I shook my head. “Sports were never my thing. Dad tried to get me to join a soccer team like my older brother, but I never enjoyed it. Too many jocks.”
Brad chuckled as he set his white mug down on the saucer. “Jocks, can’t live with ’em, can’t not fantasize about ’em, am I right? This team is different. It’s an LGBTQ team. There are a couple in the league, but obviously ours is best. So no judging. Although the Dolphins are ferocious. I wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.”
“I have two left feet. I’d fall over before I touched the ball.”
“I don’t believe that,” Brad said with another squeeze of my hand. I’d completely forgotten he was holding it, and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to let go. I didn’t mind. “I could teach you, and then you could join the team. We always need new players.”
“I’m not sure….” The idea intrigued me, though. Barton had watched sports on TV, but barely ever played them. He had always talked about the days in college when he played football, but I had no interest in hearing the same stories over and over again, while he reminisced about a past he still longed for. Over time, that same past had made him hostile and angry at the world.
“I’ll go easy on you.” There was a twinkle in his eye, and my belly was nearly doing somersaults by now. How did one kind man who was in no way like my ex-boyfriends make me feel like this?
“Okay.” I smiled and didn’t have to force myself. “I’d like that.”
“Great.” Brad looked more excited than I felt. He took another big sip of his coffee, and I did the same with my hot chocolate. “Oh, you have some….”
I frowned at him and the way he leaned closer to me. “Some what?”
His chest rumbled with laughter and he ran his thumb over my top lip. I froze. His finger was warm, and I let out a sigh of pleasure I didn’t know I had in me, but my eyes widened when that same thumb ran over the middle of my lips, and I knew what he wanted. To my own astonishment, I opened my mouth and let his thumb slip inside. I sucked on it, the taste of the small amount of sweetness lingering on his skin.
Someone cleared their throat and I jerked backward, nearly falling off my seat. I’d completely forgotten where we were, and that wasn’t normal for me. Cheeks flushing lava hot, I glanced up at a redheaded lady in a leather jacket standing beside our table. Emmy stood next to her, their hand over their mouth as they giggled.
“As much as I’m enjoying the show, probably best to take this somewhere more private.” She grinned, flashing her right incisor.
“Red, they were just having some fun.” Emmy patted the redhead on the shoulder. “This is Red, don’t be scared of her. She’s just the owner of this glorious café.”
Red rolled her eyes, but there wasn’t anything malicious in the way she stared down at us. “Looks like you boys want to get laid, and a coffee shop really isn’t the place for it. How about we get these drinks in a travel cup for you?”
I nodded, cheeks flaming even hotter until I felt heat all the way down my neck and chest. “Yes, please.”
Emmy was already moving, taking the ceramic mugs from us and heading behind the counter where they made the drinks. Red’s eyes glinted and she turned to Brad, who seemed unfazed by the entire exchange.
“Bradly, is there something I—and Madden and Nicky—should know about?” There was a teasing lilt in her voice, and I frowned. Who were Madden and Nicky?
Brad’s grin nearly broke his face, it was that wide. “Nothing that’s any of their business.”
Red didn’t look like she believed him because she squinted with her bright red lips pressed in a thin line. “Mm-hm.”
Emmy came back with our drinks in disposable coffee cups and passed them to us. I thanked them quietly and stood.
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Brad said to me, an apology in his gaze. “I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
“Usually you do,” Red said before I could say anything. Her attention turned on me and she studied me carefully, like there was something about me she needed to figure out. A puzzle. That’s what I was to her. “You haven’t told me your name, hon.”
“No, he hasn’t.” Brad pushed back his chair and got to his feet, clearly deciding we should leave after all. He gave Red a hug and she returned it. “This establishment is getting a one-star review on Google for this interruption.”
Red snorted. “You do that and I’ll put my foot up your ass in a way you won’t like.”
“Stop teasing me.”
They both laughed, and then Brad was beside me, his hand on my lower back as he led me out of the café. I didn’t miss the way Red and Emmy stared at us when I flicked a glance over my shoulder, and Emmy wiggled their fingers at me. I smiled awkwardly, not quite sure what else to do.
“Sorry about that,” Brad said, making me jump in surprise. His hot breath teased my ear and a full body shiver slid through me. “Red’s a friend. We met through a few other friends of mine. She means no harm. She was only yanking our balls.”
“It’s fine,” I said, holding the cup tighter in my hands. I took a sip of the hot chocolate, if only to do something with myself. Suddenly I felt awkward standing on the sidewalk with his hand against my back. “What should we do now?”
“We could head back to my place? I did tell you that we could do anything you wanted after our date.” He took a big swallow of his coffee before dumping it in a trash can near us. “And I’d love to see what you have planned, Harley kitty.”
I shivered and nodded before I could stop myself and really think about what I was doing.
