He released a breath, pushing off the door and walking slowly to the chair. He walked like he had all the time in the world. “Yeah. I’m getting that.”
“Glad to see your brain is up to speed.” I moved to lean against the headboard, arms crossed. I gave him my nasty stare, the meanest one I could.
He gave nothing away besides the smallest quirk of a lip. His massive frame filled the chair, his elbows on his knees with those blue, blue eyes staring at me.
“Why did you act like you just picked me up from my babysitter’s?”
“Do you like annoying me?” he asked, ignoring my question entirely.
“Are you going to ignore my question?” I fired back, the tension in the room suffocating me.
“Are you always this belligerent?” He tilted his head, running a hand over his jaw. His voice wasn’t angry or nice, it just was. It annoyed me he was so unaffected; any proof of our weird sexual tension in the elevator was long gone. Now, it was a battle of wills, but I didn’t know what for. And, the asshole had the audacity to call me belligerent. So, without the filter most people had, my mouth took control.
“Are you always such an asshole?” I barked, making a face at him. “Or, do you specially reserve it for me? You’re hot and cold. I don’t get it.” I slammed my eyes closed, making an elongated raspberry with my lips. I stood, pacing the small carpeted area between the two queen beds. I hadn’t looked at his face yet to see his response, and I was okay with not knowing. “I don’t get why you hate me sometimes.”
“I told you I don’t hate you.” His words sounded pained, forced. I laughed, turning to face him. His dark brows were drawn together, his lush lips turned down in a hard frown. He grimaced when I met his eyes, making me feel marginally better. “Grace—”
“Then what is it? I want to know,” I shouted, holding up a hand. “I can’t get another room. I damn well can’t tell the coach about being Grant and sounding like a whiner because in all honesty, Anderson,you’re the one with the problem.” I paused, pointing to the bed. “I’ll stay right here, won’t make a sound.”
“Look, I told you I can be an asshole.” He groaned, standing up and went to grab his bag from the other side of the room. “I don’t hate you. Not at all actually. You make me laugh.”
I sighed, closing my eyes in resignation. “Then, why are you such a dick to me?”
“I don’t know.” His voice came out dark, deep, and laced with something I couldn’t name. He shuffled around for something in his bag and waited until I met his gaze. “Is it okay if I stay here?”
“Yes. I told you that before you stormed out of here.” I pointed at him, adding fire to my voice. “Change. Afterward, we are going to talk.”
“Great. What every guy loves to hear,” he said, rolling his eyes. Damn the playful eyes. He raised his brows at me, hitting the wall lightly before heading into the bathroom. That gave me time to think about what the hell had happened.
He’d abandoned me. Hid from me. Ignored me.
Then almost kissed me. He totally almost kissed me, right? I had no freaking idea. The sexual tension was almost painful, but it was gone as quick as it came. I needed to get a grip.
Just as I began to relax, Anderson walked out of the bathroom in loose shorts and a cut off shirt. Oh. My. God.
The glasses, wet messy hair, and the outfit.
I gulped.
He set his bag on the ground and carefully laid on the bed. He winced when he was on his right side, his jaw tightened before he looked over at me. I hoped my mouth wasn’t hanging open. But, I couldn’t be sure. He cleared his throat, looking all over the room before settling on my face. He swallowed, slowly blinking before he began speaking. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t what he said.
“I may have overreacted about the room situation.”
“May have? May have?” I raised my voice, sitting up in the bed. Laughter roared out of me, tears coming from my eyes. “God, from your reaction I thought you were going to tell me something crazy, some sort of reason why you’re an asshole. But no, that’s what I get. Holy balls.” I paused and took a self-soothing breath. “You are a trip, Anderson.”
“I’m glad I amuse you.”
“Oh, you do, but you also anger me like no one else. I want to punch your face every ten minutes.” I leaned back on the bed, rubbing my temples. He shuffled around, turning the lamp off and leaving us in darkness.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sure, it’s easy to apologize when the lights are off.” The rustle of covers and the click of the light startled me. “Hey now!”
“Shit. You’re right.” He threw his legs over the bed and faced me.
I counted to three, not wanting to do this now, but my mouth got me into the situation.
“Grace. Look at me.”
