Chapter 14
EMMIE
“Think Jake and Perry are into sharing?” Erin asked as soon as the car door shut. I choked on my spit, thumping my chest as I stared at her wide-eyed.
“Erin Richardson.”
“What? I’ve always wanted to try.” She shrugged. “Would make a great experience for a book.”
Once I got over my coughing, I said, “I guess you could ask.” Although, I wasn’t sure how one would do that.
“They both seemed interested. Pretty sure Perry burned a hole through my sports bra with his staring, which I don’t blame him because the girls look great today.” Erin grabbed her boobs and squeezed. “And Jake is clearly an ass man.”
While Erin talked about both guys, I backed the car out and headed in the direction of the cute diner a few blocks away, Mateo’s car following after me.
“You know, I thought you were into nerdy guys, not athletes,” I remarked.
“A girl can sample the menu before choosing her entrée.”
“Sorry for questioning your methods, master,” I joked.
“Going to breakfast will be the perfect time to ask Mateo some questions, and possibly test the vibes about Jake and Perry.” Erin was pretty much talking to herself, but I nodded along.
She continued as I drove to the diner and parked. Before getting out, I pulled down my visor to check my reflection. My cheeks were still pink and my face shiny from exerting so much energy, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
Pulling my hair tie out, I quickly ran my fingers through my hair, hoping to make it look more presentable.
There really wasn’t anything I could do with the curly pieces near my face, but at least the rest looked okay to be down.
I swiped on some ChapStick before I slipped out of the car alongside Erin, snatching my wallet.
My heart pattered in my chest at the sight of Mateo on the sidewalk. He was magnetic in a way I’d never experienced before. Looks aside, because obviously he was insanely hot, there was something else about him that drew me in. He was unfamiliar, yet felt like home.
When Mateo reached down to itch his leg, the bottom of his shorts rose up enough that I caught sight of a tattoo on his thigh. It was covered in seconds, but it was enough to peak my curiosity. What was it?
“I love this place,” Perry said as soon as we met up with them on the sidewalk.
“They have the best omelets,” Erin agreed.
Erin, Perry, and Jake led the way with Mateo and me following behind. A warm hand pressed to my lower back, calloused fingers brushing across the exposed skin between my sports bra and leggings.
It wasn’t lost on me how big Mateo’s hands were. I swore one of them extended the length from one hip to another. A shiver ran down my spine at the image of his palm elsewhere.
“After you,” Mateo said as he steered me toward the diner's door.
Erin walked ahead of us, talking animatedly with Jake and Perry. From the way the two were leaned in, listening intently, I’d garner a guess they were interested in her. Maybe her wish would come true.
“Jake and Perry seem to like Erin,” Mateo said, speaking my thoughts out loud.
“She raved about them the whole ride here.” I paused for a second and leaned back into his hand, lowering my voice. His breath fanned my neck as he bent closer to hear me. “Do you know if they’ve ever shared a woman before?”
“Uh…” I tilted my head back to see Mateo staring at me with raised eyebrows. “Are you trying to tell me you’re interested in my friends, firecracker?”
I sent my elbow into his stomach. “No. I’m asking for Erin.”
“Good.” His attention slid to my lips. “Because I’m not big on sharing.”
My mouth parted on a quiet inhale, toes curling in my shoes while the heat in his stare promised trouble.
“You guys coming?” Jake called from up ahead. I gave a jerky nod, mouth dry. Swallowing, I looked away from Mateo and followed the others as they met with the hostess and she led us to a table.
It took until we were seated, menus in front of us, before I could clear the dirty thoughts from my mind.
I stared at the list of options, willing my cheeks to turn back to their normal color.
My hair fell around my face blocking Mateo, who was seated next to me.
One of the biggest downfalls to being a natural redhead was blushing easily. That, and never getting a tan.
“So,” Erin said far too casually, “how are we feeling about Emmie being your coach’s daughter?”
“Erin,” I hissed under my breath. There was nothing subtle about that.
“What?” She leaned forward, forearms braced against the table, her gaze sweeping deliberately from Jake to Perry on the left before landing on Mateo beside me. “I need to know before I invest in getting to know anyone.”
The air shifted.
“If you’re going to treat my best friend like shit,” Erin continued, her voice calm but sharp at the edges, “or judge her for who her father is, we’re going to have a problem.”
Her brown eyes narrowed, daring anyone to argue. The table was quiet for a moment. Once again, heat traveled up my neck. This time for an entirely different reason.
A polite but firm smile touching her lips. “I don’t play when it comes to her.”
That was why Erin was my ride or die. No matter what, she would be on my side.
Jake was the first to speak. “We have no issue with it.”
“I don’t care.” Perry shrugged. “But now I know where you get your insane workout ability. You and Coach like to torture people.”
Perry’s comment broke the tension, and we all laughed. My dad could be a real hard-ass when it came to football.
I peeked over at Mateo, who hadn’t said anything. He already told me where he stood on the matter, but part of me still worried he would bail. Without saying a word, he reached down and squeezed my knee.
I put my hand on top of his and smiled softly at him. I made a promise that I wasn’t going to let the worry about my dad get in the way of hanging out with him. I would have to tell my father soon, but for now, I was just going to enjoy being here with him and our friends.
Thankfully, the waitress came by to get our order, the rest of the tension dissolving.
“So, can we talk about the fact you're an Olympian?” Perry asked a few minutes later. “Do you have actual medals?”
I laughed at the wide-eyed expression on his face. He seemed baffled and impressed. A surprise coming from an athlete who’s won The Legacy Championship. In the world of football, that was the biggest game you could win.
“Yeah, I have two bronze and two silver,” I said.
Jake whistled. “Damn. Are they heavy?”
“They actually are, and big. They’re about the size of my fist or bigger.” I lifted my hand.
“You get two medals per each Olympics?” Mateo asked.
“Well, it depends. If you place third through first, you get a medal. And then if you’re picked, you compete as a team to get another medal. So my first year, team USA got third, so bronze. And then the second time, we earned silver,” I explained.
“And this year, you’re going to get two gold,” Erin boosted, shooting me a big grin.
“Wait, how old were you the first time you went to the Olympics?” Jake questioned.
“Sixteen.”
“Geez, woman. So you're twenty-five?” I gave Perry a nod to confirm my age. “You’ll have gone to the Olympics three times. Wow, I think we got into the wrong sport.” He turned to Jake and Mateo with a shake of his head. “I want a gold medal.”
Perry turned back to me and leaned forward. “Where do you keep them?”
“In a castle guarded by dragons.”
Perry’s lips twitched with a smile, and he sent me a wink. “Let me know if you need a strong, brave knight to guard them.”
“You’ll be the first one I call.”
Weirdly, I didn’t feel awkward or like I was crawling out of my skin talking about being an Olympian.
Hell, a week ago I was dreading hanging out with other people for that reason.
There was something about talking to other athletes that just seemed to get it.
They understood what it took to be the best of the best.
Erin asked Jake and Perry a question, drawing their attention away. A squeeze on my knee had me turning my head to Mateo.
“Who knew you were such a badass,” he murmured.
“What can I say? It comes so naturally to me,” I joked.
Mateo’s baby blues flicked between my eyes, pupils dilating. “Jake was right, you’re out of my league.” He said it so softly that if we hadn’t been inches apart, I wouldn’t have heard him.
“I…” I didn’t know what to say to that. Not when I felt like it Mateo was out of my realm.
As if he knew I couldn’t form words, he squeezed my leg again and turned back to the conversation at the table. I stared at the side of his face, wanting nothing more than to grab and kiss him.
As we waited for our food, we talked about an array of random things. Perry made jokes, Jake told us stories about the three of them over the last few years, and Mateo asked Erin what she did for a living, which turned into a big discussion about books.
Shock found us all when Perry said he was a big reader. From the sound of it, he read everything and anything, something that had Erin swooning in her seat. Even though it was light conversation, it was nice. Mateo’s friends easily accepted Erin and I into the fold.
When our food arrived, conversation ebbed as we all dug into our plates. The way the guys ate, you would have thought they hadn’t eaten in a week. But with how much they sweated during Pilates, I wasn’t surprised.
Every time I brought my head down to take a bite, a piece of my hair fell into my face. I let out a huff and pushed it behind my ear, only for it to fall back into my face. Now I was regretting taking my hair out of its ponytail before coming in here.
I loved my thick hair, but moments like this made me want to chop it off.
“Here.” Mateo nudged my arm. I glanced over to see him tugging off a black hair tie from his wrist. Did he have that this whole time?
“You have a hair tie?” I looked from his head to the tie held between his fingers.
With a shrug, he said, “You always lose or forget yours.”