If someone asked meright nowwhy we weren’t dating, I wouldn’t have an answer. My dad being his coach? My fear of him hurting me? Those were both bullshit. It’d be so easy to fall into a relationship with him. Even after just a couple weeks of hooking up, we spent every hour together that we weren’t in class or sleeping. Sure, we didn’t do sleepovers. That was the unwritten rule between us, but god, I wanted to know what it’d feel like to bewithhim.
For real.
I voiced none of that and focused on the game. Hank had provided me with stats from the team data specialist so I didn’t need to track in game data, but I still watched and tried to find patterns. I observed behaviors from the guys and added the qualitative information to the profiles. Who punched a wall when they were pissed? Who ignored high fives from teammates? Who led on the bench instead of sitting alone and pouting? All of the information helped form the full profile of the players, and my blood fucking hummed when Cal Holt reached out for a high five to one of the less talented guys.
“Whoa.”
“Hm?” Michael said, leaning onto his elbows. It was zero-zero, and he kept mumbling about needing a stronger offense.
“Cal. He’s acting different.”
“Good. I think I found a way to pull the stick from his ass.” He barked out a laugh andwhoopedwhen Cal passed to Hansen who scored. “Fuck yeah, let’s go!”
He jumped up, and his energy was contagious. People all around us cheered and hit his back as he yelled, loudly. If I wasn’t mistaken, Cal looked up in the stands at Michael for a second, and Michael nodded at him.
“What did you do?”
Michael sat back down and let out a long sigh. “His past is his to tell when he’s ready, so I won’t break that trust. But he realized he’s not alone in his experiences. No one is. He just needed someone not afraid of him to call him out.”
“He needed a friend,” I said, the urge to kiss Michael almost unstoppable. He was such a damn good person. Of course he would help out the punk kid and befriend him. My eyes stung just a bit. “You’re incredible, Michael.”
“Hey, thanks. Two compliments today. My lucky night.” He wiggled his brows.
Irritation prickled my spine. “I’m being serious.”
His smile fell, and he nodded. “I’m sorry. Praise is hard for me, but I can tell you that your words lit me up inside. Seriously. Coming from you…” He whistled. “It means more than you know.”
Shit. The heavy look in his eyes, like longing, had me freezing in my seat. Michael stared at me like he wantedallof me, and god, I wanted that too. My throat bobbed with an uncomfortable swallow, and after a full thirty seconds of eye contact, he tore his gaze away from me.
Our easy conversation shifted tonight into something more. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but when the game ended and Michael asked me to come back to his place, I couldn’t say no. He’d befriended the worst human I’d ever met. He pushed me outside of my comfort zone. He was such a decent human being with a huge heart, anddamn.I couldn’tjustbe friends with him anymore. Not with all these thoughts and aggressive urges to keep him. I was a moth, and he was the flame.
Even though I knew at some point, I’d get hurt, I couldn’t stop myself because even in data, there was always the chance of an anomaly. An exception. It was rare but god, I wanted to be the outlier so bad.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Michael
If I had to pick my favorite scent, it had to be the way Naomi’s neck smelled after we had sex. It was a combination of sweat, lemon, andher.I nuzzled my nose along her skin, not wanting the night to end. Two weeks of getting her to myself and then she’d leave to head back to her place. I was a gentleman and always escorted her home but tonight, I didn’t want her to go.
I wanted to spend all night with her in my bed, but not just for pleasure. For comfort too. To have someone who got my pain and didn’t downplay it.
She giggled when I bit down on where her shoulder met her neck, and she pushed at my chest. “I should get dressed. I’m all aboutyou do you,but I’m not going to be the girl walking back at night naked.”
“Stay with me,” I whispered against the shell of her ear, enjoying how her body shivered beneath mine. I’d kissed and tasted every single part of her, but she still reacted to me like it was the first time. That was an addicting feeling.
“But Michael,” she said, her muscles tensing. “Our rules.”
Yeah, I knew that. I thought about them over and over. I’d even talked to Ryann about it extensively who laughed at the irony. I gave her major shit for dating a teammate, and she hid it from me to prevent me from lashing out. This was different, but the situation was still similar.
I was a grown man, and it was getting harder to hide my feelings for Naomi. Should I be into her? No. Not at all. Her dad was my boss. But none of that mattered. When she laughed with me, listened to me, and moaned when I slid into her, all those thoughts went the fuck out of my head, and I kept hoping for more.
“What if I wanted to be together-together?” My chest felt too tight as I buried my face in her neck, smelling her lemon hair and avoiding her gaze. I already gave too much away, and she needed to take a step toward me. I thought maybe she was into it too after she mentioned the exclusivity thing, but I couldn’t be sure.
Plus, I’d take whatever Naomi would give me, so I wouldn’t push. I had shit to figure out—mainly, how to tell her dad about us before this was a real thing. They had issues, and I refused to cause even more strife between them.
Naomi didn’t answer nor did she move. She remained stiff for so long I pushed up on my elbow and stared down at her. Her eyes were wide, and her pillow lips slightly parted. God, I loved her mouth.
I kissed her softly as my heart flip-flopped. It’d been so long since I had real feelings for someone that I forgot what it was like to have a giddy, almost terrifying pull toward another human. All I knew was that life was better around her, and I was selfish enough to want more of it.
