It was just a hookup in a bar bathroom. We both got what we wanted out of it, but even I’m not so delusional as to not admitthat there was something about her that left me thinking—no, obsessing—days after that.
There was something gravitational, the only way to even describe the pull I felt for her, something I’d never experienced before. That was why she’s been in every goddamn dream I’d had up until I saw her again in the practice arena that day.
I push open the door to my office, waiting for Maisie to walk through, and once she does, I shut it behind us.
She hasn’t said a single word since I threatened to throw her over my shoulder. The only sound filling the room is that of our breathing and the steady plink of water as it drips onto the linoleum off our clothes.
We’re both soaked from the rain, and it’s even colder in the air-conditioning than it was outside. I can see her shivering from across the room, her teeth chattering together as she wraps her arms around her front.
I walk over to the cabinet and start pulling out the Hellcats merch the department gave me when I started. They’re all fit for my size, so they’ll likely swallow her, but at least they’re clean and dry. It’ll keep her warm, unlike what she’s got on now.
“Here,” I grunt, extending the signature black sweatpants and hoodie toward her. “Put these on. They’ll be big, but they’re dry.”
She releases her lip from the cage of her teeth, something I’ve noticed she does frequently. “Does everyone jump when you bark commands at them?”
“Pretty much.”
With an exaggerated eye roll, she takes the clothes from me and sets them on the leather chair beside her. I expect her to tell me to turn around or for her to walk to the adjoining bathroom, but instead, she reaches down to the hem of her T-shirt and pulls it over her head, tossing it onto the floor.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, trying to keep hold of the thinning threads of restraint I have left. This girl is going to be the death of me.
I don’t look away, even though I know I should. I could lose my fucking head over this, but I can’t take my eyes off her.
Her chin lifts, those blue eyes burning into mine. “Oh? Should I turn around? It’s not anything you haven’t seen before,Coach.”
The way she saysCoachsounds like both an insult and a caress all in one, and fuck, it makes my dick hard.
Maisiemakes me hard, just looking at her, desperate to put my hands on her and knowing that I can’t.
I clench my jaw together as I grit my teeth, my control fraying, splintering, fracturing until I feel like I’m going to snap.
How long have I been grasping at that control, hanging on for dear fucking life?
I don’t bother answering the question because she didn’t ask it expecting a response.
She’s taunting me, seeing just how far she can push me until I pass the point of no return.
I can see it in her eyes, the sparkle of defiance shining brightly, thechallenge.
Even though there’s a tremor in her hand as she reaches behind her back and unhooks her bra, pulling the wet fabric down her arms and letting it fall to the floor with her shirt.
Jesus Christ, she’s fucking perfect. Her tits are the perfect handfuls, just enough to fill my palms with tiny little pink rosy nipples that are tight and peaked. Her skin is somewhere in the middle of sun-kissed and pale and silky, and even from too far away, I can tell how soft it would be.
A noise escapes from the back of my throat when she gathers her long blonde hair in her hands and wrings it out, the droplets running down her bare chest, down her exposed stomach.
I know what is at stake. I know the world of shit that will come down on both of us if we cross a line, if we blur it and do something that we can’t take back.
But the truth is, I’m not sure if I even give enough of a fuck to keep resisting her. To keep pushing her away when all I want is to touch her, kiss her, fuck her until she’s got my marks covering her skin.
I’m a selfish motherfucker, and I always have been. I want Maisie Delacroix to myself.
“You should stop staring at me like that,” she murmurs.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re going to break your own rules,Coach.”
My lip twitches.
