I pushed to my feet, hurrying out into the hall so she wouldn’t see how badly I’d been affected. I leaned against the wall, trying to collect myself, and took three deep breaths. The phone kept ringing. I pulled it from my pocket and saw my sister’s name on the screen. We’d been waiting for her to call. Of course she chose the worst possible moment.
Closing my eyes, I answered. “You are the worst.”
“Hello to you too, brother,” she laughed into the line. “I got a message from Frankie that you need a savior?”
I needed something, all right. Maybe she’d just saved me from making a huge mistake, but it was one I’d been dying to make. “She won’t let me drive, and—” The words felt stupid even as I said them, but Sydney laughed.
“Thank God someone has some sense. I’m leaving now. Be there when I’m there.” She hung up before I could respond, and I stared at the phone in my hand, wondering how I was going to sit in this house for the next hour with the last person I should be around.
If I went back in there right now, would she let me finish what we’d almost started? Would she let me taste her skin, feel those soft lips?
I told myself to get a grip. It was the worst idea, but damn, it felt like the best.
“Sydney’s on her way from San Jose,” I called into the room.
“Oh, good,” she replied, her voice cold. “You’ll be out of my hair soon, then.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. Out of her hair. Away from the temptation I didn’t know how to ignore. I wanted to blame it on the concussion, but I knew better. The truth I hadn’t allowed myself to face was that I’d wanted Frankie since the team hired her three years ago.
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, the word hissing between my teeth.
The door clicked shut behind me, a heavy sound that left no room for doubt—Frankie had made the decision for us. I stared at it for a moment, letting the silence settle before trudging toward the stairs. I took them two at a time, my knee aching with every step, the pain almost welcome. It was a reminder of who I was, of who she was. Player and coach. The ultimate forbidden. She didn’t even like me, but damn if I didn’t get some twisted satisfaction from hearing her yell at me. What would it feel like to strip that control away? To make her lose her composure?
I sank into the couch, burying my face in my hands. The headache that had dulled to a faint throb in her room came back in full force, but I refused to let it consume me. I needed something to do with my hands, so I leaned forward, focusing on the puzzle in front of me. A beautifully intricate image of an enchanted bookshelf was taking shape, piece by piece.
By the time I heard footsteps on the stairs, I was fully absorbed in my task, trying to impose order on the chaos in front of me—something I couldn’t seem to do in my own life.
“You’re doing my puzzle.” Frankie’s voice froze me. She stood in the doorway, her gaze flicking between me and the table, where I was assembling a large section of the shelf. I couldn’t help but wonder, did people really find puzzles this hard? Another piece caught my eye, and I knew instantly it was the one I needed.
“Looks like I’m doinga lotof your puzzle.” I shrugged, using the distraction as a way to avoid looking at her, avoiding thinking of her, sitting there with reddened eyes full of unspoken emotion.
She walked closer, pausing as she looked down at the piece in my hand. “That goes here.” She pointed to an open spot near the corner where a winged fairy rested. I pressed it into place.
Without another glance, she sat down beside me, closer than I expected, her body warm against the edge of mine as she scooted in to work on a section near the top.
We didn’t speak, but our hands moved in tandem, fitting mismatched pieces together, each of us pretending that we hadn’t almost crossed the biggest line.
After what felt like an eternity, Frankie set a piece down and turned toward me. “We need to talk, Valentine.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FRANKIE
I had nothing to follow it. Wedidneed to talk, but what could I possibly say to the player I’d almost let kiss me? I’d put both my job and my sanity at risk in that single moment.Don’t get involved with the guys on the team.It was my number one rule. Griff hadn’t said it, but it didn’t need to be said.
A coach and their player? It was a no-go.
And yet, those hands of his. The way his voice had dropped near my ear. The growl in his words.
I’d been with Travis for three years, since I moved back to the city, and not once had he affected me the way Teddy had in that one moment.
He was watching me now, waiting for something, anything. I was the one who’d wanted to talk, after all.
“I’m your coach.”
“Well aware, thanks.” He tried to turn back to the puzzle he was surprisingly good at, but without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his hand, stopping him. I needed him to focus on me, not the puzzle.
He looked from his hand to me and back again. I dropped it as if it had burned me and scooted away on the couch. “Listen,Teddy. What happened up there… I was vulnerable after Travis, and?—”
