I sped to work and grabbed the to-do list he normally placed on his door and chose the assignment the furthest away from his office. I couldn’t face him. Not yet. I needed to work off the hangover from hell and mask my emotions. So, I cleaned. I iced. I cleaned again. I swept and scrubbed equipment. I taped ankles and cleaned wounds all without seeing Brock directly. He was there, I could feel him watching me, but I made it to lunch before having to look at him head on. Players were leaving the field, and the afternoon would be spent watching film and counter acting plays the opposing team would use. We were both left on the field picking up coolers when he walked toward me. I took a long, exaggerated breath and found my professional side. I couldn’t react. He was myboss.
“Everything going okay?” He frowned, standing a little too close. “I realized I never asked how your class was last night.”
“I’m good. Yeah, my class was the same as usual,” I said, hoping my voice sounded normal. Logan watched in the distance, and I sent him a mental signal to come over. I wanted the buffer. I couldn’t contain my feelings, and I had to, now, more than ever. The awkward pause hurt; we had never experienced an awkward pause before.
“Good. Good. You, uh, sure you’re okay?” He cleared his throat, stepping closer to me. “I know you, Grace, and you aren’t your normal self. You haven’t made fun of me or done something goofy yet.” He smiled, those blue eyes warming me.
I ignored his charm and pinched my nose. “I’m hungover. That’s all.” My voice came out raspy again, the evidence helping prove my case. “Late night last night.”
“Really?” He frowned deeper this time. His gaze traveled to my mouth for a split second before returning to my eyes. “What did you do?”
“Grace!” Logan’s voice chose the perfect time to yell at me. I jumped, making my head pound. “How you doing, girl?”
“Gah, not so loud, you clown.” I shoved him, putting my hands back on my head. “My head feels like a trainwreck.”
“I imagine it does. What time did you guys get home last night? I’m sorry I didn’t leave with you guys.” He grinned sheepishly. “I tried again with the girl, but no luck.”
“You’re fine. Gil and Fritz were a handful enough. I was the most sober, or I guess the least drunk, and I feel like death.” I ignored Brock and the way his entire body tensed the more Logan and I talked. Logan’s friends grouped up with us for an hour or two the night before and were a blast. They partied all the time, so they probably weren’t hungover like me and Gil.
“Yeah. Fritz was plastered.” He laughed and looked at Brock. “Dude, you missed a killer night. Why didn’t you come out?”
“I had someone visiting.” He frowned, meeting my eyes again. “Sounds like a good night?”
“Yeah,” I said, Logan’s head tilting just enough to know he noticed something. “Hating myself today though.”
“You’ll be fine, Gracie.” Logan laughed and put his hand on my shoulder. “Have you heard from your professor yet? Any job information?”
“Job information?” Brock’s tone turned annoyed. “What job? Grace?”
“She didn’t tell you yet, man?” Logan said the worst thing to say because Brock’s jaw hardened. Those eyes shot fire at him. He was fuming. Logan didn’t notice because he just laughed and rambled on. “You’ll make a hell of a teacher, Grace. Let me know if you hear back from him. I need to go watch films. See you guys later.”
Logan walked away, leaving me with a fuming Brock. I needed to get out of there, fast. My heart beat way too fast, and my palms sweat. To top it off, I was still hungover as hell. “Well, I’m going to go grab some food.”
“You talked toLoganabout being a teacher?” he barked, shooting daggers at Logan as he walked across the field. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“When would I have told you, Brock?” I fired back, my fists clenched. “You were a littlebusyfor me yesterday, boss.” I regretted the words as I said them. I sounded needy. Pathetic.
Recognition crossed his face.Shit.He knew. I stepped back with my racing heart. My voice shook. “I need to go. Forget it.”
“Grace.”
I waved him off. I had no destination in mind, but I walked further from him. I couldn’t leave. No. But being near him was not an option. The storage closest would be safe. Yes. I opened the door and sat on an old box.
“Hell.” I rubbed my temples. I was mortified. I acted like a child and had no idea what to do. No freaking idea. I closed my eyes but jumped off the box when the door slammed open. “Brock, what the hell?”
His chest heaved as he locked the closet door. His cerulean blue eyes held so many emotions I shivered. “You don’t get it, Grace.”
“Get what?” I stood up and crossed my arms. My pulse throbbed in my toes it was so strong.
He laughed, wiping his hand over his face. “Do you know how long I’ve been holding on? Do you know how hard it’s been?”
“What are you talking about?” I stammered. Something clogged my throat, making speaking difficult. “What’s been hard?”
“Fighting this.”
Then he closed the distance between us. He cupped my face with his large hands and brought his lips to mine. They were better than I imagined, soft and strong, warm, and perfect. Time stopped at that moment. Minutes, seconds, hours disappeared when his mouth was on mine. He tilted my head back, taking his time exploring my mouth with his tongue. My legs turned to noodles when he moaned into my mouth.Oh my god.He tasted like coffee and chocolate. His tongue claimed me. Ruining me. Fixing me all at the same time.
I groaned, fisting the end of his shirt as he kissed the hell out of me. “Brock—”
