Page 14

Chapter 13

Brooks

Again, I find myself outside of Lia’s apartment. She puts her key in the door, unlocking and opening it a crack before turning back to me.

She bites her lip and moves her jaw back and forth until she takes a breath, like she’s going to say something, but nothing comes. Her mouth hangs open.

“Were you going to say something?” I laugh.

She rocks back on her heels and replies, “I’m thinking about it.”

“How long should I wait?” I put a hand on the door frame, leaning my weight to one side.

“I shouldn’t say it,” Lia insists, almost like she’s talking to herself and I’m not standing right here. A dog barks, a glass breaks, and some of her neighbors yell loud enough that it’s easy to hear, even when it’s the floor above us.

I take in a long breath and murmur, “Then don’t.”

“But I want to.” Her eyes dart from mine to my lips and back again. I’m holding my breath, hoping she’s going to say one of the hundred things that would make this night continue.

So far, I’ve let her set boundaries that I’ve followed. I don’t ever want her to feel uncomfortable and I know the job means a lot to her. If it was my choice, we’d be planning our nights together every night when we were free.

Lia opens the door further, standing in the doorway so still she’s like a statue. “Do you want to come in?”

I say nothing but my smile gives me away as I step into her apartment. The alarm bells are going off in my brain, screaming about the scenario I’d hoped would happen but wasn’t sure it actually would.

I want to know more about her. I want to see where she lives. Learn more of her secrets.

I take my shoes off, copying Lia, and catalog the details of her apartment. It’s a studio, but it’s not cramped or anything I would have expected. The outside of this place is kind of rough, needing a fresh coat of paint and replacement light bulbs while address numbers are falling off doors, but her apartment is nothing like that.

Light pink covers the walls and when she says, “Let’s get cozy,” twinkly lights turn on and her main lights dim. It’s fucking adorable.

“This is nice,” I compliment, looking around the small kitchen as Lia takes her leftovers and vat of salsa out of the bag and puts them in the fridge.

“Thanks. I’ve done a lot to make it feel like home. I’ve been here for a few years.”

“Long enough to make it cozy?” I tease a little bit on the last word, thinking about the voice command she used a minute ago.

“Almost. Do you want tea?”

“If you’re having some.”

She moves around the kitchen. I lean against the counter, thinking about her routines. Is this something she does every night? I see pictures on the fridge and take a closer look.

They’re mostly of her and a younger man. Out to dinner. At a coffee shop. In Santa hats on Christmas morning. I’m guessing it’s her brother, but who knows.

“Who is this?” I ask, pointing to one of the photos.

“Wes. My younger brother.”

“How young? ”

“Seventeen. Senior in high school. Obsessed with basketball. He’s played on the varsity team since he was a freshman. He’s trying to get scouts to come to a few games.” Lia talks about him in a way that shows how much she cares about him.

“Is he any good?”

“Yeah, he is. Unbiased opinion. I’d never set him up for failure, like those horrible parents who tell their kids they’re the next LeBron James when they’re 5’6” and think they’re too good to practice free throws or learn how to handle the ball with both hands.”

“I mean, I know some scouts. I did once go to college,” I laugh as she dips tea bags in and out of the steaming water.

She gives me a side-eye look and insists, “I’d never ask you to do that.” Lia shakes her head as she looks at the clock on the oven, seeing how much time has passed.

“You’re not asking. I’m offering. If he’s good, maybe he’ll go to my alma mater and help them win a championship or something.”

“He’s been dying to come to a game. To meet you. He keeps asking me to take pictures while I’m at work because I don’t think he believes it’s real.” She takes the tea bags out, straining the water in the sink and tossing the bags in the trash.

She carries both mugs into what the living room would be. A love seat and a chair are placed next to each other in front of a light wooden coffee table.

I take one end of the love seat as Lia hands me the steaming mug. When Lia sets her own mug down on a small side table on the other side of the love seat, I know she’s going to sit next to me.

My heartbeat races in my chest, all over tea on a fucking love seat. I’ve completely lost it. I don’t have a grip on anything. I set the mug down mostly because I don’t trust myself to nervously shake and spill it .

“To be fair, sometimes I don’t think it’s real either,” she offers, holding the mug with both hands, the steam drifting in front of her face.

“I get that. Sometimes I still feel like that. No matter how many years I’ve been in the league. I’m kind of hoping it doesn’t go away. It helps keep things in perspective.”

Lia keeps situating herself, trying to get comfortable with her legs underneath her but she doesn’t stop fidgeting. She sets her mug down and tries to adjust the back cushion. I lean back and do the “give me” gesture with my hands.

When Lia realizes what I’m trying to get her to do, and she actually does it, I feel like I’ve won something. She takes her long legs and stretches them out over the top of my lap.

Instead of picking my tea up, I rub one hand on the side of her calf and to her knee. I’d be lying to say I hadn’t thought about my hands, and mouth, on her legs. I wonder how long it’d take for me to kiss all the way up them. I laugh and can feel her looking at me.

“What are we doing?” she asks.

I don’t say anything at first, but turn and look at her, tilting my head and resting it on the top of the love seat. “I don’t know.”

“We really should be friends.” Lia leans forward, her hands close to mine. “Just friends.” Her voice comes out breathy and unconvincing.

“If that’s what you want,” I reply as she takes a hand and runs it along my arm until it lands on my shoulder. I do my best not to react because her hands on me make me want to do the same to her.

“What does that mean?” she fake-whines, putting her arms around her knees, which are still on top of my legs.

I put two fingers under her chin, tilting it until she’s looking at me with the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen in real life. “It means I don’t want to be just your friend,” I murmur. She doesn’t say anything, but it feels like she’s leaning into the touch—or maybe I’m imagining it. “But I’ll take what I can get.”

She lets out a shaky breath and her fingers push through my hair, scratching until they land on the nape of my neck. Her eyes are dark as they roam over me, jumping from one feature to the next.

Lia swings her legs off mine and my heart drops to the bottom of the deepest part of myself. Fuck. I thought she was going to kiss me. Say something I wanted to hear. I look down at my knees, my hands resting on them, and I’m about to stand.

But then Lia puts one knee on the side of my leg and picks the other one up and over until she’s straddling me. Both of her hands push my hair back, until they’re hooked around my neck. She throws her blonde hair to the side, pressing into me.

“It has to be a secret. If we do this. I tried looking through my paperwork but I couldn’t find—”

“They can’t fire you for dating me. It may be frowned upon, but it’s not in the contract you signed,” I insist. The look she gives me, hesitant and curious, has me wondering if that’s something I should’ve kept to myself. “Also, if it doesn’t interfere with your work, Megan would never.”

“How do you know that?”

Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Well, I can’t turn back now.

“I asked my lawyer. I mean, he doesn’t know it’s about you,” I assure Lia. “I used hypotheticals, but he also signed an NDA, so you have nothing to worry about.”

She gives me a tiny smile. Her lips barely move, but I know she’s not mad.

“When did you learn this?”

“I called him on my way home from my first game back. After we were in the locker room.” The words tumble from my mouth before I have a chance to chill them out. I’m not saying I should’ve lied to her, but I’m painfully aware of how needy and desperate I sound. I could’ve said last week or a few days ago, but instead I rambled about the first possible time I knew she’d be working with my team.

Lia presses her forehead to mine and whispers, “I like that you did that.”

Before I can respond, her lips are on mine. I smile into the kiss at first, and I feel her smiling back. Fuck, the way I want to make her happy. My hands splay across her lower back as she arches, pushing closer and closer to me. Her tits move into my chest, and I let my hands down further until my fingers are kneading her ass.

Her lips are soft, almost velvety and full. They press into mine and I kiss her back with my tongue touching along the seam of her mouth. When she lets me in, she tastes like vanilla and peppermint, which I’m guessing is from the tea.

Lia tilts her head and I put one of my hands in her hair, feeling through the strands. When she breaks the kiss, I realize she’s laughing.

“I’m sorry. Nothing’s funny. I’m sort of freaking out. Like, I’m making out with Brooks Pittman on my couch.” Lia’s voice runs out of her mouth, almost dancing in excitement, and it feels like a compliment.

I put my mouth back on hers, kissing through her laugh and pulling her chest flush with mine. I hold onto her for the way she showed up for me pre-game and how she gave in tonight.

“Tell me about it. I’ve got Lia Stone on my lap, and I feel like I’m fucking dreaming.” Her cheeks pinch when I say her full name.

“I don’t know if we’re doing this yet,” she admits, her mouth claiming mine.

“This is your call, Lia. If I get to kiss you while you decide, that’s okay with me,” I promise.

I truly would’ve been only her friend and tried my best to forget our first kiss after our impromptu first date, but it would’ve been fucking hard. Honestly, what are the odds that a mystery woman shows up in my life, and then her job is to spend time with me—documenting my return from injury? It feels like the universe is pushing us together and I’m going to take it, secrets and all.

Here's the thing: I’ll keep any secret necessary. The original Coca Cola recipe? I’m a vault. Nuclear codes? What codes. The truth behind the pyramids? Believe me, I’m the wrong guy.

If it means I get to be with Lia, my lips are sealed.