Chapter 70
Seventy
The cabin was quiet except for their breaths and the sound of clothes being pulled away.
Cassie dragged Delilah’s shirt up, needing skin to skin. Delilah gasped when their bodies met, and Cassie swallowed the sound with another kiss.
Her hands mapped Delilah’s curves as they clung to each other. Cassie’s mouth trailed down her neck, teeth catching just enough to make Delilah shiver. That shiver lit something dangerous in Cassie. She wanted more.
Maybe Petra was sending people to eject them, maybe she was a bit busy trying to save her arse. Cassie didn’t care. She was in the moment, completely wrapped up in Delilah. Someone could have set the cabin on fire; Cassie wouldn’t have stopped until the flames licked her arse.
She picked Delilah up, and Delilah instinctively wrapped her legs around her waist. Cassie carried her over to the bunks and eased her onto the top one, which came up to about Cassie’s head.
Cassie used that head height to its fullest advantage, pressing herself closer, spreading Delilah’s knees just enough to get in.
Delilah groaned and grabbed Cassie by the hair, the perfect mix of gentle and firm.
The security men didn’t come. But Cassie saw to it that Delilah did. Again, and again.
***
Afterwards, they were slumped together on the top bunk, tangled in the quiet aftermath.
Cassie brushed a stray lock of hair from Delilah’s damp forehead. ‘I’m going to have to put you through it, Delilah,’ she muttered.
A naughty smile appeared on Delilah’s lips. ‘You already did.’
Cassie shook her head. ‘No, I mean… on the courts.’
‘Oh, we’re back to business?’ Delilah said with a tut and an eye roll. ‘Fine, hit me.’
Cassie pushed back the desire to kiss Delilah’s mischievous little mouth. ‘It’s not going to be like this. The courts we can use are going to be grimy and forgotten, the kind of places nobody even bothers to book. They’re crap, but it’s the last option at short notice.’
Delilah nodded. ‘Consider me warned.’
‘I’m sorry everything got so messy here. We shouldn’t have come,’ Cassie apologised.
Delilah looked at her like she’d lost the last of her marbles. ‘You didn’t know Petra would do this.’
‘I should have, though. I should have seen it coming.’
‘Stop it,’ Delilah admonished gently.
‘I won’t. I need to apologise to you. I’ve become… messy. That’s not what you came to me for,’ Cassie said.
She meant it. Everything had spun far beyond what she could have imagined.
All she was supposed to do was train Delilah to play well enough to fake it onscreen.
Instead, she’d dragged her to a camp run by her toxic ex, thrown her into unnecessary drama, and ended up getting her exposed online.
It was, to put it mildly, well beyond the remit.
‘You’re not messy,’ Delilah said.
‘I am a little messy,’ Cassie insisted.
Delilah sighed. ‘Fine. You are.’ And then she shrugged.
‘That’s it? Shrug? I’ve put your career in jeopardy.’
‘It was in jeopardy long before Petra got involved,’ Delilah said with a light laugh. ‘It’s never been in anything else, as a matter of fact.’
Cassie cleared her throat. ‘OK, you’ve forced my hand. I have to tell you something.’
Delilah’s smile dropped. ‘What?’
‘I watched your show. After we started training.’
Delilah groaned. ‘God, no. Why the hell would you do that?’
Cassie gave her a rueful smile. ‘Curiosity. The reason I’m telling you this is because… you’re good. The show sucks. But you’re good. You deserve this opportunity. And even if something took it, there would be others. You’re a talent.’
Delilah’s grin softened. ‘That’s sweet. Mortifying for me.
But sweet.’ She gave a little nervous laugh.
‘Since we’re confessing things… I’ve watched you play.
A lot. At first, I just watched a few clips to know who was going to train me, but then…
I couldn’t stop watching. I found every televised match you ever played, just about. ’
Cassie raised an eyebrow, shocked. ‘What?’
‘It was kind of addictive. You’re unreal.’
Cassie tried not to let herself get a big head. ‘Maybe. Once.’
‘It sucks that you got injured. You’re great,’ Delilah said.
‘I might have been,’ Cassie said.
‘Present tense, Cassie. You are great,’ Delilah said.
Cassie licked her lips, looking away, overwhelmed. She traced her thumb along Delilah’s arm. ‘Yeah, great that I brought you here and exposed you to a narcissist with a grudge against me.’
Delilah shook her head gently. ‘Again, I’m shrugging.’ She waggled her shoulders dramatically in a way that made Cassie have to fight down laughter.
‘I trust you to get me through it,’ Delilah said.
Cassie let out a low laugh. ‘To get through what I caused?’
‘I mean it,’ Delilah said firmly. ‘I trust you.’
Cassie felt the weight of Delilah’s words. And then she felt a shot of terror. How real was this getting? Was she allowed to trust it? Or was she being very stupid right now? Was Delilah simply saying, What the hell else can I do at this point if I want this role?
Or…
Just then, a knock came at the door.
‘Security,’ a voice called.
***
As predicted, the guards escorted them out, past scandalised players and coaches, eyes wide and whispering. Not a trace of Petra anywhere, Cassie noted. Suffering privately, she hoped.
Delilah squeezed her hand. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ she smiled as they reached the car.
So they did. Cassie didn’t look back.