“You might like it, so no,” I call out as he wanders down the hall.
There's no door in this room. I make a mental note to go out and buy a curtain rod and curtain so I can have a little bit of privacy. Something really bright and definitely not gray. I want to make his head explode. I dig through my suitcase until I find what I'm looking for and then I carry it into the powder room across the hall and shut the door.
It's hard to change in here, because it's such a tight space, but I manage better than last night when I clocked my elbow on the vanity so hard I almost passed out. By the time the buzzer sounds for the front door I'm changed so I throw the jersey over my outfit but leave the rest of my clothes on the bathroom floor and race to the door. I don't want Nash to answer and send the guy away thinking it's a mistake. Luckily, Nash is nowhere in sight so I manage to get the DoorDash delivery without issue.
I thank the driver and carry the takeout bag into the living room. Nash isn’t there. I head up the stairs to his room and that’s when I see the staircase he mentioned earlier. It’s kind of like attic stairs you pull down only much more elaborate. I stand at the bottom of them and look up. The hatch to the roof is wide open and the inky sky is staring back at me. I start my climb.
Nash is in the hot tub, his head tipped up and eyes closed. I stand there looking at him for a hot second. He is, physically, a very attractive man. He’s started his playoff beard so his sharp, strong jaw has thick fuzz all over it. It’s mostly golden in color, but slightly darker than his hair. He has sharp cheekbones and really long eyelashes for a guy…
He sniffs and his eyes open. He sees me and something passes over his face. Something dark, and something that makes my insides ripple with delight. He blinks. “What are you doing here and what is that smell?”
“I wanted to see the hot tub and also, I ordered a post-game snack.”
I walk around the large cedar plank tub and hold the greasy paper bag out to him. He just stares at it like I’m trying to hand him road kill. I sigh and pivot, he’s hardly got anything up here. Just a couple of lounge chairs and a small table. I walk over, put the bag on the table, and drag it over until it’s against the side of the tub. He watches wordlessly as I tear open the bag and the garlic knots and small container of vodka sauce are revealed.
“That’s all carbs.”
“Yep,” I reply. “Glorious, garlicky, salty, buttery carbs. The vodka sauce can be classified as a vegetable since it’s mostly tomatoes.”
I pluck one knot from the pile, pull the lid off the vodka sauce, dip it in, and take a giant bite. He watches me, his face a mix of awe and horror. “These are what get me through my worst periods and my shittiest days.”
“Are they from C&O Trattoria?”
“Yep,” I say and smile as he groans.
“Those are the best. I don’t let myself eat them often but when I do… dear god they’re the best.”
There are two small cedar steps on the side of the hot tub, so I climb them with a new knot in my hand and dangle it over Nash. “Come on hubster. You know you want to. And you’ve earned it. I lied earlier. You didn’t play like shit. You were one of the only reasons you didn’t lose that game 5-nothing. You scored twice, hot shot. Have a knot.”
“I shouldn’t.”
I inch the knot closer and he slowly opens his mouth. I’m like a mama bird feeding its baby as I let him take a big bite as I hold it over him. He moans as he chews and I swear it makes me wet, which is so wrong. So ridiculously, heinously wrong.
“Enough with the sound effects,” I whisper, trying to sound unaffected. “If you keep it up, I’ll have to make goat noises again tonight.”
He chokes on the last swallow of the knot. I smile. When he’s stopped coughing he looks at me with a feral look again, a look I had no idea Nash had the ability to possess. “Why are you only in my jersey? What happened to your pants? Are you going to force me to implement a pants rule?”
I look at my shirt as I eat another knot. When I swallow I tell him, “I changed. Couldn’t let you hot tub alone. What kind of wife would I be if I did that?”
I quickly wipe my hands on a napkin and pull the jersey up and over my head. I’m wearing a very small tie-dyed bikini. To be fair, I didn’t bring it to sit in a hot tub with him. I figured I would sneak in some beach days since I had to live this close to the ocean. His jaw drops.
For some inexplicable reason, I feel self-conscious. "Can I join? I promise to keep my personality to a minimum."
“Ah… I… I…” He looks at the bubbling water around him. “I mean, I guess. Yeah. You can join but sit on the other side of the tub. And please, let that personality shine through. It will help me rein it in.”
Rein it in? I tilt my head and then, it hits me. He’s attracted to my body. I give him a little smirk and walk slowly up the stairs of the hot tub, making sure to swing my hips and tilt my ass and push my shoulders back so my boobs are on display. They may be little but they are perky. He drinks me in. I can feel his gaze all over my body and it’s hotter than the water I’m slowly sinking into.
I don't sit on the other side of the tub. I sit a couple of tiny feet away from him, so close our knees tap each other. After a minute of the two of us just staring at each other over the bubbling, steaming water, I turn and stand up, leaning over the tub, my ass in the air. I pluck another knot from the pile, skim it through the sauce, and turn so I'm leaning over Nash. "One more. Come on… I dare you."
He swears but then he opens his mouth. His eyes stay locked on mine as he bites the knot in half and chews. I pop the remaining half into my own mouth and that’s when his hands hit my thighs. He grips them like he owns them, just under the water, and my knees go fucking weak from how much it turns me on. “Not fair. You ate half. You dared me to eat another whole one.”
“Okay.” Why is my voice so uneven?
His hands still clasping my thighs, I twist my upper body and reach for another knot. After dipping it in the sauce, I feed it to him again. And this time he takes the whole thing in his mouth and his lips graze my fingers and I have to bite my lip to keep from reacting. Holy shit, I’m turned on. By Nash. What fresh hell is this?
He swallows but doesn't let go of my thighs. I shiver and he thinks it's from the air. "Sorry. Sit. Get warm."
He lets go of my legs and I drop onto the bench right beside him. Now our thighs our brushing. He shifts so he’s a foot away. I try not to take it personally. I shouldn’t want to feel his skin against mine. It’s like the worst possible thing that could happen. I reach over the side of the tub and bring up the remaining knots. We share them and Nash opens up. He rambles on about the game and all the things he thinks the Quake fucked up. All the ways they could have done better.
