Page 15 of Racing Heat (The Forbidden Heat #2)

Chapter Fifteen

~CASSIE~

Ishow up at the beach ready for my run. I wonder if Jase will be joining me. But the question I keep asking myself is why do I want him to show up? And what does all of this mean?

I don’t have too much time to think about it, because his sleek black Audi is pulling into the parking lot.

He gets out of the car, water bottle in hand.

He’s wearing sunglasses and a hat, and I wonder if he’s feeling the impacts of how much he drank last night.

I sigh, taking in the look of his white T-shirt and navy running shorts.

Oh my god. He looks heavenly. I sigh and look down at my own outfit. I’m wearing my bright yellow shorts and white tank top. I wonder if the way I look affects him the way he does me.

My thoughts try to shift to safer topics, but I can’t seem to do it.

I notice the way his strong legs move as he heads toward me.

His white T-shirt is so tight across his chest. For what feels like the hundredth time, I wonder what he looks like underneath that shirt.

Are his chest and abs as chiseled as I think they are?

“Hey,” he says when he reaches me.

My own greeting is only a nod.

“I weirded you out yesterday, didn’t I?” he asks me.

“I know we had kind of a weird day—the kiss, lunch, and then me calling you last night. I get it if you just want to be my friend or if I should just stay in the coaching role with you. I know there’s a lot at stake here, but there’s no pressure for you to do or say anything.

We can just go back to the way things were between us.

I can stop coming here to run with you, and I’ll only talk to you when I need to at the arena. Zero weirdness, I promise.”

I smile and pinch the bridge of my nose.

“I’m not sure that’s going to work for me.

I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I do know that I haven’t stopped thinking about that kiss since it happened.

I’ve wondered what it would be like to kiss you again.

And when that waitress hit on you yesterday, I wanted nothing more than to get up and punch her lights out.

I’m not usually a jealous woman.” My words trail off and he’s watching me with a wide smile.

“I noticed you didn’t like her. I wondered if it was because she was just being so obvious or if it was because of me.”

“Both, I think. I don’t know.”

My mind feels like it’s all over the place this morning. Like I’m the one who drank so much last night and now my brain isn’t sharp. I thought about him all morning and having him here in front of me isn’t helping things.

“How are we feeling this morning? Ready to get some miles in?” I grin at him, remembering the way he drunkenly spoke last night.

“Nice change of subject,” he says with a smile.

I shrug. “Sorry, was there more you wanted to say?”

“I thought maybe we could come to some sort of a resolution on things. Like am I allowed to kiss you again? Are we just going to continue to dance around this little attraction that’s brewing between us?

Or should I just wait until I combust and can’t take it anymore?

Because if that happens, there’s no telling where and when I might grab ahold of you and kiss the shit out of you.

It might even happen in the middle of the Blaze field for all I know or care. ”

His admission makes me take a step back.

I’m not sure what to say to the bold statement that he’s made.

Truth be told, I’ve never been good at expressing my feelings like that.

I’ve only ever danced around it but never said it out loud, because the men I’ve dated—the few that there were—have never been this bold.

“Is this the kind of boldness that only comes with age?” My hand wants to fly to my mouth immediately. I can’t believe I uttered those words out loud. I didn’t mean to.

He snickers. “That’s right. I am a bit older than you, aren’t I? Right out of college makes you twenty-two or -three?” he asks me with a laugh.

I wish he would pull his sunglasses down so that I can see his eyes. His eyes are really beautiful. I’ve never thought that about a man before.

“I’m twenty-two,” I confirm.

That does it. His sunglasses come off and I can see his brown eyes are a bit puffy. I’m guessing from the alcohol. He’s definitely feeling the effects of all the shots.

“Jesus Christ, you’re just a baby then, aren’t you?” he says with a shake of his head.

“How old are you?” I ask him. I always imagined he was in his early thirties.

He snickers. “Well, I’m not twenty-two, that’s for sure.” He watches me for a beat. “How old is too old for you?”

“I don’t think I have an age limit or anything. Clearly, you’re tall enough to ride the ride.”

The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them. His eyes light up and he snickers at my comment.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t think you’d be quite so bold. I kind of like it.”

I smile at him. “So really, how old are you?”

He grimaces before answering me. “I was really hoping to have you be so much more into me before I answered this question.”

“Come on, old man,” I tease him.

Jase pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a huge sigh.

“Look, if it’s that bad, you don’t have to tell me, but now you have me thinking you’re like, almost ready for your senior citizen discount.”

“Funny,” he says with absolutely no trace of humor. “I’m not old enough for that, but I am quite a bit older than you. I’m the ripe old age of thirty-eight.”

I let the number sink in. He’s sixteen years older than me.

“You’re a whole kid-who-can-drive older than me,” I remark.

He chuckles. “I am.”

“You had a long career. That’s impressive.

” He’s been out of the game for about three years now, so he must have gotten injured when he was thirty-five.

That’s a long time for a professional athlete to be pro.

As we age, our bodies get the best of us and that makes it hard to continue.

I wonder when it will be time for my body to say it’s had enough.

“Thank you.” He kicks at a stone in front of him, sending it flying off to the side.

I should look him up and see if there’s game footage of Jase.

I’ve seen him punt in practice when he’s working with Hendrix and the other goalies, but I have no idea what he looks like in a game, commanding the field.

I bet he brings that commanding presence into everything he does.

The thought makes my thighs clench. I wonder what it would feel like to be dominated by him.

“Does it bother you that I’m that much older than you?”

“No,” I tell him confidently. “It doesn’t bother me. I feel like an old soul in some ways, so you being so much older than me doesn’t matter to me.”

“What do you mean an old soul?” He takes a swig of his water, eyeing me carefully.

“I’m not like the other girls my age. I haven’t been in many relationships, but that’s just because I’m looking for someone who wants to connect with me on a deeper level.

I want to have those conversations about life and living.

I don’t want just another roll in the hay, and to be honest, that’s what this feels like it might be.

Frankly, it’s tying me up in knots, and I just want to run. ”

I feel like a toddler who just threw a tantrum, which is hardly what someone who considers themselves an old soul would do.

“Are you not up to running today?” I ask him.

He laughs. “Do you not want to continue this conversation?”

“What’s the goal of continuing the conversation? This is different than Mac and Danny. We both work for the team, and they’ll never agree to let us date. There’s no solution where this would ever be okay with anyone.”

“But I don’t coach you.”

“But you are a coach.”

We stare at each other for a beat. “Fine, let’s go on that run.”

“Are you sure you can keep up today? You kind of look like shit. Like you were ridden hard and put away wet.”

He stops and turns to me, laughing out loud. “What’s the matter, Cassie, would you like to be the one who rode me last night?”

I stumble a bit. My feet aren’t working correctly thinking about what it would be like to have been the one to ride him last night.

Even though I know that no one else rode him last night.

He was too drunk for that and, presumably, he fell asleep right after we got off the phone. Well, passed out is more like it.

“Relax, you don’t have to answer that.” We run in silence for a bit more before he adds, “Why do we have to place some kind of a definition on this? I can tell that you like me, and I like you. Why can’t that just be all it is?

Why do there have to be definitions and labels placed on everything?

What if we just did whatever it is we do and see how far we get? ”

“You mean see how far it goes until one of us gets into trouble? Because that’s what it sounds like you’re saying.” It’s my turn to laugh at him. “It sounds like a far dumber plan than what Mac and Danny would have come up with if they were in this position.”

“What position are we in?” he asks me. “Come on, Cas. I want to hear you say it.”

I stop in my tracks. I can’t keep running if I’m going to say this to him. I need to be standing still and on sure footing when I lay it all out there for him.

I sigh. Here goes nothing. “I think we’re attracted to each other. I’ve played it safe my whole life, and now I want to do something bad. I want to do something unexpected.”

“You mean you want to do me?” A wide grin spreads across his face. It’s the first smile I’ve seen from him all morning.

“Yeah, I want to do you,” I reply.

“Alright then. Let’s get back to our run now that we’re past the part where we’re making declarations and shit.”

I nod and we fall into an easy pace of running. I don’t know what comes next, but I decide that we’ve come to some sort of an understanding. We’ll figure the rest out, right?