11. Kalen
11
Kalen
I can’t help but smile as I take in Sahara’s scrunched up nose as she sits on the bench near her front door and ties her sneakers. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
Her head lifts. “I want to run…said no sane person ever.”
I laugh at that, and squat down in front of her. Pushing her hands away, I finish tying her sneakers and she leans back against the wall. “It’ll be fun.”
She snorts out a laugh. “Fun or not, I need to run. I ate far too many tacos last night. I’m mad that you introduced me to Antojo’s.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. Now I’m going to be craving tacos. I think I actually dreamt about them last night.”
“Babe.” I kiss her softly. “Go ahead and eat as many tacos as you want.” I stand and pull her to her feet, and when her body collides with mine, I wrap my hands around her and grind against her. Jesus, why can’t I get enough of this sweet girl? “I promise to always help you burn the calories.”
She narrows her eyes. “By running.”
“Nope, by taking you to bed and putting my cock inside you.” A fine shiver goes through her, and my body reacts. Last night after tacos, we found ourselves back in her bed, and we had sex a couple more times. I would have gone for round three, but I only had two condoms. I make a mental note to store a box in her nightstand, next to Clit Eastwood. Yeah, we plan to do this more, at least until after Halloween.
She lifts her face to mine, her eyes half closed. “Mmm, I like the sound of that.”
“Good.” I pick up her wool hat and put it on her head. It’s chilly this morning and fortunately I always keep a change of clothes in my car, which means I don’t have to run in my jeans. I fix my own hat and open her door. A cool gust of wind whips around me. I glance up and see the sun trying to break through the clouds. “It should warm up.”
“Yeah, I checked the forecast. It’s supposed to get nice later. We really have been having a great October.” She hugs herself. “I’m not looking forward to winter.”
After living in New York and Connecticut. I’m used to the cold. “Much different from a Washington state winter.”
She glances at her feet, her hair shielding her face. “Yeah.”
“Ready?”
She waves her hands. “Lead the way.”
I step out onto her porch and she follows me, locking up behind herself. On the road, I start off slow, and check in with her to make sure the pace is okay. The air feels good against my face as we run, and when I notice she’s easily able to keep up, I round the corner and go a tiny bit faster.
Our feet hit the pavement, and we run in place when we come to a red light. It turns green and we’re off again. As I keep a close eye on her, we manage to put some distance behind us. I turn the corner and we do a big loop, circling another block.
As her steps become a bit slower, I stop jogging, and instead do a brisk walk. She does the same and smiles up at me.
“This is actually kind of nice,” she states, looking a bit surprised.
I nod in agreement as the downtown streets grow busier, everyone out shopping on this Saturday morning. “Endorphins.”
“How did you get into hockey?” she asks, completely changing the subject.
“My father was a fan.” I try not to sound bitter as I say that, but whenever I think about what he did to our family, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Did he play?”
“No.” My voice comes out much harsher than I meant.
She winces. “I’m sorry. I was just curious.” She nudges me with her elbow. “We can talk about something else.”
“No, I’m sorry, Sahara. It’s just.” I scrub my face and the image of my dad fucking around flashes in my brain. “I don’t really talk to my dad. We don’t get along.”
“Sorry to hear that. My parents and I don’t get along all that well either,” she admits quietly me, and glances at the sidewalk. “I mean, we get along. They just want to run my life, you know.” She gives me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “No matter what, they’ll never be proud of me.” Her face pales as she turns away, shaking her head, and I get the sense that she didn’t mean to tell me any of that.
“Do you have siblings?” I ask, curious.
A tortured sound jumps from her throat. “Sorry,” I begin. Nudging her, I take a line from her playbook. “We can talk about something else.”
She goes quiet for a moment, and then begins, “I do have siblings. Four. Two older brothers. Two older sisters.”
As she opens up to me my head rears back, surprised by her answer. “That’s amazing.” A hard wave of longing grips my gut.
She must recognize it because she responds with, “You can have them.”
“Why, you don’t like them?”
She shrugs but there’s pain in her eyes. “I like them, I just don’t think they like me.” She moves closer to me as a group of people come our way. “I’ll take your sister. Maybe we’d be close.”
“Why do you think they don’t like you?”
Jesus, that’s gut wrenching. I can’t imagine not being close to Taylor. She’s everything to me.
“My two older brothers are best friends, and my two older sisters are best friends. Each pair do everything together. I was never much involved. I’m different from them all.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is,” she responds, working with the cards life dealt her, but she’s hurt. It’s obvious in the way she’s curling into herself. “Do you want a big family, Kalen?”
“I…I don’t think that’s going to happen for me.” She angles her head and stares at me, because yeah, I didn’t really answer her question.
“You should have a big family. Find the right woman and start popping out babies.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I respond under my breath. She doesn’t say anything, so I’m not sure she heard me and that’s good. She doesn’t need to know anything about my demons. Quickly changing the subject, I begin, “I actually didn’t think you had any siblings.”
Her head jerks back a bit. “Why?”
I shrug. “I guess…after the game when you said it was nice that I involved Taylor. You seemed a bit sad. I assumed you wanted, but never had, brothers or sisters.” She stares straight ahead, her body stiff. “I’m sorry you’re not close, and as far as being different goes, nothing wrong with that. If we were all the same, how boring would that be?” I try to put a smile on her face but it doesn’t work.
Instead, she briefly closes her eyes like what she’s about to say next pains her. “They’re all very successful. Mom and Dad are so proud of them.”
“Ah, I see.” I shouldn’t probe but I can’t help but state, “Your parents aren’t happy with your acting choices.”
“You could say that.” She eyes me, and something flickers there, something that looks like hesitation. It’s like she wants to ask questions, but isn’t quite sure she should. Sure, she just opened up to me, but I can only assume she doesn’t really want to forge any kind of relationship outside of the bedroom. Last night she didn’t want to go for a drink and then something came over her and she quickly changed her mind. My sister always tells me it’s a woman’s right to change her mind, so I didn’t ask, but it doesn’t mean I’m not still curious. “Taylor said you grew up in Darien with your grandmother,” she finally says.
Darien…
My mind instantly flashes back to the night I kissed and touched Darien Lewis in the closet.
“Yeah. Moved there in high school.” I fall quiet for a long time, missing my mom and happy that she never knew what Dad was up to behind her back when she was so sick. I have no problem with Dad’s sexuality or partner, it’s the way it all went down that guts me and I wished he’d been honest with Mom. Honest with who he really was.
She looks a little hesitant when she asks, “Are your folks still there?”
Her hesitation once again reminds me this is just sex. She’s just making conversation. Which is fine. I’m fine. I don’t want more either, and we do have to talk about something on this run. We’ve already discussed the weather.
“No, my grandmother took care of us. Mom died when I was fourteen, and I didn’t want to stay with my father. He’s still in New York.”
Her hand lands on my arm, and she gives it a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Kalen. I didn’t know.”
“Thanks. It was a long time ago.”
“Still tough.”
As my heart aches with longing, I glance at Sahara. “She would have loved to see Taylor on the stage. She was supportive of everything we did. I’m really sorry that it’s not the same for you. You’re amazing on stage.”
She pulls her hand back, and her lips thin to a fine line as sadness washes over her face. After a long moment, she responds with, “She would have been so proud of you, Kalen. Making it to the NHL.”
“Yeah.” We both fall quiet lost in our own thoughts, as we approach the Nook, Gina’s café. I’m not sure if Gina is working today. She usually takes weekends off. Which is too bad. I’m sure Sahara would like to meet her. “Want to grab a coffee and breakfast?”
She glances behind us. “We really didn’t make it very far.”
“Is that a no?”
“That’s a yes.”
I laugh. “We did enough for today. I don’t want you to hate running with me.” Fuck, what am I saying? Why did I even ask her to come today, and am I really suggesting we do it again?
Yes, because you like hanging out with her.
“I actually enjoyed it.”
I laugh. “Liar.”
She flinches a bit at that one word, but then quickly counters, “No, it’s true. Endorphins. I’ve got all the good feels.”
I pull open the door, and we’re instantly greeted with the delicious smells of pastry and coffee. “I’m working out with a few of the guys this afternoon, and I can hop on the treadmill. Unless of course you want to finish our run after we eat.”
I hold the door open and Sahara enters. The place is packed, not a free table to be found. She glances back at me. “This place is so cute.” Just then I spot Tuck and Roman. This is one of Elias’ favorite places too. Where is he this morning? Last night, he seemed distracted by something. I consider texting him, but decide to wait until I’m home.
“Hey Coolio, what’s up, dude?”
Catching me by surprise, Sahara goes up on her tiptoes and whispers, “Coolio is cute, but I like Mr. President better.”
“Jesus,” I curse. “You can’t say that to me in public.” I resist the urge to adjust my tightening sweats, which do little to hide a boner.
“I can, but I’m guessing I shouldn’t?” The adorable twitch in her lips thickens my cock even more.
“No, you shouldn’t. I’m going to say hi to the guys. Do you want to wait here?” She hesitates. “Unless you want to say hi.”
“No, I’m good.” Shit, did I insult her? “I didn’t think you’d want to be bombarded with questions, and Roman, while I love the guy, can be an ass sometimes, in the nicest possible way.” Not that he’s rude to any of our girlfriends or wives, but we’ve been at bars and as soon as he flashes his grin at a girl—even if she came with another guy—she always left with Roman. I don’t think he’d do that to any of his teammates, though.
Are you worried about that, dude?
Fuck me sideways.
She laughs at that. “A nice ass.” She goes onto her toes again, and whispers, “Like yours.”
“No more running for you. Too many endorphins.”
She laughs and breathes in the scent of cinnamon, as a server comes from the kitchen with a new tray. “Cinnamon rolls also give me endorphins, but probably won’t do much for my ass.” She gives me a nudge. “Go say hi. I’ll grab that table there.” She points to a table that’s clearing out.
“Be right back.”
As she waits for the table to be cleared, I walk over to the guys. “Why aren’t you sitting with us?” Tuck asks.
“Afraid your girl will dump you and fall for this?” Roman teases and points to the dimples on either side of his cheeks.
“She’s not my girl,” I correct. “She’s a friend of Taylor’s, and she had a problem last night, so I was helping her out.”
Roman snorts. “Yeah, I bet you were.”
“Roman,” I warn and glance over my shoulder to make sure Sahara can’t hear him.
“That’s why you didn’t come for drinks?” Tuck asks, not an asshole at all. I nod and can’t seem to tear my gaze away as Sahara tugs off her hat, takes a seat and picks up the menu. As if feeling my eyes on her, she lifts her head and gives me a small smile. I smile back and she lifts her arm and waves. I’m about to wave back, when I realize she’s greeting Tuck and Roman. I turn back to see them wave.
“She’s cute,” Tuck says, his brow furrowed, as his gaze briefly searches the café. Is he looking for someone? Maybe Elias is here.
Before I can ask, Roman opens his mouth. “How’s Taylor?” he asks as he takes a big bite of his cinnamon roll.
“Stay away from her.”
“Dude, these.” He points to his dimples again. “I can’t control what they do to the women. You know this.”
I roll my eyes at him, but yeah, I do know this. “Fuck off.”
Tuck laughs and gestures with a nod. “Go sit with your friend. Tell Taylor I said hi.”
I pause. “Is Elias here?” I ask. Maybe he went to the bathroom or something.
“Nah, couldn’t make it today,” Roman answers around a big bite of cinnamon roll.
“Maybe he’s having family troubles, again.” I don’t miss the concern in Tuck’s eyes. We’re a team and all care about each other. Maria steps up to the table, and Tuck sits up a little straighter as she says hi to me.
“Hey, Maria.” I tap the table, unease taking up residency in my gut. I hope Elias’ family aren’t being too hard on him. Poor guy doesn’t even go out anymore. He spends most of his time off sitting at home. “I’ll talk to you guys later.” As I head back to the table, my heart beating a little faster as Sahara smiles up at me, I think about asking her if she knows any single actresses she works with. Elias could use a nice girl in his life, and hey, maybe we could all double date.
Double date?
What the fuck am I even saying?