“Enjoy or tolerate?”
I sat my gym bag on the ground and stepped closer. “Either way, you’re still here.”
Emmie hummed but didn’t respond.
“You know,” I started, closing that last little bit of space and causing her to shuffle backward until she was pinned to her car, nowhere else to go.
My control was hanging by a thread as I rested one hand above her head and used my height to cage her in. I angledmy body so it wouldn’t touch her, still trying to respect her space. Her head was tilted back to meet my eyes, her blown pupils the only indication that my presence affected her.
“You act like you don’t like me,” I whispered, leaning in. “But I can feel your heart going crazy with me being this close to you.”
She swallowed, her fingers tightening at her sides.
“Careful,” I murmured near her neck, lips only a centimeter away from her skin. “You’re starting to give yourself away.”
My hand, the one that wasn’t braced above her, flexed. I wanted to reach out and touch her but wasn’t sure if that was the best move.
“You wish,” she muttered, finally meeting my gaze. Up close, I noticed her irises had little flecks of orange in them.
I leaned back just enough to grin at her. “Mm. If that were true, you’d have stepped away by now.”
Her lips parted like she wanted to argue, but she stopped herself. My grin only got wider at the lack of response. Making her speechless was going to become my number one priority. That, and seeing how far down her neck I could make her blush creep.
Not wanting to push my luck, I stepped back, putting distance between us, despite wanting to do the exact opposite. I ached to feel her lips on mine, but I’d wait.
I snatched my gym bag off the ground before gently tapping the hood of her car. “Until next time, firecracker.”
I turned and headed for my car, smiling to myself when I heard her scoff behind me.
“You left practice in a hurry,”Jake said through the phone pressed to my ear.
“Yeah, I had plans this afternoon,” I answered, only half-heartedly listening to what he was saying.
“Plans, huh?”The way Jake said it made me roll my eyes. He made it sound so dirty. Knowing him, he probably wiggled his eyebrows when he said it.
“I have a life outside of football.” I browsed the section in front of me at the grocery store. Next to me, a little girl no older than six with hair pulled into the world's highest ponytail looked at the same hair ties I did.
The elastic band holding her hair back was bright pink with little charms dangling at the ends. Hm, maybe I should ask her what to get. She seemed qualified enough with that hairstyle.
“Dude, you’re not even listening. What are you even doing right now?”
“Just shopping,” I mumbled, still distracted as I tried to find the best ties for Emmie.
I didn’t even know why I was here. All I knew was that as soon as I left Emmie at the rink, I got in my car and drove straight to a grocery store before heading for the women’s hair section. I wasn’t anticipating the entire aisle to be so overwhelming with all kinds of options.
“Is this about the coach’s daughter?”Jake questioned. I refrained from answering, although that was an answer in itself.“Dude, you are so fucked.”
“You have no idea.” After today, I was truly and utterly screwed when it came to Emmie. All it took was one ‘date,’ and I wanted to spend more time with her. “I got to go, but I’ll text you later.” Before he could say anything else, I hung up.
Without him yapping away in my ear, I focused back on the hair ties in front of me. I grabbed a pack of twenty blackbands that looked thick and sturdy, something Josie would definitely use herself.
My hand hovered over a set of scrunchies as I glanced over at the little girl. Her face was scrunched like she was having a hard time deciding. I slowly squatted down beside her, not wanting to be intimidating or scary before speaking.
“Need some help?” I asked softly. She glanced over at me with wide eyes. Worried she’d yell for her mom who stood a few steps away, I pointed to the pink hair ties that had fluffy stuff on them. “I really like these. Do you think I should get them?”
The little girl looked at me, then nodded rapidly. I smiled and reached out, taking a pack to add to the ones in my hand.
“And these,” she suddenly spoke, holding out ones that had strawberries, kiwis, and watermelons printed on them. I could already picture Emmie’s confused smile when I gave her them.
