Page 10 of Racing Heat (The Forbidden Heat #2)

~CASSIE~

“I’m going to need a ride home. Do you mind?” Jase is glancing down at his phone when he asks me the question.

At first, I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or if he has someone on speakerphone. “Huh?” I ask.

“Can you give me a ride home?” He says the sentence slower, like I’m recovering from a head injury.

“Sure. You don’t want to wait for triple A or something?”

“I don’t have that,” he admits with a shrug.

“What are you going to do about your car?”

“I just texted my mechanic. He’s going to come get it. He’ll tow it and let me know what the damage is.” He gets out of the car and stands very near me. I want to back up—the smart thing to do would be to back up. Instead, I inhale the musky, sweaty scent that is Jase.

I don’t want to move from this spot. This little fixation I have with him is getting out of hand. And now I have to give him a ride to his house.

“Yeah. Okay, sure. I can do that.”

“Well, if you don’t want to, I can always wait for him, and he can take me home. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” His smile disappears from his face, and he begins to study the ground.

I’m a bitch. I shouldn’t have said it like that. Now he thinks that I don’t want to help him.

“No, I can take you. If you don’t mind riding in the Jeep, that is,” I say lamely.

“I knew what you drove when I asked you.” He laughs. “Do you need some oranges? Now you seem like the one who’s dehydrated or something.”

I shake my head. “Just need some coffee, maybe. Should we stop for some on the way home?”

“Yeah, coffee would be nice,” he says with a shrug.

“You don’t just drink tea?” I tease him.

He laughs, and it sounds like a real, hearty laugh.

His head dips back and his eyes close. I’ve never heard him laugh so fully before, even with the guys.

There’s always a light chuckle, and you can tell he’s enjoying himself by his wide smile.

But I’ve never heard the sound of his laugh quite like this.

It sounds a bit like he’s cackling. I smile, deciding I like the sound of it.

I study the hard lines of his body. He’s built. He has broad shoulders, strong arms, and a chiseled chest. I try to imagine what it might be like if he pulled me against him. I’m thankful that he’s wearing a tight compression shirt so that I can enjoy the view. I smile in appreciation.

“What?” he says.

“Sorry, just…I don’t know. Need some caffeine.” By the stammering of my voice, there’s no way he’ll buy that.

“I didn’t think you drank a lot of caffeine.”

He really has been paying attention. I get the occasional coffee, but mostly it’s water and electrolytes during season.

“I don’t,” I say with a shrug. “But I haven’t been sleeping the best lately.”

“Someone keeping you up?”

“Why is that always the first thing guys think when a girl says she can’t sleep?” I ask him.

It’s his turn to shrug at me. We stop walking and pause in front of the Jeep.

“I just thought that maybe you had a boyfriend or something.

My eyes narrow. “Nope, no boyfriend. Don’t you think with as much as our friend groups cross you would have seen or heard about him?”

“Yeah, I guess I would have,” he replies. “But I don’t know what it is you do when I’m not around.”

“Yeah, let’s go get some coffee or something.” I move to get into the Jeep.

“Are you sure you don’t mind giving me a lift home?”

“I wouldn’t have agreed to do it if I didn’t want to. Why? Do you live far away?”

“Nah, sort of by Danny.”

I’ve been to Danny’s a time or two. Once he and Mac went public, he had us over to swim and has hosted some cookouts for us.

It’s been nice. Sometimes Jase is there, and sometimes he’s not.

But it’s nice when everyone is there, because sometimes I think Danny feels awkward when it’s just him and the girls.

“Well, you’re going to have to give me directions.”

“I will. Where were you thinking of stopping for that coffee?”

“The Sandbar,” I tell him.

“That’s by the team dorms. Are you sure you aren’t worried about being seen with me?

” His tone has dropped to a sultry low, and I wonder if there’s something more behind it.

I don’t get to ask, though, because he laughs at me.

“I just remember Danny and Mac telling us about how paranoid she was when they were sneaking around. Do you want to be seen with me?”

I shift in my seat. “There’s nothing happening here, so why would I be nervous?” I say the words slowly, like I’m looking for clarification.

“Sure” is all he says.

“We’ll be fine, I’m sure.” I maneuver the Jeep out of my space and head toward my favorite little coffee spot. “I bet you didn’t know they have a pretty tasty protein coffee.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him shake his head. “I did not know that.”

“Well, they do. So, I can get my coffee and get some protein at the same time.”

The rest of the drive there is silent. I’m not sure why it feels so awkward driving with him in the car.

We don’t have this problem before or after our runs.

When I see him at practices or games, we fall into conversation easily.

I think back to when he talked me through my nerves before our last game.

“What?” he asks me.

“I didn’t say anything.” I steal a glance in his direction to find him staring at me.

“You were smiling pretty big over there. I was just wondering what you were thinking.”

“Oh. Nothing too important.”

“Sure, looked like it, with that smile,” he teases me. “Come on, what could you be thinking about that you can’t tell me.”

I sigh and pull into The Sandbar and put the car into park. “It’s embarrassing,” I admit with a shrug. How can I tell him that I was thinking about the nice way he’d comforted me? He’ll think that I think more is happening here than there actually is, right?

“Well, I don’t know why you told me that, because now I definitely need to know what it is you’re thinking about. Were you having dirty thoughts?” His voice drops an octave and has a gravelly sound to it.

It’s sexy.

I turn so that he has a full view of my face. “It was not a dirty thought.”

“Oh, do you not have those?”

I reach over and smack his shoulder. “Even if I did, why would I tell you about them?”

“I have them. You don’t need to be embarrassed about it. Unless, of course, it was about me?”

I flush. I can’t stop it from happening, so I cover my face.

“It was!” he yells.

“Stop yelling so loud. Topless Jeep here, remember?”

Jase leans on the console, coming into my personal space. I can smell his sweat and the musky scent of his cologne. I inhale and smile at him. He smiles back.

Tapping my nose, he says, “Just tell me what you were thinking about, Cassie. I really want to know.”

The low timber in his voice and the fact that he’s invading my space heats my body. I shiver in the Tampa heat, watching him, wishing I was one of those girls who could be bold and close the space between us and kiss him. But I can’t.

It’s not me.

Instead, I admit the boring topic that was running through my mind. “I was thinking about the pep talk you gave me before our last game. How nice you were to me when I was freaking out.” I shrug. “We should get our coffees or whatever.”

I move to spin back in my seat so that I can get out. He stops me, placing his hand on my knee.

“I knew you were nervous before away games, but I didn’t realize it was that bad. You seemed so unsure of yourself in that moment. I’d never seen you like that.”

Kind of like now. “There was just so much pressure, and I told you that I hate away games.”

“Get used to it, kid.” Jase gets out of the Jeep and effectively breaks the moment.

I sigh loudly and watch him make his way to the back of my Jeep. He’s standing there waiting for me, his back to me. I can look in the rearview mirror and get a peek at the way his muscles flex in that tight shirt.

Fuck! Why couldn’t I have lied and made that moment so much more interesting? I get out and join him. “Let’s go get some coffee. Looks like it’s not too busy in there.”

We make our way into The Sandbar. It’s a cute little beach-themed shop, with comfortable couches that are a deep blue.

Pillows that look like seashells adorn it.

There’s netting on the walls, with pictures of the staff and owners woven into them.

I like it here. Sometimes, I come in here to sit and read a book.

It’s calming and I enjoy the strong smell of coffee that wafts in the air, even though I don’t drink much of it.

“I like that they have protein coffee here,” I say lamely. “I wish more places did.”

“What do they use as the protein?” Jase asks me as he studies the menu.

“It’s a premade protein shake that replaces the creamer. Or they have some kind of milk that has protein in it.”

“Milk is a source of protein,” he says with a laugh.

“Well, yeah, but this one is like Muscle Milk or something, so it’s more than the normal amount.” I shake my head with a giggle. God, why do I always feel like such an ass around him?

Neither one of us says another word until after we’ve ordered our coffees. He gets a mocha cold brew, and I get my caramel protein coffee. The silence stretches on while we wait for them to be made.

He’s humming along to the song playing in the background. I try to make out what it is, but I can’t. All I can hear are the sounds of coffees being made and the staff talking.

“Cassie and Jase, coffee is ready,” the barista calls, placing our cups onto the counter.

Jase is quicker than me. He makes it to the counter and picks them up. Turning toward me, he winks and hands it over. Our fingers brush and a shot of electricity rips through me. He felt it too. Jase’s brown eyes look like molten chocolate.

“Guess we better get going.”

“Yeah.” I reply. It takes me a minute to make my legs start moving.

Jase turns and makes sure that I’m following him.

“What?” I grin at him, picking up my pace a bit so I’m right alongside him again.

“You okay back there?” His tone is teasing, making my chest feel warm and my steps even lighter.

When we reach the Jeep, he stays at the back looking at his phone—it’s probably about his car. I hesitate to climb inside, just as I feel the heat of him standing behind me. He’s in my space. If I take even the smallest step back, I’ll be up against him. I want him to do it.

“Cassie.” He says my name as if it’s a prayer. I turn around slowly and look up into his eyes.

“Yes” is the only word that comes out of my mouth.

He doesn’t speak. He takes away the extra space between the two of us.

He grabs my coffee and leans into the Jeep, placing it with his in the cupholders.

Before I ask what’s happening, I’m hauled into his arms. He pins my back against the Jeep, his lips finding mine in a frenzy.

I’m not so much a participant yet; my brain is still catching up.

Jase is in total control, his lips working mine.

Slowly, he runs his tongue against my bottom lip, begging for entrance.

I give in and open to him. As his tongue dances with mine, it hits me.

Jase is kissing me!

Jase is kissing me and he’s one hell of a good kisser.

I bring my arms up around his neck and pull him closer, suddenly very aware that he’s wearing thin running shorts.

He comes alive against me, just from this kiss.

I moan into his mouth, wanting to wrap my leg around him and pull him closer. Feel him at my core.

But before I can, he pulls away.

“Wow,” I say breathlessly.

He doesn’t speak. Instead, he just watches me, brown eyes burning into mine.

“Yeah, wow.” He smirks. “That was what should have happened in that Jeep before we went inside, but I was too chickenshit to do it.”

I smile. “I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.” He heads back around to the passenger side and hops into the Jeep.

I breathe in and out a few more times before lowering myself into my seat. The only conversation on the ride to Jase’s house is him navigating for me. I wasn’t given an address; he just directs me turn by turn.

My eyes go wide when we pull up to his house.

It’s huge. “Why do you have such a big house? How many bedrooms is this?” It’s a two story, that much I can tell.

It’s a beautiful white house with black shutters.

The outside is meticulously landscaped, with pretty pink flowers lining the walk.

“Seriously. Why do you live in a place like this?”

“August,” he says, as if that should explain it all.

It almost does, because August doesn’t do anything halfway.

And he lives in luxury; everything is always the best with him.

“I was living in a hotel when he found this place for me. Trust me, I know it’s way more than I need, but I kind of like it.

I like having the space as opposed to the loft I left behind in Manchester. ”

I nod. “Yeah, I’ll say it’s way more than you need.”

I watch him closely, wondering if he’s going to say anything about that kiss. It’s been the only thing on my mind since we started driving. Thankfully, I was able to navigate to his house without incident.

“I guess I’ll see you later at practice.” He goes to get out and then looks back at me. “Thanks for the ride.”

“How will you get to practice?” I ask him.

His brown eyes fall to the dash. “August is going to come pick me up. Take me to the car and all. I would have asked you, but I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.” And then he smiles, and I relax a bit.

“I mean, I could have…” My voice trails off awkwardly.

He chuckles. “Nah, he’s got it. Wouldn’t want to put you out. This was fun. Thanks.” And with that, he exits the Jeep.

I watch him walk toward the house. Once he reaches the door, he turns, waves at me, and disappears inside.

“Wow!” I say, doing a little dance in my driver’s seat.

I’ve wanted him to do that for so long. But…what happens now?