Текст книги "Scoring Wilder"

Автор книги: R. S. Grey

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Chapter Seven

Earlier in the week Coach Davis had warned us to keep Saturday morning free for our team bonding activity. I had no clue what she had in store for us, and to be honest, I would have preferred to go relax on the beach, but maybe team bonding would do us some good. Tara and I sure as hell needed it.

When Emily, Becca, and I pulled up to the soccer fields, there was an old yellow school bus parked near the entrance and a few of our teammates were already lingering outside talking with Coach Davis and... Liam.

"What the hell is he doing here?" I asked with furrowed brows.

Emily swiveled to see what I was talking about. "Oh, Liam? I'd imagine all of the 183/890

coaches are coming since it's a team bonding thing."

Becca turned toward me with a devious grin. "Maybe Liam can show you what 'team bonding' really means."

I threw the car into park and gave her a pointed stare. "It's too early to decipher what that even means. Bonding as in… having sex?" I asked, grabbing my bag and adjusting my spaghetti strap workout tank.

She waggled her eyebrows. "It means he could teach you some really good bondage techniques."

I shoved her arm. "You're supposed to be a prude, Becca."

She scoffed. "Just because I haven't had sex doesn't mean I'm a prude. I'm repressed, 184/890

and therefore even less of a prude than other people."

"Well maybe you should hook up with Liam then."

She arched a brow. "I don't think I'm the one he wants."

I hopped out of the car before she could say anything else. My face was already flushed from her comment about team bonding, so when I glanced up and saw him slowly perusing me from top to bottom, my heart thumped wildly in my chest. Stop picturing Liam as a dom. Stop it. Damnit, Becca.

Liam kept his distance as I went to join the group, but that didn't stop me from peeking at him from beneath my lashes. His soccer shorts hung low on his hips and I could 185/890

see a sliver of his boxer briefs. Calvin Klein, of course. A shiver ran down my spine and I had to shove my gaze away before I started awkwardly panting.

Dear Mr. Klein or should I call you Calv,

It’s me again, Kinsley. Thanks so much for designing your underwear line. If you ever need a focus group for future designs, I’d like to be included. I’m a very good package inspector with excellent attention to detail. Attached you will find my list of references.

"All right, girls, let's load up!" Coach Davis said, clapping her hands. We all shuffled onto the bus, groaning about how early it was. After I took my seat, I tilted my head to the side and watched in horror as 186/890

Tara took the seat beside Liam in the front. I wanted to slow time and push her away before her bony butt could touch the seat. But, I wasn’t a wizard, so instead I crouched low in my seat so that I could no longer see them sitting beside one another.

Did he want her to sit next to him? Why the hell did it matter?

"She's a sleeze-whore," Becca whispered next to me. I hadn't realized that she'd sank lower in her seat as well.

I couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous we looked. Our knees were hiked up against the seat in front of us and our chins were tilted down onto our chests.

"Should we ride like this the whole way there?" she asked.

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"I'm not watching that the whole way. So yes..."

Just then, Tara's shrill laughter rang out throughout the bus.

"Is he up there making her laugh?" I whispered.

"No. He probably asked her to scoot away from him and she thought it was a hilarious joke," Becca said, trying to make me feel better.

"What if he invited her to sit beside him?"

Becca shot me a pointed stare. "Not possible."

The bus ride didn't take too long after that. Still, Becca and I stayed crouched down, joking and trying to exist in our own world. It was easier that way. Seeing Tara 188/890

and Liam talking affected me in a way it definitely shouldn’t have if I thought of him only as my coach.

I was in deep trouble.

The bus pulled to a stop, and I finally sat up enough to see that we were outside of a giant army camp. My eyes widened. Were we going to have to work out with soldiers? Did people do that?

Coach Davis stood up at the front. Her grey hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she was smiling bright. “Team, we’re going to do an obstacle course today. Not an ordinary one. This is a course used to train top-level recruits for the army."

A few girls groaned.

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"The goal will be to work together. We aren't done until everybody crosses the finish line."

Tara stood up to stand behind her.

"That's right, we're only as good as our weakest player," she added, staring directly at me with chilling blue eyes. I made a decision right then to kick her ass at the obstacle course. Team bonding would have to take a rain check.

Becca raised her hand and Coach Davis pointed at her. "Are we allowed to have hunky army guys help us? Like if they wanted to give us a boost over a super tall wall?" Of course she highlighted her point by cupping her hands as if grabbing an ass.

The entire bus started cracking up, and even Coach Davis cracked a smile.

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"Becca, this is about team bonding, so no, there won't be anyone around to give you a boost unless it's one of your teammates,"

Coach Davis said before turning and heading out of the bus. Everyone else started filling out behind her.

Becca sighed as if exasperated. "All right, Kins. Then it's all you, bud."

I acted disgusted. "I'm not touching your butt."

"Oh please, your hand has been itching to touch my ass," she said, making a big show of smacking her butt. I laughed and pushed her forward. She was blocking the middle of the aisle with her ridiculousness.

As soon as we hopped off the bus, the obstacle course spanned out before us. Although the term obstacle course didn’t seem 191/890

fitting. This was some kind of ninja warrior bullshit.

We all lined up at the very beginning and stretched out so that we wouldn't get injured trying to hurl ourselves over various objects. Becca did her best to spot any avail-able army guys, but they must have cleared the area for the day… probably in anticipa-tion of her arrival.

It started off easy enough; we took our turns going over each obstacle and eventually spread out across the course. Even the coaches were participating, which meant our dear Liam was off somewhere doing something manly. I was too busy trying not to die jumping through tires to notice.

Mid-way through the course there was a mud pit so narrow that only one person 192/890

could crawl through at a time. The goal was to crawl beneath barbed wire across the entire field without scratching your back.

When it was my turn, I slid down to my stomach, feeling the cool mud slide between my fingers. I was adjusting into a good pose when a heavy shoe dug into my back and my entire body fell into the mud, face and all.

Ew. Ew. Ew.

"What the?!" I coughed.

"Oh my gosh, my bad! I must have tripped," Tara's voice rang out overhead.

I twisted my upper body to stare up at her and she started bursting out laughing.

"You have mud all over your face!"

Correction: I had mud everywhere: my mouth, ears, and nose included. Instead of responding to her, I used a clean part of my 193/890

shirt to wipe my eyes, but it hardly helped.

That's when I saw Liam standing behind Tara looking royally pissed. His sharp features were masked in a furious scowl, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was going to tell her off. I didn't bother sticking around to find out. I crawled through the mud pit imagining an elaborate dream sequence that included Tara falling onto barbed wire while Liam carried me off into the sunset. Weird, David Beckham was there too and he also wanted to help carry me, and then for some reason they had to take their shirts off...

damn the pit ended before I got to the good part.

After the mud pit, the course wove into a dense forest. Most of the team started to split up even more, but Becca and I stayed close 194/890

together as the tree canopy darkened over the path. Midway through, I couldn’t see anyone near us other than Liam. For whatever reason, he was holding back and keeping pace with us instead of racing ahead.

The path continued through the forest until it was blocked by a giant lattice of rope that spanned a few yards above the ground. There was nowhere to go but up, unless you wanted to just walk around the path… but that was cheating.

"Geez, that's freaking tall," Becca huffed, bending forward and resting her hands on her knees. I followed suit and then twisted around to see Liam eyeing the rope lattice.

His shirt was covered in sweat and his dirty blonde hair was slicked back and sinfully sexy. I loved seeing that version of him; it 195/890

made me imagine him hot, sweaty, and naked above me.

Woah. Slow down there, tiger.

I caught his eye and he narrowed his gaze on me, tilting his head an inch to the side. I whipped my head back toward the rope and tried to control how flustered he made me feel.

"I can't go yet. I need to catch my breath," I said to Becca.

A flash of movement whipped by me as Liam passed us and started spanning the roped web. He made it look effortless, and Becca and I stood there gawking up at him as he climbed foot after foot. The whole process probably took him a minute, tops.

Well. Let’s add that to the list of things he can do.

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1. Sex-up ladies

2. Play professional soccer

3. Wear Calvin Klein boxer briefs like it was his life’s calling

4. Climb tall rope things

"Let's go. The longer you stand there, the worse it seems," he shouted down to us.

Becca cast me an exasperated glance.

"I'll go first," I said, feeling more confident as I moved toward the bottom of the lattice.

"Take it easy and make sure you don't lose your footing. There's no net to catch you if you fall," Liam warned.

His words took whatever morsel of confidence I had and shredded it. Why the hell was Coach Davis making us do this? If I fell and broke my leg, I'd be out for the whole 197/890

season. Oh, but at least I’ll have bonded with my team. No, wait, I haven’t done that either.

I pushed aside the thought and started to climb up the web. It was strange trying to get my bearings because the lattice dipped forward and back as I climbed higher. My heart sank every time it shifted. Once I'd moved past the midway point, I knew there was no going back. I couldn't look down, and when I glanced up, Liam's intimidating gaze stared back at me, so I kept my eyes trained on the rope in front of me.

"C'mon, Kinsley. You're almost there,"

Liam urged me on. I took a deep breath and kept climbing. I was almost to the top when my foot missed the bottom rung of the rope that I was aiming for. My foot met empty air, 198/890

and I kicked out, trying to stabilize my weight, but I wasn't quick enough. My right arm slipped from where I was holding the rope above my head.

I gasped.

"Kinsley!" Becca yelled from the ground just as my heart kicked into overdrive.

Holy shit.

"Kinsley, reach up. Give me your arm, you're okay." Liam was soothing me even before he'd caught me. I used my core muscles to stretch my right arm to where his hands were reaching toward me. He scooped me up like he was pulling a little kid out of a pool.

One moment I was hanging there, feeling my body freeze in panic, and the next I was standing beside him on the plank of wood, breathing quick, shallow breaths.

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"Holy shit," I laughed, resting my hands on my head and bending forward. I knew I was fine. I knew I would have been fine even if Liam hadn't helped me, but I still couldn't calm down.

Then Liam made it worse, ten trillion times worse, when his strong hand came to rest on my lower back. HELLO WARM AND

FUZZIES. My heart completely stopped—

as in took a vacation from my body– and then it kicked into overdrive.

"You’re okay, Kinsley,” he soothed. “You wouldn't have fallen. I wouldn't have let you fall," he said, soothing his hand back and forth along my back.

I was being slightly dramatic, but heights were not my forte. Plus, his hand felt so damn good– warm and possessive—

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running along my spine like he did it every day.

“Yeah, because then the team would have been out a midfielder,” I joked.

His fingers pressed into the small of my back as he murmured, “That’s not the reason.”

Wait, what?

"Kinsley, are you okay?” Becca yelled up to me. “Jesus, don't scare me like that again!

You were about to slip and splatter your brains all over me! Not cute.” I smiled. "I'm fine. Now c'mon and please take your freaking time.” The moment Becca spoke, Liam’s hand retracted from my back as if he was awakening to the fact that he was touching me almost

inappropriately.

No,

it

was

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inappropriate. His hand had been resting just two inches above my shorts. Which is about five inches above my vagina. So…

yeah, he was basically touching my vagina.

He took a small step away from me and then we watched Becca climb up the rope so slowly that at certain points I wasn’t sure she was actually alive anymore. When she finally reached the top, I pulled her into a tight hug and we both started laughing hysterically.

Exhaustion and adrenaline were a heady mixture.

"Are you guys good?" Liam asked, eyeing the two of us with a serious gaze. I dampened my lips and nodded, trying to repress the memory of his hand caressing my back.

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He’s my coach. My off-limits coach. He’s like chocolate and I’m like pickles. They shouldn’t be mixed…

Unless… chocolate-covered pickles?

No.

They shouldn’t be mixed. Damnit.

"Kinsley?" Becca asked, drawing me out of my musings. I'd been staring at Liam the whole time, and I felt a blush creep across my cheeks.

"Yup. Good to go. Let's freaking finish this thing."

Chapter Eight

After the obstacle course from hell, there was still some time to head to the beach before the party that night. The weather was just turning warm enough for bikinis, but not warm enough to actually brave the frigid Pa-cific Ocean. The rookies and I were perfectly content to work on our tans and nap in the sun.

The afternoon zipped by, and before I knew it I was sitting on Becca’s bed, waiting for her to finish getting ready.

"What about this?" she said, throwing a dress out of her closet.

"That'd be cute with your blonde hair," I answered halfheartedly. This process was taking way too long, and Becca would look good in any of the three dozen dresses now 204/890

littering the center of her room. I was tempted to lay on them like a pile of leaves, but I was supposed to be focused on helping her find an outfit.

"C'mon, you said that for the last ten!"

I sighed and pushed off the bed.

“Exactly! The last TEN. How many compliments do you think my brain can generate?

I’m not that creative!” I defended before hopping off the bed and grabbing a form-fitting white dress. “But, seriously, wear this one. It'll show off your tan from the beach." I held it up to her and she eyed it like she wasn't yet convinced.

"You have three minutes before I drag you out of here in your underwear," I threatened, but I couldn't keep a straight face when she started doing a little jig.

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"Fine with me," she shrugged, continuing her dance around the room before eventually reaching forward to grab the dress.

While she slipped it on and found a pair of matching shoes, I inspected my outfit in her mirror. I was wearing a light blue cotton dress that was tight around my chest and way too short. I'd thrown on a pair of white converse along with my eclectic mix of bracelets. I'd left my long brown hair down and I'd used styling spray to give it a bit of volume.

My light tan from the beach set off my aqua eyes, and I hadn't needed any makeup beyond a little mascara. It took me nineteen years to become equal parts lazy and stylish.

"All right, let's go! You're driving!" Becca declared as she slipped on strappy brown sandals. I could have argued that we should 206/890

take a cab, but I didn't really mind not drinking. I'd have a beer or something when we first got there and then take it easy the rest of the night. Last week’s hangover was still fresh in my mind.

“Bye Emily, my sweet Minnesota gem-stone,” I called out as we passed her room.

For once she was putting away her computer in an effort to hump the real thing. Her boyfriend, David, had arrived last night and they hadn’t left the room other than to replenish their liquids.

Becca pressed her hand against Emily’s door and shouted, “Tell slutty David that he better wine and dine you after all this Skype sex you’ve been giving him!” 207/890

“GUYS! HE CAN HEAR YOU!” she yelled before something thudded against her door.

We giggled all the way to my car.

"Did you steal that dress from a small baby?" Becca asked as we hopped in and I turned the key in the ignition.

"What?! It's not that short," I argued.

Becca pinched my arm. "I mean… it could fit my big toe, but yeah, it's really cute.

Just don't bend over or sit down at the party."

"I thought you wanted me to show off my Brazilian?"

"Touché," Becca laughed. "You look good... I bet Liam will love the dress."

I turned the music up to drown out anymore of her conversation. Her casual hints 208/890

about Liam were getting more and more constant, and I knew she was trying to eventually wear me down so I'd tell her how I felt.

My plan was to avoid that conversation for as long as I could.

We parked a few houses down and linked arms to head inside. The house was supposed to be less crowded than it was for the previous party. Most of the underclassmen girls were staying in or heading to parties around the ULA campus. Becca and I got invited through my old club soccer friends… and Josh. Blech.

There was music blaring from an invisible sound system, and the second we walked in, I relaxed. I didn't immediately see Josh or Liam, so for now I could pretend like they didn't exist.

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"Kinsley!"

I turned toward my name and saw the group of soccer girls that had invited me.

"Hey everyone! This is Becca," I introduced her, and then we stayed in their group for a while, catching up and chatting about practices. A few of them were playing soccer for colleges around the area, so we’d play them sometime this season.

"I need a drink," Becca whispered in my ear.

"I'll come with you," I said to her, and then turned to the group. "We'll be back in a little bit, we're going to go find drinks!"

I let Becca lead me through the crowd as I kept my eyes peeled for Liam or Josh. We hadn’t found either of them by the time we reached the backyard, but I was too 210/890

distracted by the fact that it looked like an adult Disneyland back there. In the center there was a giant pool with couples floating around and a group playing volleyball. To the left of the pool there were half a dozen tables set up for king’s cup and beer pong, but the games hadn’t started to pick up yet.

We wandered around until we found the keg station. There was a guy manning it that smiled wide as soon as we strolled up.

"Ladies," he said, pulling out two red cups for us.

"Just a little bit for me," I motioned with my pointer finger and thumb.

"Aww, that's no fun," he pouted and started to fill my cup.

"I'm driving," I shrugged.

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"Is this your job for the entire night?"

Becca asked.

He shot her a confident smile. "I get a break in a little bit. Do you two want to play beer pong?"

I wanted to say no, but I could tell Becca was interested in the guy. "Sure, why not," I shrugged, giving Becca a knowing glance.

"Awesome. I'll meet you two over there.

I'm Jace by the way," he said before filling Becca's cup.

We introduced ourselves and his eyes lit up.

"From the ULA soccer team?" he asked, and I could see Becca blushing.

"Yeah, we're freshmen on the team," I mentioned.

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He looked a bit baffled. "Does Liam know you guys are here?"

His question annoyed me. What did it matter? We were allowed to go to parties. He didn't own the place. "I haven't seen him yet, so probably not," I answered with confidence. "We'll be over by the beer pong tables."

He walked away to help more people and I tugged Becca's hand, accidentally sloshing some of her beer onto the front of her dress.

“Oh, oops!”

“Kinsley!” Becca cried, looking down at the spill. “This is a freaking white dress and now you can completely see my boob!” I tried not to laugh. “Becca! Why aren’t you wearing a bra!?”

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“I took it off! This dress doesn’t need one!” I didn’t want to make her feel more self-conscious, but yeah, her boob was on full display. Oh god, people were doing double takes as they walked by. I tried to fan it with my hand, but that only made it worse.

“Welp, now everyone can also see my nipple!” she cried, loudly enough that the people around us peered over to check for themselves.

“Okay, this is okay.” I unzipped my purse and dug around inside until I found a leftover bib from a lobster restaurant I’d gone to last summer. Yes, sue me. I don’t clean out my purse. What, are you so perfect?

“Here,” I said, tearing the package open and handing it to her.

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“Why the hell do you have this?” she asked, already tying it around her neck. The front said, “Wait until you taste my crustaceans…”

“I think it looks like—like a trendy neck-lace or something,” I said.

She glared up at me with her hands lying limply by her sides, and then I couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer… she just looked so pitiful.

“You know, I actually thought Jace was cute!”

I glanced behind her to check him out.

Meh, he was decent. Oh no, why was he heading our way? Was his shift already up?

“Ah! Just wear the bib and say that you—”

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“Hey ladies, this is Paul, he’s going to be my beer pong partner…” His voice started to fade out at the end as Becca turned around and he got an eyeful of her bib.

“What’s with the lobster thing?” Becca’s smile was pulled across her face so awkwardly that it made me squirm. “Oh, hah! This is my beer pong bib! Everyone wears them down in Texas.”

Paul eyed her wearily. “Seriously?” She gave a strained laugh. “Yeah, BIG

trend down there.”

I cringed as each team took their positions on opposite sides of the table. The guys generously allowed us to take the first shot, but it didn’t matter. We were about to get our asses handed to us. I was coordinated 216/890

with my feet, but somehow I’d never fully mastered hand-eye coordination.

“Just to let you know, you guys are seriously going down,” Becca taunted.

I groaned. "Becca, you'll have to drink all of our beer or I won’t be able to drive us home."

She eyed the half-full cups on the table.

“But, that's a ton of beer."

I winked. "Well we'll have to win so that you aren't completely shitfaced after this game."

"All right, you go first," she motioned, and I turned to prep for my shot. The ping pong ball left my hand and sailed over the table and straight into Paul's chest, right smack dab in the center of his Beers, Guns & Women shirt. Lovely. How had I missed that 217/890

little gem before? Oh right, Becca’s boob debacle.

"Sorry!" I laughed, covering my mouth and internally cringing.

"I thought you said ‘we were going down’?" Jace laughed, taking his turn and sinking his ping pong ball in the first cup.

Becca gave me the stink eye and reached forward to down the first cup of beer.

That's how the game went. Becca and I would sink a ball every now and then, but the boys beat us hands down, and Becca was on her way to being plastered by the time the game ended.

"I wish I could say you guys were good competition, but that was pitiful," Jace laughed, eyeing Becca with interest.

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"We should have upped the ante!" Becca exclaimed. "Next round, winner takes all.

You guys can have Kinsley's car and my virg—."

"Woah, hold on,” I said, clasping my hand over her mouth. “Let's not put my car up for collateral just yet," I laughed, letting my hand slide away only after I was confident she could contain her word vomit.

"Hey, Sofie! Look who's here," Tara's voice rang out behind me.

Becca and I spun around to find the seniors in a line facing us with their arms crossed. I had to blink to make sure I wasn’t just making the situation more comical in my head. Who actually lines up like that in real life? Had they coordinated their “mean girl” poses before this moment or was this 219/890

just all impromptu? “No, damnit, Sofie. You can’t cross your arms, I’m crossing my arms!”

"Whattup, ladies!" Becca broke the tension with her tipsiness, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yikes, Becca. Drunk already? Sheesh."

Tara rolled her eyes and I wanted to defend my friend. “And what’s with the bib?”

"She's just being funny. She's not drunk." Sure, Becca was tipsy, but Tara was just trying to embarrass her in front of Paul and Jace.

"You know, Becca, drinking problems usually start in college," Tara said with a piteous look. "You should be extra careful.

You don't want to get fat from all that alcohol."

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Becca stepped forward, and I put my hand up to grab her arm. "We'll be sure to remember that, Tara," I answered with a fake smile, trying to salvage the moment even though I wanted nothing more than to stoop to her level.

"We'll see you guys later," I finished before anyone else could get a word in. I pulled Becca away from the beer pong tables and prayed that the guys would follow after us. I didn't want the seniors to ruin Becca's chance with Jace. He’d been more than interested before they showed up, bib and all.

Oh, that reminds me.

I reached over and pulled up the bib.

“All right, you’re all dry now. You can take the bib off.”

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She tore the plastic from around her neck and dropped it in a trash can. We were almost inside when I turned to check if Paul and Jace were following us. Nope. Tara and Sofie had already started chatting them up.

What the hell?

"I seriously hate those two. They're not nice girls, Kinsley," Becca huffed, pulling open the back door.

"I know, they're bitches. Don't let them bother you. Let's go to the bathroom really quick and freshen up.” I threw an arm around her shoulder and gave her a side hug.

We pushed our way to the bathroom, and by the time we got there, Becca was hopping back and forth on her toes because she had to pee so badly. I let her go first, and she swore she’d wait for me outside after she 222/890

finished. I was inside the bathroom for two minutes tops, but by the time I came out, she was gone.

"Damnit, Becca," I groaned, pushing my way through bodies, trying to spy her blonde hair. The party was starting to fill with people, much more so than when we first arrived. I had a slight panic attack thinking that she could have been shoved into one of the bedrooms, Taken-style, but then when I got to the living room I spied her talking with Jace in the far corner. Take that, Tara.

I stood there watching them for a second, trying to assess how drunk Becca was. I’d say she was about a five on the I-might-throw-up-on-your-shoes scale. Watch out, Jace. I shoved over to the side against the wall and looked around for the club 223/890

soccer girls from earlier, but of course now that I was desperate, I couldn’t find them. So I did what any self-respecting person would do, I leaned my shoulder against the wall, pretending to check my phone. The music was loud and there were enough people around me that it sort of looked like I belonged. Says the lonely girl to herself.

I thought about wandering back out toward the beer pong tables, but then I felt a warm hand hit the small of my back in a way that made my breathing hitch. I turned to look over my shoulder and found Liam standing behind me wearing a confused scowl.

My heart screeched to a stop and my loins jumped for joy.

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I assumed he wouldn’t be at the party since I hadn’t seen him earlier. But now he was standing right in front of me, in all of his glory, and I could smell his cologne and yes, his hand was still on my back so that he was basically holding me against him.

He bent down so I could hear him over the music. "What are you doing here?" he asked with a hard tone.

Okay. Not the best first line. Something like, you look beautiful, have my babies would have been a little bit better.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I was invited."

He stood back up to his full height and nodded as his eyes roamed the room behind me. What was he looking for?

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Liam was intimidating. He captivated a room simply with his presence, and had he not chosen a career in soccer, I could have seen him in a suit and tie, commanding a corporation. His air of confidence was absolute and nonnegotiable.

He sported an afternoon’s worth of stubble that blended well with his sexy brows and brooding grey eyes. He seemed like the type that kept people at arm's length, maybe out of arrogance or maybe from personal choice– either way, I wanted to know him. I wanted to possess him so that those eyes were narrowed and focused solely on me.

Oh, wait. Coach. Coach. Coach.

He’s my coach, not my lover.

That reminder felt like having a bucket of ice water poured over my head.

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"Are we allowed to talk or is that against the rules?" I asked with a note of attitude.

Not enough that he could call me on it, but enough for the edge of his mouth to curve up.

"It depends on what we talk about, I guess," he answered, finally returning his gaze to me. I felt goose bumps rise down my arms. I knew he wasn’t happy to see me, but I couldn’t figure out why.

"Why'd you give me that gift certificate?"

I asked, surprised at my own boldness.

His dark eyes scanned down to my body before he narrowed them in thought. "I shouldn’t have. I wasn't thinking. It was nothing."

Right.

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I nodded and chewed on my bottom lip.

He'd been so charming on the Tonight Show; he'd smiled and laughed with the host. But with me, he was nothing but serious. I wished I knew what was going on behind those eyes.

"Have you used it?" he asked just as I heard Becca's voice growing closer. I guess she and Jace had spotted us.

I paled. Have I used it yet? Why yes, you paid to give me my first Brazilian, Coach Wilder. The idea that he somehow knew what I'd used the gift certificate for made me want to fake amnesia. “I’m sorry, where am I?”