“Say that you’ll have coffee with me after practice,” Thomas said, flashing her a big smile. “Or dinner, or drinks, or…anything you want.”
“Oh…well…I guess coffee would be okay,” she said, then remembered Justin. “But I can’t tonight, maybe sometime tomorrow.”
“I’m free all afternoon before practice,” he said. “Can you do two o’clock?”
“I think so,” she said, a bit overwhelmed by the sudden attention. “I can meet you there.”
“That’s a deal,” Thomas said, grinning at her. “How about the student center?”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be there.”
“I’ll be counting down the hours,” Thomas said, then flashed her one more smile before running back onto the court.
Wondering what she’d just done, she sat stunned until Carol let out a little squeal of excitement. “I can’t believe he just asked you out,” she said, grabbing her arm and giving it a shake. “He’s so hot, you really scored with that one. I wish something like that would happen to me.”
“I kind of wish it had happened to you,” she said, already wishing she’d said no. “I’m not really looking to date right now, I have too much else going on.”
“Oh, come on, Maddie, it’s just coffee, I’m sure you have time for that,” Carol said, a shocked look on her face. “Everyonewants to go out with Thomas; you can’t pass up this chance. I think he really likes you.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she said, watching him dribble across the floor, then shrugged her shoulders. “He just came on kind of strong…it made me feel weird…I can’t explain it, something just felt off.”
Carol studied her for a second, then shook her head, “You’re just nervous,” she said. “I don’t blame you, if it were me I’d be a mess too.”
It was clear that Carol couldn’t see anything but Thomas’s good looks, so she let it drop, but promised herself that she’d be on her guard; there was something about the man that she didn’t trust. She watched him for a second, trying to figure out why he made her feel uncomfortable, then noticed Walker studying her from across the court, a frown on his face, and quickly looked away.
When she looked up a few seconds later, he was striding across the court straight toward her, an intense look in his eyes that made her entire body begin to tingle. “What was that jerk doing over here?” he demanded, stopping right in front of her.
“He came over to introduce himself,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“He asked her out for coffee,” Carol piped up, then shrank down in her seat when Maddie gave her a dirty look.
Walker looked over at Carol, then back at her. “Maybe we could take this discussion elsewhere,” he said, reaching for her arm, then changed his mind. “Please, Maddie, it will only take a few minutes.”
She didn’t want Carol in the middle of their business any more than he did, so she got to her feet. “You’ve got two minutes,” she said, starting toward the back of the gym. “And not a minute more.”
CHAPTER 4
***WALKER***
Walker followed Maddie out of the gym, scrambling to figure out what he was going to say. He hadn’t planned on warning her, had promised himself that he’d stay out of it if Thomas followed through with his threat. It turned out that it was impossible. Watching the two of them together had woken the dragon inside him, unleashing impulses and emotions he couldn’t control. One of those impulses, along with the jealousy that had roared to life and almost consumed him, was to blame for his reacting so, and he realized he’d have to tread carefully or she’d never listen to him.
When she stopped, she turned to face him, then crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?” she asked, a scowl on her face. “I’m supposed to be taking care of the team, not…whatever this is.”
“I know it’s none of my business, but I just wanted to warn you about Thomas,” he said, trying to ignore the flash of desire that rushed through him when he got a whiff of her perfume. “He’s not a good guy, Maddie, he’s just out to hurt you. Don’t go out with him.”
Maddie studied him for a second, her eyes growing colder by the second. “Thanks for the warning, but I can make up myown mind about him,” she said, giving him a dirty look. “Your opinion doesn’t count for much with me. You’re not exactly a good guy yourself.”
Her words stung, but he knew that he deserved them. “Maddie, I know that you have no reason to trust me,” he said, then sighed when he saw the hard look on her face. “Okay, okay, I get it, and I don’t blame you for hating me. I’ll leave you alone, but watch out for Thomas; his intentions aren’t good. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Ha, that’s funny coming from you,” she spat at him, then shoved past him. “It’s not your job to worry about me. I can take care of myself, I’ve been doing it for a long time now.”
Walker watched her walk away, his heart sinking, the empty place deep inside him feeling even emptier. Then, with a colossal effort, he put the whole thing out of his mind and went back to practice. It wasn’t his fault if she got hurt; he’d tried to warn her. What happened from then on was on Maddie. There was nothing more that he could do if she wouldn’t listen. Telling himself he felt better, he threw himself into practice, then ignored the two of them exchanging phone numbers when he left, deciding that Maddie would get what she deserved.
By Friday, he wasn’t feeling as great. Three days of watching Maddie and Thomas laugh and flirt before and after practice were driving him crazy, and there wasn’t a single thing he could do about it. He’d done his best to keep his feelings off the court, but there had been times that his anger and jealousy had spilled over, and he’d gone too far with Thomas, which the other man seemed to enjoy, enraging him even further. Marty had been forced to separate them a couple of times, and he knew that the rest of the team felt the tension between them, but he couldn’t stop himself.
When the coach finally blew the whistle to signal the end of practice, he was more than ready for a couple of days away fromThomas and his scheming. “This has been the longest week of my life,” he told Marty as they walked toward the locker room. “I’m ready for the weekend, two days without seeing that jerk sounds like heaven.”
“What’s the deal with you two anyway?” Marty asked. “If I’m going to have to keep breaking you two up, I should at least know why.”
