houston, but he was clearly doing just fine here. What had he found?
“So what’s the plan?” I asked automatically, my journalistic instincts kicking in. Then I remembered that Nathan was still in the bathroom. I wondered if he was listening and if he was, what he was thinking. Was this going to fuck things up between us? And what had happened between us? Because it hadn’t felt like just two people hooking up. It felt…like something more.
I got a little light-headed. And then I noticed Tim was heading towards the bathroom.
“I gotta use the john,” he said.
Immediately I lunged in front of the door. “What’s wrong with your room?”
“It’s on another floor,” he said, looking at me like I was a moron. “What’s wrong, Saucy? Got your sexy lingerie hanging from the shower curtain? I promise I won’t look. OK, naw, I can’t promise that.” He let out a big, stupid guffaw.
“It’s not that,” I said, my brain spinning a mile a minute. “It’s just that, I uh, I think I left my tampons out on the counter. That’s it.”
Bingo.
He backed away from the door as if it were made of fire.
“Jesus,” he said. “You just can’t keep anything private, can you?”
I shrugged. “Sorry.” I wasn’t sorry at all. “Look, can we talk about this tomorrow?” I gave a little cough, trying to look as pathetic as possible. There was no way someone like Tim would know that the symptoms of a cold and PMS were totally different. It was convenient that he was such a total moron, really. “I really just need to rest. Get my strength back, you know?”
He held his hands up as if he was afraid I would touch him again. Part of me wanted just to make him squirm, but then again, I would have had to get near him, so I just settled for swaying dangerously close.
“Tomorrow?” I asked again.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” he said, now back towards the door. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He grabbed for the door handle in a way not unlike a cartoon character, only without the big plume of white smoke, he was gone. I shut the door behind him.
“All clear,” I called out.
Nathan came out of the bathroom looking as numb as I felt. I rushed over to him. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was going to help Tim.
“You said you don’t have any deep, dark secrets.” I took his face in my hands, hoping he would look at me. He did, but he seemed a million miles away. “Please tell me he’s not going to find anything.”
A frown furrowed Nathan’s brows. He wouldn’t look at me, glancing everywhere but my face. My stomach dropped. Did he have something to hide?
“Don’t you trust me?” he asked.
“Of course I do,” I said, hoping he could see that I was telling the truth, that I was on his side. Because I was. That much I knew for sure. I wasn’t going to let Tim drag him through the mud, but I had to make sure he was as clean as he said he was. Because I couldn’t do anything if I didn’t have all the facts. “But you have to trust me. I can’t help you if you don’t.”
He finally looked at me. Met my eyes straight on.
“He’s not going to find anything,” he said. But I could see there was hesitation. Fear.
“I believe you,” I told him, swallowing my own apprehension.
Nathan’s face softened. He leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss.
“I should go,” he told me. “But I’ll call you tomorrow, OK?”
“OK,” I said, wishing he didn’t have to go.
He smiled, but it wasn’t one of his genuine smiles. There was nervousness there. He was hiding something and the thought made my stomach twist. What was Tim going to find?
“It’s going to be alright.” He kissed me on the forehead and left.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I tried not to think about the worried expression on Nathan’s face during breakfast the next morning, while Tim rambled on and on about the people we were going to meet that afternoon.
“No one is perfect,” he was saying, his mouth full of eggs and bacon. If I hadn’t already been having trouble eating, this would have been enough to ruin my appetite. I thought about reaching across the table and holding Tim’s mouth closed, but since that was out of the question, I just kept my eyes on my plate of equally unappetizing food. “This Nate guy has to have some skeletons in his closet. He really should have played ball with me. He’s gonna regret it come draft time.”
I didn’t want to think about it. The worst thing that could happen was that Tim would find something that would threaten or even end Nathan’s career. As much as I wanted to throw my hot plate of eggs in Tim’s face, I had to stay on his good side long enough to discover the angle he was going to work and do my best to diffuse it. Or warn Nathan.
Obviously there was something out there. Nathan wouldn’t have acted the way he did last night if there wasn’t. But he didn’t trust me with it so there was nothing I could do right now. I just had to wait and pray that once Tim discovered it, I could do something to make it go away.
Part of me knew that I was playing a dangerous game. That I was risking a lot for some guy I barely knew. The other part of me knew that this was the right thing to do. That even if it was someone else in the hot seat, Tim was a grade-A asshole who would ruin lives without a second glance. I wouldn’t let him do that to a stranger and I certainly wasn’t going to let him do it to someone I cared about.
Realizing exactly how much I cared about Nathan hit me like a bat to the gut. Fuck. This was not what I had signed up for when I came to Austin. Things weren’t supposed to get so complicated. I wasn’t supposed to have feelings for someone I had just met. Especially not ALL the feelings, which is exactly what I had. Too many damn feelings. A whole baseball stadium full of feelings.
My phone buzzed. Mandy.
“I have to go,” I told Tim, shoving aside my plate of half-eaten food.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, eggs sputtering from his mouth onto today’s ugly Hawaiian shirt. “We have to prep for the interviews.”
You mean I have to prep for the interviews while you get drunk and hang out by the pool, I thought. Except I wasn’t going to let him do that. I would do what I had to in order to get information, but I wasn’t going to do Tim’s grunt work while he enjoyed a relaxing vacation. Especially since I knew he was just planning on throwing me under the bus if this all went south. No, I was going to work on the article I wanted to write.
“I’ll be back for the interviews,” I told him. “I have to run some errands.”
“I thought you did all my dry cleaning and shopping yesterday?” he asked and I bit my tongue, annoyed that I had actually done all of that.
“These are my own errands,” I said, then leaned forward and lowered my voice. “Of a, um, personal and feminine nature.”
I really enjoyed the look of horror the sheer implication of menstruation gave him. Without another word, I grabbed my bag and headed outside to meet Mandy who was waiting in her car.
***
“Kids and kittens!” Mandy gasped, raising her camera and snapping away at the impossibly cute combination of things. I smiled as she rushed around the room, grabbing perfect shots of cats climbing over school children sounding out words in their picture books. Just arriving at the shelter had given me an immediate sense of calm. No wonder Nathan came here on a regular basis. It truly was an instant stress reliever.
Mandy, her camera around her neck, came over and slung her arm over my shoulders.
“So Nathan brought you here, huh?” she wanted to know.
“Did you know about this place?” I asked, wondering if this was a pick-up move well utilized by the baseball team. Not that I could blame them. It had certainly worked with me.
“The guys talk about it sometimes. Chris said he was going to take me after the season was over. Said it was a guaranteed smile-maker.”
I laughed. That sound exactly like something Chris would say.
“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” I leaned down to pet a kitten that was rubbing against my legs. It was a tiny little tabby thing. “If I hadn’t seen Nathan here, it would have been hard to imagine a bunch of baseball players hanging out here in their free time.”
Mandy looked around the room, snapping a few more shots. “I’ll need to come back when the guys are here. The photos will really sell the cuteness, I think.” She glanced over at me. “I’m not surprised he brought you here.”
“No? Is this something he does often?” I was curious, but tried to be subtle. “Bring all his girls to look at cute animals?” And totally failed. Jesus, Sophie, you’ve really lost your gentle touch, haven’t you? Not like Nathan seemed like he would mind. He definitely had a firm touch of his own. Fuck. Yes, he did.
“A-ha!” She looked triumphant. “Does this mean you’re his girl?”
“Stop it.” I nudged her in the ribs, but couldn’t deny that I got a mushy feeling in my chest at the thought of being referred to as such.
Mandy grinned at me. “For the record, I haven’t heard of him bringing any girl here. And he’s a regular.”
“Yet you’re not surprised.”
“I told you.” She took a quick shot of me, acting too quickly for me to put my hand up. “He likes you.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I like him too,” I finally admitted out loud, though I wasn’t going to say how much because honestly it was starting to scare me how quickly I was falling for him.
“I knew it!” Mandy crowed and snapped a few more, hopefully not too unflattering, pictures of me. “I knew you guys were perfect for each other.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I said as we took a seat near the window. “It might be over before it’s even started.” I told her about last night, skimming over the more salacious details (the ones, of course, I was replaying in my mind over and over again). I told her about Tim coming over and how Nathan had avoided my question about potential secrets. “Do you know if there’s anything to be worried about?” I asked Mandy.
She frowned. “I don’t, but even if I did, you know I couldn’t say anything. They’re not my secrets. And if Nathan wants to keep them that way, I’m sure he has a good reason to.”
“I know,” I chewed at my lip. “I just don’t want Tim to ruin everything.”
“Then don’t let him,” Mandy urged. “This article, about the shelter, is going to be ten times more interesting than the one Tim writes on Nathan. And I like Nathan an awful lot.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Mandy.” I gave her a hug. “I hope my editor likes the piece, but I think you’re right, I think it’s the pictures that are going to really make it special. When do you think we can get the guys here?”
“Well.” She put her camera away. “You know the game is in a few days, so as soon as they win, we can get them here in their uniforms and maybe even the trophy. People will eat it up.” She cast a sidelong look at me. “You’re going to the game, right?”
“Of course,” I said, though I really didn’t want to sit in the press box for that one. The less time I had to spend with Tim, the better. I pulled out my phone and frowned at it. No word from Nathan today. “That is, if Nathan even wants me there.”
Mandy shook her head. “Of course he wants you there. I’m sure he’s just busy. I’ve barely seen Chris all week. Between practice and class, he doesn’t have a lot of free time.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said, but I couldn’t help feeling nervous as I stared down at my phone and its blank screen.
