"Yeah?"
"You were ..." I search for the right word. "Different."
"Different how?"
"Soft," I admit. "I've never seen you like that."
Something shifts in his expression. "That bother you?"
"No." The word comes out too fast. Too honest. "I liked it."
He's quiet for a moment. "I'm not always hard. But around you, I seem to always be."
I bite my bottom lip at his innuendo. We stand there. The moment stretching between us. I feel myself leaning toward him like he's got his own gravitational pull.
"Jo!" Collette's voice shatters the spell. "I'm all done. Are you finished?"
My sister eyes how close Emmett and I are standing together.
I jerk back. Putting distance between us. "Coming!"
Emmett doesn't move, just watches me with those stormy green eyes. "See you at practice tomorrow, Joelle," he says. The way he says my name makes it sound like a promise.
I grab my bag and practically flee.
26
JOELLE
That night, I'm lying in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying every moment. The way he looked with those kids, the softness in his voice when he talked about his dad. The heat in his eyes when he said he can't stop thinking about me.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. I grab it, expecting Collette or Polly. But I'm surprised when I see who it is.
Emmett: You left in a hurry today.
My heart kicks. I should ignore it. I should put my phone down and go to sleep like a normal person who isn't developing a dangerous obsession with her brothers' teammate.
Joelle: I was finished. And Collette was waiting for me.
Emmett: Liar.
Joelle: You keep calling me that.
Emmett: Because you keep lying.
I bite my lip.
Joelle: Maybe you don't know me as well as you think.
Emmett: I know some things.
Joelle: Like what?
Emmett: I know you liked watching me today.
Joelle: I was doing my job.
Emmett: I know you couldn't stop staring.
