“Trust me”—I shake my head—“he’s not worth it.” I toss my shin pads in the bag. “People like him feed off attention of other people. The more you ignore him, that’s what really gets him.” I stop talking because just the thought of him makes my blood boil.
I finish my shower, getting dressed in my black joggers with matching black T-shirt before putting on one of the team sweaters with the logo in the middle of it, my number seventy-seven on the upper left side.
I get into the SUV and pull out of the parking lot, the garage door opening as soon as I drive up the ramp. I pull out and look over at the center console, seeing it’s just after one in the afternoon. I stop by and pick up lunch before heading to the office. I take the brown bag off the passenger seat before reaching into the back seat and taking out the blue bag with white handles and a white ribbon on it and shutting the door with my hip. I look and see that Lexi’s SUV is here and then see the space beside her empty. Kylie told me she would be working from home today, but I wasn’t sure if things had changed.
I press the elevator button and bounce on my feet, waiting for the doors to open. It’s been four days since I last saw Lexi, and four days that I’ve done nothing but tell myself this is the way it’s going to be until she makes a move. The doors open and I step in, pressing the button and then stepping back. A couple of people get on when I get to the lobby floor, and by the time I get to my floor, I’m the only one left.
I take a deep inhale when I open the door and step in, hearing soft music coming from her office. “Hello,” I call out and then hear the music stop before she sticks her head out of the doorway. My heart speeds up for a whole different reason when I see her face. The tightness of my chest comes on full force now; it’s a tightness I’m getting lately whenever I think of her and not having her.
“Hey,” I say and a smile now fills her face. Her blue eyes light up and then she comes into the room and my eyes stupidly give her the once up and down. My cock springs to action the minute I see her legs in that charcoal miniskirt she’s wearing. It hugs her hips perfectly and looks like it’s been folded over. It’s total class, just like her, and the black silk button-down shirt she is wearing is tucked in and the sleeves have these big cuffs that are tied to make the sleeves puff out.
“This is a surprise.” She steps closer to me and then her scent hits me and my cock becomes even harder. I’m thankful I wore track pants and not jeans.
“I brought lunch,” I mention, holding up the bag, “and I got you something.” I hold up the other bag.
“Kirby,” she says my name softly, just like she said it that night when I slipped into her from behind. When she was on her stomach, I lifted her hips a bit and then slid in. “That was not necessary.”
“The lunch or the gift?” I try to joke with her and she chuckles.
“Both, I think.” She shakes her head. “Kylie isn’t here.”
“Oh, really?” I look over at her office and see that it’s dark. “I thought she was.”
“You’re lying.” She calls me on it right away.
“Okay, fine, I knew she was working from home,” I admit, walking over to the couch and tossing the food bag on the table, “but I’m leaving for five days and I won’t be here for the Monday morning meeting.” I put the other bag down on the table. “So, I thought we could talk about your first week.”
She comes over and sits on the couch, leaning forward. “Okay, all valid points.” She reaches for the blue bag. “But the gift?”
“It’s a welcome-to-the-team gift,” I tell her, sitting next to her but not too close. She pulls the white ribbon off and then puts it gently to the side. I look at her beauty and I want so badly to put my hand on her leg, but I want more to put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me. Just to kiss her softly and have her next to me. I would be happy with just that.
She takes out the white tissue paper and then unwraps the gift, laughing when she turns it over. “It’s a gift that even Kylie will like,” I say when she shakes her head and turns it to face me. It’s a mug that has the picture we took from the ride. “She saw the picture when she came over two nights ago,” I fill her in, “and she took a photo of it with her phone.” I shake my head. “I think she even called and asked if they did live shots.”
“She did,” Lexi says, putting down the cup. “On Monday, after you left, she asked me if you yelled for your life.”
“Anyway, it’s a gift that you can both use, I guess.” I put my hand on the back of the couch instead of around her shoulders.
“No way,” she declares, picking the cup up again, “this is mine. If she wants one, she needs to find out what you want and barter for it.”
“Don’t give her any ideas,” I tell her, leaning forward and opening the bag of food. “I didn’t know if you had eaten,” I mention, handing her one of the wrapped burgers, “so I brought lunch since I just left practice.”
“I actually haven’t stopped.” She reaches for the burger and our fingers graze each other and both of us stop moving. Her eyes fly up to mine to see if I’m as affected as she is. The moment lasts maybe two seconds before she is the first to move away. “Thank you.”
She folds one of her legs under the other before opening the wrapper and taking a bite. “Wow,” she says mid-chew, “this might be the best burger I’ve ever had.”
“Yeah,” I agree, grabbing my own. “It’s a small spot that only the local people know about. They use all fresh ingredients, which is why their burgers are more expensive than others, but you can taste the freshness.” I bite my own piece. “So tell me about this week,” I urge, wanting to know everything she’s done, and not just at work.
“Hold that thought.” She puts the burger down and gets up and walks to her office, and I make the mistake of watching her ass swing side to side and my cock literally groans.
“Yeah, I know, buddy.” I look down. “Trust me, I’m in pain more than you are.”
“Did you say something?” She comes back out of her office with two bottles of water, handing me one.
“I said I think they forgot to put bacon on mine.” I look down at the burger, seeing the bacon clear as day. “Nope, it’s there.”
She comes back to sit next to me. “Like I was saying, I spent the last two days looking at local churches.”
“Churches?” I ask her, confused.
