Claire
“Areyou fucking kidding me right now?”
I’d just noticed the time. I was late. Very, very late. Seth was going to kick my arse. But it wasn’t my fault. Gloria was a chatty one. Chatty, but she always made sure she told Lachie how much she loved having me do her hair and how nice I was. Even though her words embarrassed me, I had to embrace it. The more people that said nice things about me, the more reasons Lachie had not to fire me when I begged him to take off early on a Saturday afternoon to make it to Seth’s games.
“Someone’s going to be in trouble,” Lachie sing songed.
Flipping him the bird, I shrugged into my jacket and wound my scarf around my neck. “Bite me,” I threw back.
“Our boy’s on fire lately.”
“Yeah. He’s going really well, and he’s pretty happy about it.”
“And so he should be.”
I’d been working with Lachie for six weeks now, and he’d become such a big part of my life. At first, I’d been nervous. Terrified of stuffing up. I probably told him way more information about my life than he ever wanted to know, but the last thing I wanted was for misunderstandings to come between us. Confessing I’d been fired was hard, but Lachie just snorted. Especially when I told him it was because I was busy dragging Seth from the surf when he’d almost drowned.
“Are you sure you’re right to clean up?” I checked for the millionth time. I couldn’t shake the guilt. It felt all sorts of wrong to be leaving your boss to clean up the mess so I could go to the football.
“Of course. This isn’t my first time…” Lachie assured me, grabbing the broom and starting to sweep.
“You don’t even want to hear about his first time. Let me assure you. Poor guy cried when…”
“Stop right there!” I cut off Jax as he breezed through the door.
“Thanks, Lachie. I owe you one.” I bounced up on my toes and kissed his cheek before hurrying towards the door.
“I’ll cash in later,” Lachie called as I ducked out the door and ran to the car.
Twenty minutes later, I was circling the car park at the stadium trying to find a spot. This is why I shouldn’t be late. I knew this was going to be an issue, but Seth wouldn’t listen. Instead, he tossed me the keys and told me to take it. It was all his fault. At least, that was my story and I’m sticking to it.
Eventually, I bounced up the gutter and parked under a tree. I’d probably get a ticket, but at least I’d see the game. Grabbing my bag, I ran towards the gate, pulling my pass from my purse and draping it around my neck.
When Seth had finally gotten onto the field, he’d made it his own. He dominated. Opposition had no idea what he was going to do next, and half the time I was convinced he wasn’t entirely sure either, but everything he touched seemed to come off. His teammates loved him, and he owned the jersey he’d fought so desperately for. It was hot as hell to see him doing so well.
Even better than that though, was celebrating with him at home. He’d come home to our apartment, the one he’d moved me into three weeks ago without asking. One day I’d finished work and Seth had picked me up, and when we got back to his place, all my shit was there, and he handed me a key. But there was nowhere else I wanted to be. Especially after a win. A win where he’d played his arse off. When he made it home full of adrenaline, damn did we have a good time working it off. Even thinking about it now, looking forward to it, had me rubbing my thighs together as I found my seat.
Life was good.
Work was amazing.
I had incredible friends.
Seth had charmed the pants off my parents after their surprise visit last week.
And Seth loved playing again.
Even living together was proving to be amazing, well, except for the fact Seth had a bad habit of leaving his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, but I guess we had to have something to argue over. If we weren’t fighting, we couldn’t have makeup sex, and everyone knows makeup sex was the best.
The hardest part was the nights all alone in the apartment while Seth was in a hotel room somewhere around the country for a game. But thanks to technology, we’d even found the fun in that.
