Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Eden
“Right hand red,” Cassie, one of the children, calls out. She’s in a wheelchair with a broken foot. I was sick when I found out how that happened, so I’ll spare you the details.
“I just need to get right there.” I lift my hand and cautiously move it to a red circle.
“Good thing my arms are long,” Foster says, his hot breath next to my ear, as he aligns his body with mine, reaching over me to place his right hand on red.
“You’d better stay still,” he says, his voice low and husky, just loud enough for me to hear.
I wiggle my ass because I can, and he groans. I obviously didn’t think this through, because that sound, coming from that man, along with his crotch lined up perfectly at my ass, and I can—
Oh, shit. He’s hard. Now, I really want to squirm, but I force myself to stay still as I shudder out a breath.
“Told you to stay still, babe,” he mutters, again, his voice low, for my ears only.
He’s right. He did warn me. I’d love to say that I have regrets, but I can’t think of one.
I don’t have much experience with men. I could never trust anyone enough to get close.
I’ve seen and heard a lot of things, especially in the system, and besides, I didn’t have time.
I was working, trying to keep a roof over my head.
When I first started with Dust ‘N Shine right out of high school, I was also waitressing on any free days or nights I had off. Thankfully, pay raises have come and gone, and I’ve learned to budget well enough that I was able to let that second job go last year.
Now, I get to spend more time at the children’s home and with my best friend and her family.
Dating has been at the bottom of the list, and it still is, but Foster sometimes makes me think that dating should be moved to the top.
Honestly, if it were him I was dating, it would be the only thing on the list.
Yeah, my crush is in full swing. He’s sweet, sexy, confident, and there’s this protective thing he has going on: making me text when I get home, making sure I eat, and so many other small things. I tried not to fall for him. Truly, I did. But the man didn’t make it easy on me, and now, here I am.
With each day that passes, I fall a little more under his spell.
A spell he has no idea he’s casting. He leans forward, his hard length more prominent now, and then again, maybe he does know.
Either way, I have to stay calm, not react in front of the kids, and still be able to look him in the eye when this game is over without blushing.
Easy peasy, right?
“Right hand green!” Cassie calls, and she giggles as we try to make moves and topple over. Foster grabs me by the hips and rolls us so that we’re not crushing the kids. Laughter and cheers are all around us, but all I feel is… fire.
Deep in my veins, roaring with desire, as he holds me close. My back is to his front, and his hard length is still there.
“I can’t move yet,” he whispers.
“You might scare them,” I whisper back, and his entire body shakes with silent laughter behind me.
“You two okay down there?” Macie hollers. She’s one of the workers here at the home, and of course, she’d walk in now.
“Yep,” I quip, a little too quickly.
She grins, eyes flicking between the two of us. “It’s time for lunch, so I’m moving everyone to the dining room. You good to pack this up?” she adds, her smirk unmistakable.
My face has to be on fire. Foster’s arms are still wrapped securely around me from behind, his face buried in my hair like that’s exactly where he belongs.
I don’t even want to imagine what we look like right now.
No, actually, I can imagine it perfectly, and that’s the problem.
Macie’s smirk widens as she takes us in, and I’m pretty sure I’ve turned the exact shade of a ripe tomato.
“Yep. Yes,” I say again, flustered. “Clean up. Got it.”
Her laughter trails behind her as she leaves the room, and then it’s just us. The sudden quiet feels louder than the noise ever did. I start to pull away, bracing my hands against the floor to stand, but Foster’s grip tightens, steady and sure.
“Not yet,” he breathes, his voice low against my ear.
And just like that, I melt back into him.
There’s no resisting it—not with the way I’m falling for him, not with his arms strong around me, solid and warm, holding me like this is the safest place in the world.
If he asked me to stay right here on the floor with him, I would. For hours. Maybe forever.
I shut down that line of thinking, close my eyes, and focus on breathing evenly.
Somewhere in the distance, a door closes, and the last thing I want to do is pull away from him, but I also don’t want someone walking back into the rec room to see us cuddled up on the floor like this.
They’d kick us both out, telling us never to return.
Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but still, it’s bad enough Macie saw. I think the kids assumed it was just the aftermath of the game, but Macie knew it was something altogether different.
“We should go,” I tell him.
“Yeah.” He sighs. Lifting his head, he presses his lips to my temple before climbing to his feet with ease and offering me his hand.
There’s a tremor in my hand that I can’t quite control as I slide my palm into his and let him pull me to my feet. “Thanks,” I murmur, my voice softer than I mean it to be.
His hand settles at the small of my back, warm and steady, as if it belongs there. “You’re welcome,” he says, shifting slightly, and I catch the movement out of the corner of my eye, my pulse jumping for reasons I refuse to examine too closely.
“You good?” I ask, trying to sound casual, when we both know I’m being anything but.
He chuckles, low and easy. “Yeah, babe, I’m good. You ready to head home?”
Home.
The word lands heavier than it should, pulling my thoughts somewhere dangerous. Somewhere warm and imagined, where home isn’t just a place but a life we share. The thought sends my heart into a quicker rhythm, and suddenly, breathing feels like something I have to remember to do.
Danger.
I can’t do this to myself. I’ve gone twenty-five years without an attachment to a man, and I decide that this one, the one with a high-profile career, a massive condo, and a smile that sets me at ease, is the one my heart latches on to.
He’s not a bad choice, just not the right one for me. He’s already told me about the love of his life that he lost, and he’s gone this long without looking for love. I know that I’m only setting myself up for heartbreak. If only my head and my heart had gotten the same memo.
Do not fall for Foster Vaughn.
Yeah, that ship has sailed.
“Eden?”
“Sorry.” I shake out of my thoughts. “Yes, let’s head home.
We need to go say goodbye to everyone,” I remind him.
That’s something we’re both sticklers about.
These kids have been abandoned and left behind, just like we were as kids.
It’s important to say those goodbyes and the see ya soons.
If anyone understands that, it’s Foster and me.
Foster leads us to the dining room, his hand still pressing against my lower back. We say our goodbyes and promise to visit again soon before making our way outside. As he always does, Foster opens my door for me and waits for me to be buckled in before he closes it.
What would it feel like to have this kind of protection? No, not protection, but courtesy. To have someone in my life to worry about me and my well-being? Someone other than my best friend?
“Hungry?” he asks, once he’s settled behind the wheel.
“Yes, and we’re grabbing tacos,” I tell him, and he laughs.
“Well, all right, then. The lady wants tacos. She shall get tacos. Are you thinking drive-thru Mexican, sit-down Mexican, or a taco truck that’s always set up near the stadium? What are you feeling like?”
“I’m thinking the taco truck.” I grin. “Unless you’re worried about being noticed?”
“Got it.” Turning on his signal, he pulls out of the lot and heads toward the stadium. “Nah, for the most part, people leave us be. Besides, I’ll pull my hat down over my eyes, and maybe we’ll get lucky, and I won’t get noticed. I can just be a man, having dinner with a pretty lady.”
I nod, ignoring the butterflies taking flight at him referring to me as pretty. “Do you have to report at all during the offseason?” I ask him, changing the subject to something safer. Something that won’t make me think about his hands all over my body. I just hope it works.
“Not much. We have meetings, and some of the more popular players have PR gigs and whatnot. Nothing really mandatory until training camp.”
“When does that start?”
“Mid-July.”
“Do you miss it?”
“Yes, and no,” he answers. “I love the game. It’s my life at this point. But it’s also nice to get a break, eat things the nutritionist would raise her brow at, and get some downtime. The season is a lot. Practices and game travel take a lot out of you.”
“I can imagine how that would be, having to be on the road all the time. And it’s not like you can say you’re not feeling it and change your plans. Your job depends on it.”
“Yeah,” he agrees. “The guys, they struggled at first, having families and being gone, but they all seem to have found a rhythm. It was harder on Baker, being a single dad. Knox and Landry have it made because their wives work for the team, so they get to go with us. Although, I don’t think Corie has to; she chooses to.
I’m sure that’s going to change now that Alexander is here. ”
“That’s their son, right?”
“Yeah, he’s a cutie. He’s about two months old now, I guess. Or will be soon,” he muses.
“So, there’s Alexander, Camden, and Coral, right?”
“Look at you, paying attention,” he teases. “Well, I listen, too,” he tells me. “Carrie and her husband, Nick. Daisy and Summer are their daughters.”
“Handsome, athletic, and he listens? What a catch,” I say in a sugary sweet voice.