“You’re not required to go to any of the games,” I state firmly. “Or anywhere you’re not comfortable.”
“But the deal?”
I roll my eyes. “That deal can fuck off right now.”
She laughs then waggles her brows at me. “Guess I’ll be going back to the short skirt, no underpants addendum soon.”
I stare at her for a moment, confused by her statement, and then feel stupid for feeling confused as I retort, “You don’t have to, Cass.”
I turn away, but her hand on my arm stops me and I face her again. She grabs both my arms, coming up on her toes to ensure I’m looking her in the face as she says, “We can still joke, Ren. We have to joke. We need to laugh.”
I search her gaze then sigh, my arms gathering her close as I murmur, “You just want me to put on another show for you.”
Her hands slide up my arms and over my shoulders, looping behind my head. “I mean, yes,” she pauses, her hands pulling my head down so her lips are hovering over mine, “But also, at some point, I’m going to want to give you a show.”
My body immediately tightens at the thought. Pulling her against me, I wrap my arm around her waist, brushing my lips on hers gently as I ask, “Is that so?”
“Mmm hmm,” she responds, her mouth curving up into a coy smile. “Maybe dinner and a show.”
“Only if you’re dinner,” I whisper, pressing my lips against hers more firmly. She sighs then kisses me back, her mouth opening for my seeking tongue without provocation. Our kiss is slow, thorough, but then I’m pulling back with a groan, only to find her staring at me with heated eyes.
“Maybe you wanna give me that show now?” she teases, her eyes focused on my obvious hard on beneath my sweatpants.
I squint as I retort, “You behave.”
“Boring.”
I sigh heavily as I back out of the room, knowing I have to get my ass moving or I’ll be late for practice. If you’re going to be late you may as well call out cause your ass is going to be grass either way. She watches me go, then sits heavily on the sofa, pretending to be put out.
Ten minutes later I’m back, shoes on, gear ready. She’s flipping channels, muttering to herself, and I can’t help but smile at her. She’s finally starting to feel better physically, which leads me to believe things will fall into place as we go.
“I’ll be back soon,” I say, placing a kiss on her temple before straightening. “I’ll check in and see if you need me to grab anything before I head back.”
“Okay,” she says. “Babe.”
I turn to leave when her phone buzzes. She retrieves it then says, “The legal lady is here. Can you send her up when you get down there?”
“Of course,” I reply, hefting my gear over my shoulder and heading for the door. “What’s her name?”
She goes back to her messages then says, “Jennifer Rhoades.”
“I got you,” I singsong, already at the door. “Babe.”
I hear her laugh as the door closes, and I find myself smiling at my reflection in the mirror in the elevator. I reach the lobby to find a blonde woman standing near the bank of elevators. She’s not quite middle-aged, but obviously doesn’t do much with herself in terms of accentuating her looks. She smiles at me shyly as she says, “Mr. Rafferty, thank you for taking the time to assist.”
“It’s no problem at all,” I reply, holding the door open for her. She walks in, turns to face me as I press the correct floor. “Take a left out the elevator, last door on the right. Number 7.”
She beams a smile and gushes, “Thank you so much. These buildings are so big, they can be quite daunting.”
I give her a quick nod then release the door, not waiting for it to close before I’m booking it out the door. One good thing about the location of my apartment is how close it is to the arena. Worse case, I could sprint it and get there in record time.
I’m almost to the arena when my phone rings in my pocket, so I remove it to check the caller ID. Conrad. I send him to VM because I don’t have time to be late, not even for the big boss.
Shoving the phone back in my pocket, it immediately starts ringing again. I retrieve it once more, frowning to see it’s Conrad again. I sigh, annoyed I have to talk to him, but knowing it must be important if he’s doing do back-to-back call like that.
“What’s up, Conrad?”
“Ren, where are you?”
