A moment passed, then another. He was silent, and all traces of his hands on me left. He repositioned himself and got off the chair. Will left me sitting there, and the shadows hid his facial expression. “If that’s what you think, Lex, then maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time. I’m getting a drink and finding Charley.” His voice was tense andsad.
The sadness made my heart lodge in my throat.
It was easier to downplay things so his eventual rejection wouldn’t hurt as much, but this didn’t feel any less painful. He was upset, and that made everything worse. I never knew I had the ability to hurt someone like him, and the reality didn’t sit right with me.
Did I still go to his room tonight? Was our practice for the week done? Panic clawed down my throat at the realization our arrangement could be over. I really didn’t want my time with him to end. My eyes stung at what happened. I needed to make the moment better. I took a deep breath, shoved down all the doubts about myself, and set off to find him and make everything okay. But, when I got inside the bar, he wasn’t talking to his sister.
He was at the bar, smiling and flirting with a bombshell of a woman.
Well, that answers my question.If he brought her back to the condo...god, I was an idiot for agreeing to this in the first place. There was no happy ending here, and it was better to remember that. My new year would end like the last four, with me alone. Ashton might’ve made me feel like shit about myself, and Charley’s horrible friend played me, but Will had the power to destroy my heart. I needed to protect myself. We were in different leagues, different planets when it came to our bodies. He had no business with me.
Chapter Six
Will
Little sister’s chubby best friend.Jesus, the phrase repeated in my head, and the urge to punch a wall hadn’t lessened in the twenty minutes since I left her outside. She thought I was getting lunch with her out of guilt? Or inviting her to my roombecause I felt bad for her?
Yeah, not at all.
I loved getting lunch with her because she laughed too loud and didn’t talk about baseball ever. And as far as the bedroom, that was a way for both of us to enjoy the trip. God,why was she being so weird about us hooking up and downplaying our friendship? I wiped my hand over my face and smiled at the woman talking to me.
She was beautiful, into me, and I could’ve taken her back to the condo if I wanted to, but she wasn’t the curvy girl who annoyed me in one breath and turned me on with her moans with another. Yeah, if I only had a few more nights with Lexi, I wasn’t going to spend them with anyone else.
“So, you’re an athlete, right? Look at these biceps,” the woman said, putting her hand on my arm and squeezing. A few months ago, I would’ve loved it.
The attraction, the flirting, the scoring.
Now, the whole interaction felt gross. This woman just met me and was already touching me, but her intentions weren’t clear. She mentioned being an athlete, so she definitely knew who I was. Was she going to film me? Take photos of me to sell to tabloids?
Damn, this sucked. I forced a tight smile and shook her grip off. While the gesture was probably too dramatic, it worked. She sucked in a breath and held her hand against her stomach like I burned her skin.
“Sorry, doll, I’m not in the mood.” I took a step back and scanned the place for my sister and Lexi. They were by the exit. “Have a good night.”
I made my way toward them, hating the unease on Lexi’s face. Her eyes lacked the softness she often threw my way, but it was stupid to miss it. “You ready to go back?”
“Ye,” Charley said, wincing. “I twisted my ankle or something. You don’t have to walk us back though. I saw you flirting with that woman.” She wiggled her brows, but I immediately looked at Lexi.
Was that what she thought? Flirting? Was she upset and that’s why she looked at the ground instead of my face? My gut filled with worry. Charley cleared her throat, and I shook my head, forgetting to answer.
“No, I wasn’t flirting. She recognized me, and I’m not playing with that shit again.”
“Ah, good call.” Charley frowned and looped her arm through Lexi’s. “Let’s head back and eat cookies.”
“Sounds good,” Lexi said, still not looking at me.
That wouldn’t do.
Trying to get a word in between them was hard. They bantered back and forth, and Charley got Lexi to laugh, but by the time we got to the condo, my stomach was in knots. It was weird to feel this way. It had been...years since the last time I had this tension in my gut over a woman. This was Lexi though, so it was important to make sure we were okay. We’d see each other no matter what. Our lives were too intertwined to leave things uncomfortable between us.
“Want to join me with cookies?” Charley asked Lexi, but she shook her head.
“I’m going to shower and head to bed. Super tired.” She yawned, but I knew the whole act was fake.
“Okay, damn. Fair though. Will? Want to bond over cookie dough and talk shit about your entitled athlete friends?”
“Nope. Going to my room.”
“Okay, you both suck. I’ll be out here, eating my face off and trying not to think about every stupid decision I’ve ever made.” Charley hobbled from the counter to the couch and turned on some reality TV show.
