Chapter 9
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Noah
As if his night hadn’t already been fantastic with his game-winning home run, he reached the locker room to find that Zara had texted him back.
It must be his lucky day.
He was going to mark it on his calendar and buy a lottery ticket every year on this date.
What did he say to her when she insinuated that they were only friends? That wasn’t anywhere near the truth. He felt so much more than friendly toward her.
Noah:
We are friends.
It was hard to type that when he wanted to rage at her that she would never be merely a friend.
Zara:
Random question. If you got my number from Heath, why did you tell him you needed it?
Well, shit. This was not a conversation he wanted to have over text. Instead of asking if he could call her, he just did it, hoping she would pick up.
After one ring, she did.
“Why are you calling me?” Jesus, that snotty tone made him hard.
“Can’t one friend call another friend?” Let’s see how she liked it when he threw her own words back at her.
She groaned. “You’re doing this just to piss me off.”
“You’re always pissed at me. How is this any different?” He laughed as he decided to bypass a shower and instead take one in his hotel room.
“I’m not going to get into a battle of wits with you.”
“Are you afraid I’d win?” He grabbed his bag and started walking. The hotel was right next door, and walking would be quicker and less intrusive than taking the team bus. He let the trainer know as he walked past him and then headed out into the night.
“That would never be a concern.” She threw back at him. “I assume you called to tell me how you convinced Heath to give you my number?”
“I didn’t really have to convince him. But I did tell him about us.” He waited to see how she would take that.
She huffed out a breath. “Great, now I’m going to get the third degree.”
“You know, for a minute, just a minute, I thought maybe you and he had a thing.”
“Me and Heath?” She practically screamed the words. “What would give you that idea?”
“He’s very protective of you, and when I brought up the fire and how we met, he almost ripped my head off. It was an obvious assumption.”
“Excuse me while I go vomit.” She pretended to gag. “He’s a friend. More like a brother, really.”
It was a huge relief to hear her say that, even though Heath had told him the same thing. “That’s not really helpful when you keep saying we’re friends. How was I supposed to know that you don’t do the same things we did with all your friends?”
Silence settled over the line. “Fair point. But let me put to rest right now that Heath and I are only friends, and we have never, nor never will, be more.”
“I appreciate that, especially since he told me the same thing and also looked like he wanted to throw up at the thought of being more with you.”
“Now I’m offended.”
Noah laughed. “Because your friend, who you just said is nothing more and literally almost gagged when I mentioned the possibility, doesn’t want to be more than friends?”
“Yes. I’m a catch, and he”d be lucky to have me.”
He laughed again, this time louder. “Your twisted thinking is fucked up, you know that, right?”
“I will never admit that.” She chuckled.
He loved that sound.
Really he loved any sound she made. Especially the ones when she was moaning his name in pleasure over and over.
He came to the front of his hotel, entered, and walked through the lobby.
“It just got louder,” she said. “Where are you?”
“I just got to my hotel.” He skipped the elevator and took the stairs two at a time toward the tenth floor.
“Now it sounds echoey. Wait, are you taking the stairs?” She sounded appalled.
“I am.” He turned corner after corner until he came to his floor.
“You’re not even out of breath, are you? Ugh, this is why athletes are the worst. You just go around doing wild things like climbing ten flights of stairs for no reason when there is a perfectly good working elevator that can easily take you where you need to go.”
He pushed open the door to his floor as he laughed. Then part of what she’d said penetrated his brain. “How did you know I was on the tenth floor?”
There was a beat of silence, then a whispered, “Shit.”
He couldn”t help but smile ear to ear. “Did you ask someone for my room number?” That happiness that was pulsing through him at the thought of her keeping tabs on him was so foreign.
Had anything ever made him feel that way?
“Listen, don’t let this go to your head or, you know, or take it the wrong way, but yes, I asked Hannah what room you were in.”
Oh, it had already gone to his head, among other places. His fucking dick was hard as a rock, knowing she’d inquired about him. Finally, inside his room, he dropped his bag and sat down on the bed. “Why?” It was the only thing he wanted to know.
Why did she ask for his room number?
“Fuck if I know. One minute I was talking about contracts, and the next, I asked what room you were in.” She didn’t sound happy. In fact, she sounded annoyed. “I don’t do complicated, and you complicate things?”
“Me. How am I the bad guy here?” Now he sounded annoyed.
“Because you made me fucking like you, that’s why!” Her shouted words were filled with anger. “You had to be charming and charismatic and fucking amazing at sex. Why couldn’t you suck at sex?”
He tried not to laugh but failed. “I’ll try harder to suck next time .”
“No, there isn’t going to be a next time. I don’t want this.”
He left her comment hanging while he gathered his thoughts, the silence practically deafening. “You can keep telling yourself that, but your actions prove otherwise.”
“Not anymore. Friends, we are friends, and barely that if you think about it. We don’t even like each other.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. If you only wanted to be friends, you would have hung up by now. You wouldn’t still be on the phone.” He knew he was goading her, but deep down, something told him it was the right thing to do. Bickering, fighting, and going at each other was what they did. He liked it, and he knew she did too.
“You want me to hang up on you?” She was even angrier than before. “Because I will.”
“Go ahead, do it.” He was not backing down any more than she was.
“I will. I’ll hang up on you and never talk to you again.”
For a second, he wondered if he’d pushed her too far, but then he realized she still hadn’t hung up. She was still on the phone, saying she was going to hang up.
He’d called her bluff, and now he had her. “I’m waiting.”
She huffed out a breath, groaning. “I hate this. I hate how I feel. I hate how I don”t feel. I hate not being in front of you. I hate not being able to touch you. I hate that I like you. I hate every single thing about this.”
That was a lot of hate. “Tell me how you really feel.” He laughed, even though it wasn”t funny.
“I can”t, Noah. I cannot do this. It”s not in me to do this. I don”t want to do long distance. I never wanted a relationship. It just can”t be more than friends.”
She sounded sad and sorrowful. He was starting to wonder if maybe he pushed her too much. Maybe she really couldn”t do this.
“If that”s how you really feel, then I guess I just have to live with it.” Saying those words was torture.
Silence once again settled over the phone before she said, “I gotta go,” and then the line went silent for good.
“Shit, shit, shit,” he swore loudly, rubbing his hand over his forehead. Had he pushed her? Had he gone too far? He knew she liked him. He knew it to down the very soles of his feet, but something was telling her she couldn”t do this.
He wished he knew what this was.
Falling onto his back on the bed, he stared up at the hotel room ceiling, letting his mind wander to their night together. Something that had happened a lot in the last couple of days. The feel of her skin under his hands. The weight of her breasts. The slickness between her thighs. The taste of her and the feel of her gripping his cock.
Jesus, now he was hard. Although he”d been hard during their whole conversation. At least until the end. Even then, he”d been slightly hard because fighting with her was an aphrodisiac. She loved it, and he loved how she made him feel even when she made him angry.
He was a sick son of a bitch who was in love with a woman who would never love him back.
He was back to square one. Being without Zara in his life. He’d done it for years. He could do it again.
Maybe.