Page 11

Chapter Ten

H endy

I remained at Lottie’s house for another thirty minutes before I reluctantly left last night. The rise and fall of her chest with each soft breath had me mesmerized as I sat at the edge of her bed and watched her sleep. I traced the reddish-gold locks of her hair that fanned out over her pillow, brushing away loose strands off her forehead.

Never before had I ever cared enough about a woman to be content just watching her sleep. In the past, if I were in bed with a woman, I’d have fucked her hard and then hightailed it out of there.

But my feelings for Lottie are different and go way beyond that need. Don’t get me wrong. I was dying to get naked, climb into her bed, and touch every inch of her until we were breathless and sated. But I resisted, respecting the boundaries she’d set, and left when the urge to lay down beside her became too strong.

It still took every ounce of my willpower to walk out that door.

But I did.

The idea that we can try to tamp down our feelings and sexual attraction to be friends is ridiculous. I know it. She knows it. But I understand her reasons for setting those limits for the sake of her career.

I get it. I respect her for it. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Now that I have this position on the team, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to table the graduate degree for a while and pursue a relationship with Lottie. We could date like any other two consenting adults and school colleagues. No conflict of interest at all.

I like who I am when I’m with her. Like I’m the man I’m meant to become.

Fuck, I need to stop all this waxing poetic and get a grip.

There’s laughter coming from inside the kitchen as I enter the front of our house and some pop music is playing on Spotify in the living room, but nobody is in here. The entire vibe in the house is vastly different than it was last year. That’s when this was considered the football house and there would always be a bunch of guys hanging out playing video games, eating pizza, and drinking beer.

Now things are…girly as fuck. It’s not a bad thing, just different.

Turning the corner into the kitchen, I see Kelsie and Grace standing side-by-side at the counter, making something that smells delicious, and Lucy at the sink.

“Hey, what’s cooking, ladies?”

Lucy whips around with a spatula in her hand. “We’re making a birthday cake for your sister’s birthday party tomorrow.”

My eyes grow wide in alarm, and I look down at the date of September twenty-eight on my watch. Oh shit. I completely spaced on that. Journey is turning nineteen tomorrow.

I groan. “Aww, fuck. I forgot and didn’t get her anything.”

Kelsie hoots out in an exasperated huff. “Just get her a box of condoms. She’ll need them.”

“What the fuck, Kels?” I choke out the question with a cough. “Why would you say that about my little sister?”

I look at Grace, whose brows reach the ceiling, and Kelsie swings around with a bowl full of chocolate cake batter. She tilts her head to the side and gives me a look like I’m the biggest idiot alive.

“Dude, she’s not nine. And considering she is going out on a date this weekend with the captain of the hockey team, she is going to need some protection.”

I suddenly feel dizzy and see red. “The fuck she is! Why the hell is she going out with Ben Hoffsteader?”

Kelsie pours the batter into a prepared cake pan as Grace assists by swiping a second spatula around the bowl to get it cleaned out and then swipes her finger over the rim of the bowl.

Gracie licks her finger while Kelsie replies, stealing the chocolate covered spatula back from Grace. “Because I introduced them earlier this week,” Kelsie says with a casual shrug. “Ben’s a nice guy, and he’d mentioned being interested in Journey.”

I dip my finger into the bowl of remaining batter and slide it over my tongue, allowing myself a second to calm my raging thoughts before I go caveman big brother on Kelsie’s ass.

“Wasn’t he the guy you dated before Hayes? Why would you give my little sister sloppy seconds?”

Kelsie throws a punch at my shoulder, but I use my quick reflexes to dodge away and she misses. However, she does manage to get a splatter of chocolate over my shirt from the spatula in her hand, which I wipe away on a dish towel.

Kelsie sets the empty bowl in the sink, Gracie wisely staying out of this discussion as she begins washing and drying the dirty dishes. Kels leans her back against the counter, fingers wrapped along the counter’s edge.

“Bro, you’re one to talk about sloppy seconds,” she argues and I almost grimace. She has a point.

I cringe, thinking back to what a total dick I was a few years ago, after Lucy and Emmett broke up while on our ski vacation. Like a douche canoe of a friend, I immediately jumped in and tried to win her over. Those were the days I was all about myself.

Thankfully, that never came to fruition, and they got together like destiny planned. I’m also glad both EJ and Lucy forgave me for being such a tool and we’re all still close friends. It could have easily gone the other direction.

“Anyway,” Kelsie continues, “Ben and I never really dated because I was in love with a hot football kicker.”

As if right on cue, Hayes walks into the kitchen carrying a backpack slung over his shoulder and heads straight to Kelsie, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her senseless.

It has Kels moaning with pleasure. The rest of us just groan at their pathetic PDA.

When he finally releases her, Mac says, “Hey baby. Mmm…you taste bonne .” He swipes his tongue over her lips again and she sighs, eyelashes fluttering.

“Jesus Christ, get a room, you two.”

Gracie giggles and finally chimes in. “I think it’s hot when a man shows his woman just how much he missed her. Killian’s really good with that part, too.”

A swash of pink colors her cheekbones and I roll my eyes at my friends, who are all lovesick humans.

But a part of me is jealous that they all can so openly show their affections with each other. I want to be able to do that with Lottie.

“So, why was I the topic of conversation?” Hayes moves to the table, where he pulls out a chair and plunks down, setting his bag on the floor next to his feet.

“We weren’t, exactly,” I comment, opening the fridge to extract two beer bottles. I hand one to Hayes and sit down at the table next to him. “My sister is going out with a hockey player, and I don’t approve.”

Mac chuckles. “Better he goes out with your sister than the girl I love.”

His eyes search out Kelsie who blows him a kiss. “It was never going to be the hockey player for me, baby. It was only ever you.”

I drop my forehead to the table with a thunk. “Do you guys have to be so fucking sappy? It’s disgusting.”

Kelsie steps up next to my chair and ruffles my hair with her now dry hands. “Aww…what got you into such a pissy mood tonight? Are you not getting any hot loving these days, QB?”

No. Not anymore.

I snort. “As if.”

My head swings toward the back door as it flies open and Journey enters the conversation. She brings with her the bluest cornflower-blue eyes and the brightest white-toothed smile of anyone I know.

“Please don’t tell me you’re talking about my brother’s sex life. I feel like we should all get tested regularly for STIs just for living under the same roof as him.”

I stare, affronted at my baby sister’s audacity. She appears to me now as a college-aged woman, not the little girl in braces from a few years ago. When did she grow up?

“I will let that one pass, only because I’m a nice guy. And I want to know about this date with you and Ben.”

Journey opens the fridge to pull out a juice box, and I’m hit with an image of her at age six. When she turns back around, I get a closer look at the clothes she’s wearing. Or not wearing, it seems. She has on a cropped T-shirt that exposes her midriff and a pair of workout shorts.

I’m about to say something to the effect of what the fuck are you wearing when Grace pipes in with a loud exclamation. “That’s weird…come to think of it, I haven’t seen one girl in this house with Hendy this fall. Did you turn into a monk, bro?”

No. Just fucking my professor on the DL.

I flip her off and she laughs that light, airy laugh of hers.

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Very unlike you,” Kelsie says, taking a seat next to me and fixing me with her intense green-eyed stare. “You hiding something we don’t know about?”

Shit, man. Is Kels a mind reader?

I blanch and disconnect my gaze from hers, focusing my attention on my beer bottle.

“No. Of course not. Don’t be dumb.” Even to my own ears, my voice sounds overly exaggerated and fake.

With the reflexes of a lioness in waiting, Kelsie’s hand darts out and she lifts my chin so our eyes meet.

“Are you fucking that new British professor on campus?”

Instead of denying it, the words just tumble out of my mouth, and I give it all up to my witchy friend. I’d never make a good spy.

“How did you know?”

Kelsie slams her palm on the table. “Boom! I fucking knew it!”

She leaps out of her chair and points her index finger at me and everyone else stares at me in complete silence, as if I’ve completely lost my mind.

“I noticed you two walking across campus on my way to the grocery store earlier. Those heart-eyes you were giving her were a dead giveaway! Now, spill the tea, dude. Give us all the details of how she stole your heart.”

For a moment, I sit there completely frazzled, incredulous that she could read me so well. But then I cave and start telling them about how Lottie and I originally met, providing them with the timeline and what went down earlier this semester.

When I finish sharing all the deets and where things left off with Lottie tonight, everyone is speechless.

Kelsie is the first one to speak, her eyes wide with a strange fascination. “OMG. Our boy is in love.”

“Yeah, but it’s a doomed love story,” Journey pipes in sadly. “Lottie shut it down.”

After a few minutes, Grace stands up and moves behind my chair, placing her hands on top of my shoulders. She clears her throat, and says in an even-keeled voice, “Not to fear, QB. I know exactly what you need to do to win her over.”