Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
L andon
I’m turned around, facing the door, and my heart feels as though it’s about to beat out of my chest. Tessa and all her creamy skin. My cock throbs in my shorts, and I suck in a deep breath. She’s fucking gorgeous. This I already knew, but now… How will I ever get that image out of my head?
“You can turn around.”
Slowly, I turn to face her. “Tess,” I whisper, and reach a hand out to her.
“Don’t.” Her words are final.
My hand drops to my side. “Are you okay? Your ankle?” I ask.
“I’m fine, Landon.”
I’m suddenly in new territory. I’ve never cared enough to step in or get…
jealous. It’s not an emotion I’m used to feeling, but I’m a smart man.
I know that’s what it was. When I saw him hovering over her, the way they were laughing and she was peering up at him, I hated it.
Every single second of their connection.
It took everything in me not to rip him off her.
Lucky for him, he seemed more interested in me than he did her. That is, until he mentioned the date.
She can’t date that guy.
“I’m not your girl, Landon. We’re barely even what I would call friends, more like two strangers who have shared a couple of meals.
You can’t just go around spouting off that kind of shit.
” She’s seething, and her green eyes are lit with fire.
My cock doesn’t understand that she’s mad at us as he begs for her attention.
I shift on my feet to alleviate what she’s doing to me. “I’m sorry.” Two words I don’t say often, but I can admit when I’m wrong. “I saw the two of you, and I just… I’m sorry.” Those two words are easier to say than the truth. That I’m falling for her. I don’t know what to do with that.
“Okay.”
That’s it?
“You can’t do that. I’m not your concern, and what are you even doing here? I told you that we had plenty of help today.”
“Practice was shorter than normal. I brought you lunch.” I point to the bag on her desk that I’m sure she missed in her haste to change her clothes.
Maybe she missed it due to her anger at me.
Either way, it’s there in front of her. “Turkey club and chips,” I tell her.
“It’s not much, but…” I shrug. I don’t know what to say.
“Thank you.” She looks over to her desk, where the bag filled with our lunch sits. “That’s very nice of you.” She pauses to turn and look at me. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I… uh… got some for you, me, Autumn, and Jeremy. I wasn’t sure if he’d be here.” I shrug.
“Have a seat. Let me go tell Autumn and grab us a couple of waters.”
She moves to walk past me, and I hold my arm out, stopping her. My arm hits at her waist, and I pull her into me, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. “I’m sorry, Tess.”
“I know. It’s fine.” She pulls out of my hold and moves around me to grab Autumn’s and our drinks.
It can’t be that easy. Is she really not going to make a big deal out of this? Is she not going to make me grovel?
“Here you go.” She hands me a bottle of water a few moments later.
“Autumn said Jeremy is on his way. He went to pick up JJ at daycare. We can go ahead and eat without them.” I pull two sandwiches and two bags of chips out of the deli bag and hand her one of each.
“Thanks. You can grab Autumn’s chair or sit at her desk,” she says, taking a seat in her chair.
Not willing to miss an opportunity to be near her, I grab the chair and roll it to her side of the desk.
We both dig into our lunch, letting the quiet surround us.
This quiet isn’t comfortable. It’s full of everything that goes unspoken between us.
I need to tell her that I’m feeling things, things I’ve never felt.
“I appreciate you looking out for me. You were being a good friend. I can appreciate that. Just… pipe down on the ‘my girl’ stuff,” she says, offering me a kind smile.
Friend-zoned.
“Sure,” I say, swallowing my lunch, which now feels like cardboard in the throat. I guess if I can’t commit to how I’m feeling, being friends with her is the next best thing. I can be near her, because a day not witnessing her smile or hearing her laugh is a day filled with gloom. She’s magnetic.
“What can I do?” I ask as we clean up our empty wrappers.
“Nothing. We’ve got a good team here today. Thank you, though.”
I nod. “Dinner tonight?” I know damn well she’s going to turn me down.
“Landon—” She shakes her head with a grin.
“Hey.” I hold my hands up in mock surrender. “Just asking a friend to have some dinner, share a meal, shoot the shit.”
“Uh-huh.” She’s all-out grinning now, and I love every second of it.
“I guess I’m gonna go.” While I say the words, I make no move to pull my ass out of this chair.
“Thanks for lunch. I’d offer to repay you, but I know better.” She points to my face. “That look tells me I’m right.”
“You’re welcome, Tess.” I force myself to stand and am surprised when she does, as well.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“Any new adoptions?” I ask as we walk toward the front door.
“Not this week. They come in spurts. We’re actually due for another adoption fair. Autumn and I need to get on that,” she says absentmindedly.
We reach the door, and I turn to face her. “I’ll see you soon?”
“Yeah, see ya soon,” she agrees and waves.
I want to hug her or kiss her or beg her to let me stay, but do none of them. Instead, I let my lead-filled feet carry me to my SUV.
“Where are you headed?” Jeremy asks, climbing out of his SUV as I reach mine.
“Home.”
“I thought you brought lunch?” he asks, opening the back door and lifting his son out of his seat. “Can you say hi to Landon?” he asks his son.
The little boy waves, resting his head on his dad’s shoulder. “Yeah, I did. Tess and I just ate.”
“And you’re leaving?” He raises an eyebrow.
“She said she doesn’t need any help.”
“And you took her word for it?”
“I made a scene, got all pissy when I walked in on a situation that wasn’t what it looked like with a volunteer. I’m sure your wife will retell the story.”
“What’s your version?” he asks.
“Mommy!” JJ yells, holding his arms out.
“Hey, sweet boy,” Autumn greets us. “Husband.” She grins, going on tiptoes to press her lips to Jeremy’s.
“Princess,” he whispers, and even I can hear the love in his tone.
“See you inside,” she tells him, then turns to look at me. “You got our girl all flustered.”
“Yeah.” I run my hands through my hair, not sure how much Tessa has told her.
“Good. She needs someone to keep her on her toes. You’re a lucky man that you have her attention.” She grins like she just won the lottery, and I have no idea what that’s all about.
She doesn’t give me the chance to comment before she’s strolling off toward the building, her son telling her all about daycare this morning.
“Well?” Jeremy asks once his wife and son have finally disappeared from view.
“I guess they slipped on some spilled water. He was lying over the top of her, and I walked in just as it happened. He helped her up, had his fucking hands all over her. He recognized me and asked for an autograph.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
I wince. “I might have told him to get his hands off my girl and I would oblige him.”
“Ouch. I know Tessa, and I’m sure that didn’t go over well.”
“She was pissed, but I apologized, and now she seems fine.”
“And?”
“Is that normal? She just accepted the apology without another thought. I was expecting to have to grovel or something.”
He laughs. “Maybe from a woman who wants to be the center of your attention. Not from a woman like Tessa. She’s one of the good ones. She’s not unreasonable. You gave her a sincere apology, and she accepted. Move on.”
“She friend-zoned me.”
He nods. “I’m guessing that wasn’t your intention?”
“Fuck, I have no idea.”
“You’d better figure it out.” He points to where Tessa stands with Tony, the guy who was all over her on the floor. Her head’s tilted back as a laugh flows from her full, beautiful lips. My fists ball at my sides.
I want to go to them, to wrap my arms around her and show him that she’s off-limits, but she’s not. I force myself to climb into my SUV with a wave to Jeremy and drive away. He’s wearing an amused smile as he watches me, and I ignore him.
What is this woman doing to me?
It’s just after seven, and I’ve already run five miles on my treadmill and ordered takeout.
It was a Chinese food kind of night. Now here I am, pacing the living room floor.
I eye my keys on the table, tempted to drive to her house to see her.
That’s pushy even for me, and besides, what am I going to say?
I can’t give you what you want or what you deserve, but I don’t want anyone else to either?
My phone rings, and I fumble to grab it from the couch cushion, hoping it’s her, but I should have known better. In a way, it’s the next best thing. “Hey, Mom,” I answer.
“Landon, how are you? It’s been too long since we’ve talked.”
“I know.” Guilt washes over me. “Sorry, just been busy getting back into the groove of things this season.”
“How’s the team looking?” Dad asks. They have me on speaker, and I smile. These two are the epitome of two peas in a pod.
“Great. The rookies are meshing well with the veterans, and I see good things in our future.”
“How about you give me your non-PR prompted speech?” Dad chuckles.
“This time it’s the truth. Practices have been on point, and I think we can take it to the Super Bowl this year.”
“What’s wrong?” Mom asks.
“Nothing.”
“Landon, don’t make me come there,” she warns in her mom’s voice. I never could get anything past her.
“I met someone. At least, I think I did.”
“What do you mean, you think you did?” Dad asks.
“She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She’s one of those women who deserves everything.”
“Oh, so she’s not a cleat chaser?” Mom asks.
“No.” I laugh. “She’s not a cleat chaser.”
“Good. Where did you meet her?”
“Through the new kicking coach. She’s best friends with his wife.” I go on to tell them about her wearing a Mavericks shirt to training camp.