His fingers gently brush just below my elbow. “Don’t be scared. It’s really a minor one, won’t even hit during high tide. Tomorrow it will probably be sunny with no wind,” he explains, and I appreciate that it seems he is trying to ease my concerns. He ends our touch so he can lean back on his barstool and get comfortable, as neither one of us can go anywhere.
“I’m not scared at all, so I won’t need your strong arms to hold me. I’m from the Midwest, I’ve been through plenty of tornadoes.”
Vaughn lifts his finger. “Now, a tornado and a hurricane are not the same thing, and once you realize that, then I’ll be here with my strong arms, willing to hold you.”
Warm heat hits my face, and I glance up to attempt to read his eyes, but my cheeks feel so tight from the wry smile I’m trying to keep tame. “You’ve been through a tornado? Where are you actually from? You’ve only played for Tampa for a short while, right?” I take a sip of my wine, hoping to ease my curiosity of where this will all lead.
“I’m from Colorado, and I’ve been down here for nearly seven years. Hence, my expertise on weather.”
“Maybe I’ll appreciate it when the lights go out.”
He leans in. “Hurricane or not, the lights will be going out.” It’s a low gravelly husk that makes my body tingle.
Again, I have to laugh. “What is this, really? It’s not like you’ve been thinking about me for two months, so if you found out I’m here and thought what the hell, let’s have some fun, then you are…” My lips quirk out, debating what to say, but I love honesty. “Not exactly mistaken.” I have no qualms about enjoying sex.
Now he chuckles. “Thought so.”
We look at one another with ridiculous smiles, a connection that feels far too natural. To some, he may appear way too cocky, but I can tell it’s all in good jest.
“Why aren’t you at your home? You do live here,” I point out.
“Well, as much as this is probably going to be an easy hurricane, the only anticipation that I have is in regards to you, when I discovered that you were here.” He grabs a handful of nuts from the bowl on the bar. “And by chance, you’re staying in the hotel that a buddy of mine invested in.”
Lines form on my forehead. “Did he help you land a room here then?”
Vaughn shakes his head. “Nah, me sitting before you about to blow your mind is all thanks to your friends freaking out about you being safe and my determined ability to nab a room using my celebrity status.”
A fond smile takes over me. “Hadley and Connor are great people. All of them are. Their parents, uncles and aunts, even the dogs. They’re family to me.”
A shade of interest and care hits his face while his gorgeous eyes narrow. “You don’t come from a big family?”
I tuck a few strands of hair behind my ear and look down at the floor then back up. “No, not at all. It’s me and Briggs. Our dad took off before I was born, and our mom, well, decided she didn’t want to be a mom and left when I was five, so we lived with our grandmother who passed a few years back. Never heard from either of our parents again, and truthfully, never want to.” Wow, I just laid it all out there, and it feels like a relieving whoosh.
Vaughn reaches out to touch my shoulder gently in a comforting manner. “Sorry to hear. I understand you completely. Our dad wasn’t around at all, except for the random times he would float in and out of our lives, always in trouble. Our mom really did it all as a single mom, but now she lives in New Mexico with a new husband, so we don’t see her much, as she is more occupied with her new marriage, and to be honest, has kind of forgotten us, as though we don’t exist.”
“We?”
“My older brother, Stone. He used to play hockey too, actually. We have a sports gene or something. Now, he lives in Chicago. We’re pretty close.”
“Older brothers can be great. Briggs and I are close, as you’ve figured out.”
He chuckles again, this time deeper and at the back of his throat. “Oh, I know. But I don’t particularly care about his opinions.”
I grab some peanuts. “That was always clear.”
“What is it you do exactly at the sports complex?” Vaughn wonders, and I like that we are, in a way, getting to know one another.
“I work in marketing. At first, it was for the summer camps that Ford runs, mostly for kids and charity events. Then it was the development summer training for young pro athletes. However, since the Spinners moved to Lake Spark to train, I liaison often with the team marketing department. I’m super lucky that Ford is my boss, as he is a good one, laid back and lets me come up with my own ideas. Trusts me until I have the end product,” I explain.
Vaughn’s lips purse out as he thinks about something. “Sounds kind of fun. I wanted to study sports management in college, but I was drafted at twenty so couldn’t finish. A shame, because I have only a few years, if at all, playing before I need to shift gears.”
“Well, you’re not the first guy to be in that situation.”
It’s darker than it should be in here because the hurricane shutters are closed as a precaution, but I think it’s late afternoon. I’m losing track of time because we’re picking up right where we left off two months ago.
“I wouldn’t have figured that you would manage to get yourself here, with determination flooding your eyes,” I note.
“You know, many people stress before a storm, but I always felt rest is key.”
