Chapter 19
. . .
Will
Mason
Win or lose, when we play in Brooklyn, I need to go out and drink afterward.
Silas
Mid-season? How do you plan on getting that one past Coach?
Mason
By not telling him.
Silas
You’ll reek of alcohol the next day, and he’ll pick up on it.
Mason
My marriage is over for good. Whatever Coach thinks about me right now is the least of my worries.
Silas
Fuck. Seriously?
Tristan
Where is Eloise now?
Mason
Seriously. She isn’t coming back from France, and she wants a clean break.
Me
Fuck it. I’m in, buddy.
Tristan
One pint of beer, and you’ll be comatose.
Me
What can I say? I’m a cheap date.
Tristan
It’s almost worth me buying you a drink just so you’ll be quiet for the whole night.
Me
Oh, wait, if Tristan’s there, then I’m out. I have a reputation to uphold.
Tristan
And what a reputation it is. How many women did you bang in Pittsburg? Three, four?
Me
None. And this is about Mason. Stop being a dick.
Mason
No, by all means, you two carry on. Watching you two go at it is like a spectator sport, and it’s keeping my mind off whose bed my wife is currently warming.
Silas
You don’t think she’d move on to someone else that fast, do you?
Mason
We’re technically separated, and I know there’s at least one dude who will jump at the first chance he gets.
Me
Who are we beating up?
Mason
I appreciate the sentiment and you having my back and all, but unless you plan on boarding a plane to northern France and seeking out her childhood sweetheart, named Gabriel, then you might struggle.
Closing out the group text chat, I slide my cell into my pocket and pause outside Drew’s door.
Showing up here unannounced is in direct breach of rule three on her ridiculous list, but an hour of sitting on the other side of a table in a boring boardroom isn’t going to be enough for me.
All she did yesterday in our catch-up meeting was talk about Repeet and potential opportunities with other brands.
I need more.
Knocking a couple of times, I wait for a response, but get nothing.
It’s past seven p.m., so I know she’s finished in the office.
Maybe she’s at the gym?
Or at her parents’?
Or … fuck … maybe she’s out on a date and plans to do the same as Eloise.
I knock louder, fully convinced that she’s beneath another dude when her door finally swings inward and I’m met with a warm smile, which morphs into a scowl.
Her big eyes land on the bouquet of freesias in my hand, and a hint of warmth returns to her expression.
“Will, um …” Covered by nothing but tiny pink sleep shorts and a white tank top that cuts low at the front, Drew immediately pulls her lilac robe across her body and secures it with the tie. “Did I miss a meeting or something?” Her voice is as panicked as her face.
Fuck, why did I not consider that she could be semi-naked and—I peer over her shoulder into the living space and see a tub of ice cream sitting on the coffee table—eating all the sugar she could lay her hands on?
“You look cute as hell. And like you would ever miss a meeting,” I tell her, holding out the bouquet for her to take.
It took me ages to pick out what I thought she’d like best. In the end, I went with a pretty flower that packed an incredible scent. Everything about a freesia reminds me of Drew.
When she takes the flowers and smells them, her eyelids flutter closed. “So, why are you here?” Her eyes snap open, and I see an emotion in them that wasn’t there before. “And how did you know freesias were my favorite flower?”
I step closer to Drew, and the smell of the flowers has nothing on the strawberry sweetness emanating from her tonight. I’d love to bottle that shit and spray it on my pillows. Better yet, have the real thing lying next to me all night.
“This is where I could take all the credit and claim that I always knew they were your favorite flower. But that would be a lie, and I don’t bullshit.”
Still standing in the doorway, she brings the white and purple petals to her nose and inhales deeply. “They are my mom’s favorite, and I like that you picked them by chance, even if I’m not sure why I have them in the first place.”
Wincing, I grip the back of my neck. “They’re an apology and a just because.”
Drew steps to the side so I can enter and closes the door behind me.
“You know, you don’t need to apologize for having fun on an away series. So long as you aren’t breaking rule seven and arranging hookups via private messages that can be screenshot, then you’re free to do what you want.”
I don’t bother to turn around and face her, opting to take in the cozy setup she has in her living room.
A duvet is slung over the deep blue couch that faces a widescreen TV, which is paused on an episode of The Last Kingdom.
A spoon sits in a half-finished tub of chocolate brownie ice cream, and I’m pretty sure the empty mug beside it was once a hot chocolate, based on the smeared evidence around the rim, along with the pink lip stain.
And now I’m jealous of a fucking mug.
Kicking off my Repeet sneakers—which I only wore over here because I knew Drew would notice them—I take a seat in the center of the couch and tap the empty space to my left.
“Come sit.”
Drew frowns at me. “Last I checked, I was a human being and not a dog. You can’t order me to sit when it pleases you.”
Without a word, I rise from the couch and walk over to her, taking the flowers in one hand and interlacing our fingers with the other. She doesn’t fight me on it, and for once, I love how compliant she’s being.
“Baby, if I had my way, I’d be commanding you to do a lot more than just sit. Unless …” I trail off, and a filthy smirk traces my lips. “Unless you were sitting on my—”
“Stop!” Drew interjects. Deep pink, the same color as her sleep shorts, creeps down her neck. “I know what you were insinuating.”
Still smirking, I lead her over to the couch, and she takes a seat next to me.
I reach behind us and pull her light-blue duvet across our laps.
“Will … what the fuck are you doing?” Drew’s protest is weak, and she knows it.
Throwing her a big, cheesy grin, I set the flowers down next to me and grab the TV remote from the armrest, hitting Play.
She sighs heavily.
“I didn’t know you liked to watch violence,” I say.
Drew reaches across us both and pauses the program again.
I point toward the TV. “I was watching that.”
Grabbing the duvet, she yanks it away from me. “You shouldn’t be here. Watching TV and pretending like there’s nothing strange about a client and his publicist cuddling on a couch.”
I quirk an inquisitive brow. “Cuddling? Were you expecting me to put my arms around you?”
She scoffs, and I chuckle. “I honestly don’t know what to expect from you anymore. Other than your complete and total disregard for the rules I set for good reason.”
Drew’s right. I keep overstepping, and I shouldn’t have shown up here tonight.
Rising to my feet, I shove my hands into my pockets and drop my shoulders.
“For what it’s worth, nothing happened with the women I was pictured with in Pittsburg.
The flowers were an apology for all the times I’d acted like a dick.
I could’ve had them delivered to your door, but that would have meant passing on an opportunity to see you outside of boring business meetings. ”
Through thick, dark lashes, Drew peers up at me from the couch.
“You aren’t a dick, Will. I just …” Her fingers tangle together in her lap—a sure sign that she’s stressed or maybe more confused.
“I don’t know how to act around you anymore.
For years, I’ve seen you as the family friend I could banter with at Christmas parties.
” Her eyes drop to the floor. “And now it feels like everything has shifted because we’ve spent alone time together. ”
I hate how uncomfortable she looks.
Crouching down in front of her, I thread my fingers through her right hand. “If you want me to leave, then I’ll go. I came here tonight because I missed you and I felt like you’d been avoiding me. But, Drew … I never want to put you in a position where you feel pressured.”
When I release her hand and turn to head for the front door, she stands and cups my elbow in her palm.
I’m not testing Drew, and I hope she knows that. If she hadn’t stopped me from leaving, then I genuinely would’ve walked out the door. I can feel every ounce of the sexual charge between us, but I need this girl to show me that she can sense it, too, for me to take things any further.
“I want you to stay a while longer. I think we need to talk.”
My hands are on her hips in seconds, and I swear to God, I feel the delicious shudder as it racks through her small frame.
“Talk about what?” I ask, dropping my forehead against hers. “Because if it’s about schedules or social media content, then I’m not sticking around.”
She shakes her head. “You didn’t come here to talk work, and I think this thing between us isn’t going to go away with time and distance. Is it?” Drew says the final two words like she’s seeking reassurance from me.
I’m happy to validate her thoughts.
“No, Baby, it won’t. Because I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper softly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The rest is piled on top of her head in a way that only adds to her sexual appeal.
Fuck me, I want her so freaking badly.
“Let me kiss you,” I softly plead. “Just once, and I promise with no tongue.”
She shakes her head again. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?”
She swallows thickly. “Because I don’t trust myself around you.”
“Then I’ll leave, and we’ll go back to the way things were before September.”
After a beat, she sets a hand on my right cheek, and, wow, the feel of her warm palm has my knees ready to give out.
Keep it together, Will.
“I’ve been sitting here all night, thinking about New York and what happens after the Japanese restaurant.”
My cheeks ache from the grin I’m unable to suppress. “You’ve been thinking about me?”
She’s all innocence, and all I want to do is wrap her legs around my waist and corrupt every part of her.
“You test me in ways I’ve never been tested before, Drew. I’ve never chased a girl because I’ve never been interested in pursuing someone.” I bite down on my lip. “The way I would move fucking mountains to spend a night with you.”
She rises on her tiptoes, our lips a hairbreadth apart when she whispers, “Would it be like how you are with all the other girls? One night, and you’re done with me?”
My forehead is back against hers. “It’s funny you should ask that.”
Drew pulls back to look at me properly. “Why?”
I bring her body into mine, hands slowly moving from her hips to the tie holding her robe together. When I slowly start to unravel the knot and she doesn’t stop me or take her eyes away from mine, I’m certain she’s comfortable with me seeing her.
When her robe is hanging open, my gaze slowly descends her body, hands back on her hips.
This time—and without a robe in the way—I feel the heat from her skin radiating into my palms. I can make out the faint outline of perfect pink nipples through her white tank top, and when they harden beneath my gaze, I yank my black T-shirt overhead and toss it on the floor behind us.
See me, Drew.
Her jaw pops open as she takes in my upper body. I’m acutely aware that I haven’t answered her last question, but words aren’t what’s needed in this moment.
I suck a sharp breath through my teeth when she sets a hand in the center of my chest. It must be at least thirty seconds before she finally asks me, “Why?” again.
I’m in deep. Way out of my comfort zone but powerless to hold back in my pursuit of Drew Callaghan.
“Because I’ve been wondering the same thing about you—if I take you to bed and risk feeling things I’ve never felt with anyone else, will I wake up in the morning to find your side cold and empty with an email in my inbox, telling me that we can’t work together anymore?”
Pulling one hand from her hip, I tip Drew’s chin up to look at me. My lips are right there, hovering over a kiss that will plunge me straight into an ocean of darkness. An unknown I’m so desperate and fearful to explore.
Would she yank herself away and scream at me to leave if I went ahead and took what I wanted, or would it be the biggest payoff of my life? By nature, I’m a huge risk-taker, but this is fucking risky, even by my own standards.
“Let me kiss you. Just once.” I don’t even try to disguise the plea in my tone as I repeat what I said earlier. “If you feel nothing, then we can put this behind us.”
“And if I feel everything?” she asks in a small voice. “What then?”
I nod in the direction of her hallway, which I know leads to the bedrooms. “Then I’ll peel those illegal shorts from your stunning body and show you just how reckless I can be.”