Page 55 of Damaged Desires

Dani slid off the bench, grabbing her water bottle and her towel.

“That wasn’t funny,” she said, looking at Tanner.

“He gave my team a thirty-minute lecture on distractions. I was just returning the favor.”

“How’d that work out for you?” Dani said, and Tanner’s eyes squinted in anger.

I didn’t say anything because he was right. I’d let my guard down. I’d been so focused on Dani I hadn’t heard him come in. I hadn’t used my situational awareness at all. Instead, I’d been single-mindedly lasered in on her. At sniper school, they taught us that when you shoot out large distances, way past a thousand yards, your bullet will be impacted by the Coriolis effect. It’s where the actual rotation of the Earth impacts the bullet’s trajectory. That was how I felt around Dani, like I was the bullet, and she was the rotation of the Earth pulling me from my intended target.

And I couldn’t let it happen. Not if I meant to keep her safe.

Dani

I TURN TO YOU

”For a shield from the storm,

For a friend for a love to keep me safe and warm,

I turn to you.”

Performed by Christina Aguilera

Written by Diane Warren

The entire crew was packed, checkedout, and on the way to Tallahassee by ten. Lee, Brady, and I were in a middle SUV with the driver and Nash. I’d purposefully avoided any need to talk to Nash since he’d left me at my hotel door after our workout.

He didn’t seem to want to speak to me either.

I was angry at myself. I’d initiated the kiss in the fitness room. Just like I’d been the one to initiate things at Tristan’s. That needy-ass ugly duckling inside me was pissing me off. I wasn’t going back to being that girl who’d longed for her sister’s boyfriend to notice her. No way.

But I couldn’t pretend it hadn’t felt good. Kissing Nash was like learning a whole other world existed. One where I could escape into the sensations of touch. One where I could lose control and just feel without any negative repercussions.

“What do you think, Dani?” Brady’s voice drew me from my thoughts. I had no clue what he’d said.

“Sorry, brain zapped out on me for a minute there. What do I think about what?” I asked. Nash’s head swiveled slightly in our direction, his profile visible to me. Strong features. Features that were normally carved out of marble and left for the world to see.

I forced my eyes from their assessment of him back to Brady. If Brady had seemed like a playful golden retriever before, the image was amplified even more by being in the same space as Nash. Not that Brady wasn’t strong and gorgeous in his own way, but it felt beautiful, whereas Nash was majestic. A scarlet macaw compared to a bald eagle.

Brady was trying to hide a smile as his eyes darted from me to Nash and back. I rolled my eyes at him, but it only made his smile widen.

“I was saying I wanted to stop for tacos. There’s this outrageous place a few blocks from the hotel. We could even walk.”

“No,” Nash’s response came from the front.

“No to tacos, or no to walking?” Brady asked.

“No to walking. If you want tacos, it would be better if we left you both at the hotel and brought back takeout.”

“You have to eat them on site. If they get cold, they’re only half as good.” Brady was shaking his head.

“It’s not like it’s a planned stop, Otter,” I said. “I definitely could use some good Mexican food after that workout this morning.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted it, because it only served to remind both of us of what had happened before Tanner had interrupted us. My lips began to tingle all over again.

“You worked out together today?” Brady’s eyebrows went up. Lee looked up from his laptop, eyes taking in everyone, and even he ended up with a small smile that made me want to dissuade them of anything they were thinking.

“The Otter told me I couldn’t go anywhere without a member of the detail.” I shrugged and looked back to my phone and the social media account where I’d been posting shots of the Jacksonville concert, ignoring the pounding of my heart.