7. Kickoff
Kickoff
P ounding on the bathroom door shook him from his daydreams. Fucking eh, he needed to get his own place. Taking his hand off his cock, he shut off the water and hollered at his sister on the other side of the door. “Wake your ass up earlier so I can take a damn shower in peace.”
Wrapping the towel around his waist, he didn’t hurry as he brushed his teeth, applied deodorant, flossed… taking his time to drive his sister nuts.
A few minutes later, the pounding started again. “Dammit, Finn. I’ve got a date tonight.”
Fine. He swung open the door, nearly earning himself a punch in the face as she went to knock again. Catching her fist midair, he shook his head. “Not with the cyclist?”
“No. You were right, he was only looking for wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.”
Chuckling, he let go and stepped past her. “I believe I said he was a player, not interested in anything more than a night or two.”
“Yeah, but I liked the way I said it better.” She headed into the bathroom, holding the door open while she hammered him with twenty questions. “What about you? Did you make it clear to Haley that you’re not looking for anything? You have to be up front about these things.”
“She’s in the middle of a divorce and has no interest in anything but my body. All good.”
“Wow, I never thought I’d congratulate you on establishing a sex-only relationship, but I’d have to kick her ass if she tried to rope you into something you’re not ready for.”
He shifted his weight to his other foot. “You know, I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to women.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure about that?”
“Enjoy your date.” He saluted and backed up before turning to hole up in his bedroom.
Snagging his phone, he glared at the screen. How did one ask a rebound on a date, without sounding like he was looking for a booty call? He genuinely wanted a friendly dinner. If more was on the menu, well, he’d play it by ear.
He dropped onto the foot of his childhood bed; full-sized and too damn small.
He could hear his dad puttering around the kitchen.
Zoe had started the shower. Evan should be getting back in tonight.
Paper-thin walls, cramped quarters compared to his apartment in San Francisco, but it was good to be home.
After staring at the screen for longer than he cared to admit, he punched in Haley’s number.
“Hey,” she answered, panting and out of breath like she’d just had her way with him, slick and flushed atop him.
Shaking his head, he emptied the image so he could speak. Voice a bit hoarse despite his efforts, he responded, “Hey. You sound out of breath.”
“I am.” She laughed, still catching her breath but coming easier now.
“I was putting my brand-new sheets on my new California king bed. This thing’s gigantic, and I am not convinced the sheets I bought for it are accurately sized, but they were on sale so I can’t complain.
I’ve gotten a full workout getting the fitted sheet over the corners. ”
“Sounds like you’re getting some furniture in.”
“Well, I have a bed and a few lamps, but that’s it. This starting from scratch business isn’t easy. Plus, I want to get good stuff that I can link to whatever I highlight on my blog to make a commission if anyone uses my link to order one for themselves.”
“Good plan. Seriously, call if you need help with anything. There’s no gym in this town and I could use the workout.”
“I’ll be happy to help you with that.” He could picture her lopsided grin on the other side, daring him to get closer.
“Actually, this place has five bedrooms, so I was thinking of turning one into a home gym, but that’s not going to happen for a while and will take a bit of research to get it right.
And, as stated, fixing this place up is a hell of a workout. ”
“You don’t need much equipment if you know what you’re doing.”
“You’re hired. When I get to that room, I’m calling you.”
“Sold.” Before he lost his nerve, he blurted out, “Hey, so, uh, a buddy of mine owns a restaurant about an hour north of here. Nice place. Plus, less gossip.”
“That is a plus. I don’t need my ex finding any more excuses to drag me through the mud.”
“Ouch.”
“That’s Nate. Anyway, yes, dinner away from the Foothills gossip mill sounds amazing.”
“K. Can you make it tonight? Or I can swap with Pete, our other bartender, and we can do tomorrow? I’m open.”
“I’m having dinner with my brother tonight. I can do any other night, so you don’t have to switch your schedule around.”
“No problem; Pete’s flexible about that stuff, especially as it usually winds up with him getting extra hours.” He laid back on his bed, his legs extended, feet hanging off the edge. “I guess I didn’t know you had family in town.”
“I’m from Foothills originally, but my parents divorced when I was in middle school and I moved to California with my dad.” He could hear fabric moving on the other end of the line, like maybe Haley was lying on her bed too.
Too soon for phone sex? Yes, definitely yes. Real sex first. Damn, he needed to get that woman naked.
What was wrong with him? He and Trace had just broken up. In all the time they dated, he hadn’t once considered phone sex. Hadn’t once lost sleep imagining her naked, and she was attractive. But Haley… yeah, this rebound thing was a brilliant plan.
Shaking the phone sex idea from his head, he answered, “I didn’t move to Foothills until freshman year of high school. Wait, who’s your brother?”
“Brothers, but only one lives in town. Grady Mallory.”
“Damn this is a small town. Grady was a few years ahead of me, but we were on a lot of the same teams, so we hung out a lot. He’s been a good friend since I moved back. Wait, I think he said his sister just moved back to town. Married to some asshole that slept with everyone.”
Snorting on the other end, she griped at her brother, “Thanks, Grady.”
Finn winced. “That came out wrong. Really, your brother isn’t gossiping about you.
He knew I just got out of a heavy relationship.
Grady and Asher and Zane and Lincoln dragged me out and got me trashed.
You know, what guys do when there’s a break-up.
Honestly, I think Grady was trying to make me feel better by telling me about you, that it could be worse. ”
“That sounds so much better than ice cream and cookie binges women are stereotyped to enjoy. Lucky me, Nate had slept with all my friends, so I quit eating for a while and binged on STD testing instead.”
“Damn, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m over it. Well, not that you ever get over that sort of thing, but I’ve got a squeaky clean bill of health and am thrilled to be far, far away from it all. Anyway. You just listed half of my favorite people from Foothills. I had such a crush on Asher growing up.”
Finn’s abdomen vibrated as he shook with laughter.
“You and all the other girls. Seriously, I was being wooed by half the Pac-12 coaches, made headlines on a regular basis, but all I ever heard, even from my girlfriend, was what a hottie Asher Sutherland was. If he wasn’t my partner in advanced calc and my carpool buddy for running start classes, I would have kicked his ass.
He didn’t deserve half the shit he was blamed for anyway. ”
“Advanced calculus, and yet you made a career in football instead.”
“Hell yeah. Doesn’t take advanced calc to see I would have made a fraction as much money as an engineer or a professor.
” He rested his hand on his bare abdomen, holding the phone to his ear with his other hand.
He really needed to message Pete that he didn’t need him tonight, but he couldn’t seem to tear himself away from the phone.
“Ahab’s or Black Op?”
“What?”
“I can’t picture you getting trashed in your own establishment.”
“Oh, right. We hit Ahab’s as Grady and Zane didn’t want to risk me puking at their place. Why?”
“I’m just picturing the five of you raising hell. Two attorneys, two Navy SEALs, and a fricking hot wide receiver. Just saying, bet you guys turned some heads.”
Realizing he was still wearing nothing more than a wet towel, he immediately pictured her doing the same. Didn’t matter if she was or not, the image was too good to question. “Say wide receiver again.”
“What? Why?” She giggled on the other end.
“Okay, I don’t ever want to compare anyone, especially my rebound to my ex, but I like hearing that you know what position I play. She was completely ignorant of football, never quite understanding why I loved the game, maybe more than I cared for her.”
“I’m sorry. I get that she would have wanted to be more important to you than a game, but you could tell just watching you play, that it meant the world to you.
You weren’t in it for the money or the fame.
I remember the playoffs two years ago, when Green Bay intercepted, and you were knocked out of the playoffs; that was pure heart. ”
Damn he loved listening to her talk. She nailed it; that play had shattered him. “Send me the link to follow your blog. If we’re going to talk shop on our date, I want to be well informed.”
“I won’t say I love it like you love football. It’s more of a hobby. A marginally profitable one.”
“Does it make you happy?”
“Yeah. Yeah it does. I like making things look fresh and new and homey and welcoming.”
“Then I want to see it.”
“Okay. I’ll text you the link.”
A fist pounding on his bedroom door scared the shit out of him. What had he been saying about getting his own place? Good to be home, but a shred of privacy would be nice.
Pops sounded confused, his rumbling voice asking, “Finn? Pete messaged me, wants to know if he’s supposed to be working tonight or not?”
“Shit, sorry.” He stood up and the towel unlatched, falling to the ground as he moved to find clean clothes. He covered the receiver and hollered, “No, I’m heading in to work in a few, thanks.”
Haley yelped, “Oh, shit, me too. I said I’d be at Grady and Claire’s at five. I’m not even dressed yet.”
Insta-hard, he cleared his throat and couldn’t help but ask, “Really? Is it too soon to ask what you’re wearing?”
Enticingly lyrical, her laugh trilled as she answered, “If you must know, I had just put my clothes for tonight in the dryer when I got out my new sheets, so, well, I am in nothing but a bra and panties.”
Exhaling slowly, he tried to find his voice. “I knew I shouldn’t have asked. This hard-on’s not going anywhere, anytime soon. I may as well call in sick.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet.”
Chuckling, he snagged a t-shirt from his top drawer. “Hey, honesty is the best policy, right?”
“I think I’m liking this rebound thing. What time are you picking me up tomorrow?”
“Would it be pathetic if I said noon?”
“Noon would be fine, but we might beat the dinner rush by, you know, a few hours.”
He chuckled. “Pick you up at six? It’s about an hour away if we take the backroads. If we’re early, there’s a nice trail by the restaurant.”
“Perfect. See you then.”