She squeaks and tries to roll to the side, pushing her hair out of her face. “Sorry! Damn it. I…” Tessa lifts her hand, wincing just a little.
“It was my fault. I wasn’t watching.” I let her go fully, the loss of her is a physical ache, but she’s still close. I lift my fingers, brushing an errant strand off her back.
She sucks in a breath, and I can see the war raging inside of her beautiful blue eyes. “No, it was me. Shit, my hand hurts. I got it caught when I fell and tweaked it a little.”
Her lashes flutter, and I move my hand down her delicate neckline, over her smooth shoulder, down to her wrist and lift her hand. “Right here?” I ask as I rub the area softly.
Tessa nods.
“Does this feel better?”
“A little,” her voice cracks at the end.
“What about now?” I move my hand up to her palm, massaging it gently.
“Yes.”
I lean in, inspecting her soft, delicate skin. There’s no marks, no swelling yet, and while I may not be a doctor or know shit about this, I was an athlete. I had my fair share of sprainsand tears. Nothing feels out of the ordinary, other than this tightening in my own body. Slowly, I lift her arm up and press my lips to her skin.
Tessa gasps softly, and I look into her blue eyes that are filled with desire.
I could kiss her.
She’d let me.
But she’d regret it.
So, I release her arm. “I think it’ll be fine.”
She nods. “Okay.”
I get to my feet and extend my arm. “Here, let me help you up.”
With her other arm, she grips my wrist and I get her to her feet. She doesn’t release me immediately. “Thank-you.”
I nod and then she lets go. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later.”
“Tournament is coming up in two weeks. We have the first seed,” Miles says as he’s looking at the website.
“Well, we’re undefeated so I would hope we’d be at the top,” Everett notes as he tosses his bag on the grass.
We’ve had a great run this season. Our first year in this league was absolutely terrible. I honestly didn’t have a lot of hope, but we turned it around. Going from a larger team to a smaller one was an adjustment after we were kicked out of the college league thanks to an anonymous complaint.
Next year we’re considering bringing someone else onto the team and playing in a new league.
“Does it show the other teams registered?” I ask.
“Nope, just where we’re seeded.”
That’s dumb.
Miles puts his phone down. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll practice and be ready for whoever it is.”
Everett snorts as finally Lachlan gets here. “Oh, look who’s late this time!”
“I know, I know.” He has his hands raised.
