“Because I didn’t need one. Besides, I think we spendenough time together.”
“I’m sure we could survive an extra couple of minutes in the truck.”
“I’m not sure that I could.” She frowned and peered around. “Whereisyour truck?”
“Uh, Cammie borrowed it.”
“And your gear?”
“With Seth. I’m not stupid enough to carry it home.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance, but instead of responding she quickened her pace. “Okay, well, have a nice night.”
I didn’t let her get very far as I quickly stole her gear bag off her shoulder and heaved it on to my back. Damn, it was even heavier than my own crap.
“Hey!”
“Lucky for you, your house is on my way home.”
She tried to grab her bag back, but I didn’t let her.
“I don’t need you to carry my things for me.”
“And I don’tneedto drink coffee when I wake up, but it’s better for everyone if I do.”
“That’s completely different.”
“Can you stop being stubborn for five minutes?”
She hesitated. Surely she realized I wasn’t going to give up. That she was up against someone just as hard-headed as her.
“I’m walking you home,” I added. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
She lifted an eyebrow at me. “Have you met yourself?”
“I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
She glared at me, then suddenly seemed to accept the factit was pointless. “Fine.” She groaned and continued walking.
Feeling very pleased with myself, I fell into step beside her. I was struck by the scent of roses as we walked. And glancing at her, I noticed her hair was wet.
“You had time to shower before leaving?”
“Not all of us enjoy being sweaty.”
“Well,someof us have a trauma relationship with the locker room showers.”
She chuckled softly. It was so cute, it was almost worth losing my clothes for.
The corner of her mouth was tipping upward, and there was a sparkle in her eye as she stared at the path ahead. With her wet hair piled on top of her head and her cheeks still flushed from practice, I started to wonder why I was being so hard on myself for wanting to kiss her again. Mackenzie was beautiful. My stomach clenched and I quickly focused back on the sidewalk. I was supposed to be making thingslessawkward between us.
I gritted my teeth, trying my best to remind myself that Mackenzie Foster wasn’t interested in me. That her father would bench me if he caught me so much as glancing her way. Mackenzie was completely out of bounds for me.Forbidden. Unfortunately, the more that word echoed in my thoughts, the more it only seemed to be heightening the appeal. Why couldn’t I be the kind of guy who ran from danger, instead of charging straight into it?
I found my attention drifting toward her again, and this time she caught me. “Is there something on my face?”
“No.”
