When Erin had to try so hard to hold back from leaning too close into Lia’s orbit.
“Because you’re kind of acting like you are?” Lia’s frown deepened. “You know you don’t have to be, right? There’s nothing there.”
“It would be none of my business if there were.” Erin had no right to Lia. No right at all to feel anything untoward watching Lia and Adrianna interact. If Lia wanted to go out and sleep with half the team, Erin wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.
And that had never seemed like a problem until now.
Until Erin realised how much it knocked the air from her lungs.
“But there’s not.” Lia reached toward her like she was going to touch Erin’s hand before seeming to think better of it, dropping her hand back into her lap. “You have to know that.”
Erin did know that, but it did nothing to quiet the roiling storm of thoughts in her mind. She turned her head—freezing at the sight of Alex standing on the other side of the room, arms folded across their chest, a considering look on their face.
As their eyes met, Alex raised a single eyebrow, their question clear.
Erin swallowed, not wanting to know what emotions Alex was reading on her face. She was forgetting herself. First, with Jessica, and now, there in the changing room, surrounded by their teammates. Made lax by the heady way Lia made her feel, she was getting sloppy, letting her personal life creep into her professional one.
The thought of what might happen—of what Erin might let slip through her fingers—if she carried on down that path was sobering. Hadn’t she just been dreaming of the quadruple? Could she do that if she kept letting Lia worm her way into her head? Distracting her from her goals?
Breaking Alex’s stare, Erin cleared her throat. “Maybe you shouldn’t come over tonight.”
A frown etched itself onto Lia’s face. “What? Because of Adrianna?”
Erin shrugged. “Maybe you should go out with them. Spend some time with the rest of the team. After all, you promised Adrianna a night out.”
“To get her to stop pestering me about it.” Lia frowned. “And I don’t want to go out with Adrianna. I’d rather be with you.”
And that was the crux of the problem, wasn’t it? Because that was what Erin wanted, too. To be alone with Lia, to strip her down, to trace every inch of her body with hands and lips and tongue until she never wanted to come up for air.
She’d never wanted—craved—anyone so fiercely before.
And it was utterly terrifying.
For a few weeks now, Lia had been crawling into her bed, and out of it before sunrise. Weeks, and Erin still wasn’t sated. Would she ever be? Would she want and want and want until she couldn’t want anymore?
Would Lia slip closer, become an irrevocably ingrained part of her life?
Would Erin mind if she did?
Were the lines between them already too blurred?
“Lia…”
“I didn’t mean that how it sounded.” Panic crept into Lia’s voice. “I don’t mean like that. I just meant that I’d rather be in your bed than in a nightclub surrounded by drunk, sweaty people. That’s all.”
“Still. I’m not sure it’s a good idea. Not tonight.” Erin felt too raw, too exposed. She needed more time to sit with her feelings, more time to figure out what the hell was going on in her brain. “So you should go out. Have fun.”
“And what are you going to do? Sit at home alone brooding?” Lia shook her head. “Are you ending this because you’re jealous of Adrianna?”
“I didn’t say I was ending this.” Panic settled into her own voice now. “Just…not tonight.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I’m tired of everything being on your schedule.” Lia pushed herself to her feet, a scowl on her face. “Have fun tonight. And every other night, for that matter. Alone.”
She stalked away—over to where Adrianna stood with a few of the others—and Erin bit her tongue so she didn’t call out for her to stay.
* * *
“Okay, what is your problem?” Concerned grey eyes peered at Lia’s face as Cerys leaned her head on her shoulder. “Because you’ve had a frowny face the whole ride back, and you should be happy! We just won a trophy! Our first one together! But you look like someone died. Is it your knee? Is it worse than we thought?”
