Page 21 of Who’s Playing You (In The Nick of Time #1)
NICK SOBA
I was done with this nonsense. She wasn’t going to have some rando be naked in the same room with her. “Scottie, listen, unless you’ve got an issue with seeing me naked, I’m your man. Period.”
And that should be the end of that.
I was tired of this shit.
Even though I’d removed all her requests and posts that I could looking for a model, I wasn’t sure if I’d missed any. And it had been bothering me since the day she set out on her quest, because I wasn’t sure how I’d create a scenario where I could volunteer and convince her that I was her man.
As I had been leaving The Rage locker room and checked the cameras in her apartment, I saw that she looked like she was struggling with something. She’d looked sad.
I hated that.
I’d immediately texted her, even though I was about to get in my car. I had sat in my car and watched her fumble with how to answer my last text message to her, so I just called her up. It also worked out since I was about to get on the road and make the trek home.
After some chit-chatting, I was able to get her to admit what was troubling her. And the opportunity that I had been waiting for presented itself. But she kept hesitating and coming up with excuses.
To me, this was as simple as simple could be: there was no fucking way anyone but me was going to get naked with her.
Period.
So I kept pushing it, pushing her to answer what the issue was. Because there was no issue.
Then I let my pet name for her slip.
God it felt so fucking good to call her that after so many years of only saying it in my head. Because she was my honey.
She was sweet and beautiful and our love would never spoil, just like honey.
I heard her sharp intake of breath when I called her honey .
But it was irrelevant, because she needed to get used to it.
I was desperate to expedite our timeline, firstly because I was really impatient.
I wanted her in our house, in our bed, and for us to spend every waking minute together that we could when we weren’t at work.
Having spent the weekend with her only solidified everything I’d been feeling for the past seven-plus years.
Second was the issue that I was up against the clock to make it happen because my season was about to start. If we weren’t officially together with her living with me by the time my season started, I’d not only see her much less, but it’d be harder for me to keep tabs on her.
I couldn’t have that.
I’d waited so long, we had waited so long.
We needed to be together.
“Umm,” she stalled again.
“Okay, glad we sorted that out. So when and where do you want me?” I was simply going to move this conversation forward as if it were a done deal.
Some might call it bulldozing, I just thought of it as making what was bound to happen, happen.
And by so doing, maybe she’d just get on board with it already.
“Are you one-hundred-percent, totally sure? I really don’t want you to feel obligated or pressured,” she pleaded with me.
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” I told her with certainty. “I can’t wait,” I tacked on to which the tension released because she laughed.
“Alright, if you insist. But I guess we can figure out a day that works tomorrow when we go on our next adventure.”
“That’s perfect, honey,” I told her as I groaned when I tried to stretch my tight shoulders from my seated position behind the wheel.
“What’s the matter? You sound like you’re in pain,” see, she was so connected to me on a deeper level that she just knew .
“Oh nothing out of the ordinary,” I told her. “Just sore from practice today.”
“Is that a normal occurrence?”
“Ehh,” I shrugged as I said it. “On occasion. But it’s a new team and they’re learning my ways of doing things. It’s a little bit of a learning curve,” I explained.
“I’ll take your word for it. I feel bad though that you’re obviously in pain, is there anything I can do? Do you want to reschedule tomorrow?”
“Absolutely not,” I told her instantly. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away from you, I mean, our next art adventure,” I quickly corrected myself.
“If you’re sure… We can also move the time back, if that’s better for you, or we could…”
“Scottie?” I cut off her nervous rambling.
“Yeah Nicholas?”
“I’m fine. It’s all great. And I can’t wait to see you at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow when I pick you up.”
“Oh, you don’t have to pick me up,” she rushed out. “I can just meet you…”
“Nu-uh, honey. I’ll be at your place at eight to pick you and the supplies up. No need for us to take two cars, plus it gives us more time to talk and get to know one another.”
“If it’s not out of your way…” she hedged.
“It’s most definitely not out of my way,” I said with certainty.
“Okay, that would be great then. I’ll grab us some coffees and breakfast sandwiches then, if you want. The coffee shop next to my place is the best. Do you have any food sensitivities?”
“That sounds perfect, Scottie. I’ll eat anything you get for us.”
Technically I was on a very specific diet that the team’s dietician and my personal dietician had put together, which was extremely precise and strict, but I wasn’t going to have that impact Scottie and whatever she wanted to get for me. Besides, I was curious to see what she’d get for us to share.
“Ok great!” I could hear her beaming. “How do you take your coffee, or tea. I’m sorry, it was presumptuous to assume you drink coffee.”
“What will you have?”
“Oh, I’ll probably have…” I could hear her chewing on her bottom lip, because I knew that’s what she did when she was thinking. “Maybe an iced caramel latte.”
“Perfect.”
“Really? That’s not too… basic?”
“If you like it, I know I’ll like it,” I stated simply.
My blinker overtook the silence between us as I exited the highway onto the ramp taking me to New Hope.
“Do you have far to drive still?”
“Nah, pulling off the New Hope exit now in fact. I’ll be home in five minutes.”
“That’s good. You can finally get some rest for those weary bones,” she teased me. “I’ll let you go then.”
“I wish you wouldn’t,” I mumbled to myself.
“What’s that?”
“I wish it were morning,” I stated to cover what she probably didn’t hear. “I’m excited for our next session. And I’ve got you all day, right?”
“All day,” she confirmed.
“Perfect. Alright, honey, I’ll see you in a few hours then. Have a good night.”
“Night, Nicholas.”
The pang hit me as soon as the call disconnected and low music filled the cab of my car. I hated not talking to her, not being with her. This feeling would only intensify if I didn’t manage to have her fall head over heels in love with me and move in before the first game of the season started.
It felt like a ticking time bomb.