20. Chapter 20
Seren
Jake’s arms dragging across my chest ignited some kind of an electric spark in my nipples. Highly inconvenient, considering I was about to do the exact same drill over him.
“Reset, let’s move,” Coach Em called out.
I waited for Jake to drop to the grass with the ball, pushing my own feet into the dirt to keep me steady, but he winked at me as he turned and something fluttered deep in my core, almost knocking me off balance.
I blinked it away and refocused on the task instead. This was work, and my thought process with this man was not appropriate. Blowing out a breath, I widened my legs and lowered my body.
“You know,” Jake rasped. “I’m a gentleman, who’s also your best friend—”
“My best friend?” I snorted a laugh that made him smile too.
“As both of those things, I need you to know that I’m not going to try to look up your shorts, no matter how badly I want to. Even if it’s a lot. I won’t.”
“I’m glad we cleared that up. Can we play rugby now, bestie?
” I asked with as much sarcasm as I could muster.
Truth of it was, I didn’t want him to be my friend, but that was all I could offer.
I had no idea why I’d said something so bold a minute ago.
I was terrified to take any kind of next step with any guy, especially Jake.
“Yeah, sure, go for it.”
I tried to focus on the mechanics, on the way my weight needed to distribute, on keeping my core muscles steady, but my brain kept snagging on him instead. The curl of his dark-blond hair, the strong lines in his throat, the fact that if I looked down even slightly, I’d be right there in his space.
“Hypothetically,” he went on, and I knew I was in trouble the second he said it like that, “if I turned my head right now—”
“Jake,” I warned, but it came out wobbly, because I could already feel the laugh building, the embarrassment chasing it.
“—which I won’t,” he added quickly, like he was doing me a favor, like he hadn’t just planted the image in my head anyway for the second time in a minute. “Because, again, gentleman. Best friend. Strong moral compass.”
“Oh my god.” I choked on a laugh, pressing my palm lightly to his bicep, his very large bicep—just to ground myself of course, because my legs were shaking like a leaf. I needed to remind both of us that this was a drill and not…whatever this was turning into. “You’re the actual worst.”
“Still your favorite, though, right?” he shot back, completely unfazed.
I choked on a laugh before I could stop it. “Yes, Jake, you’re my favorite person right now, the most gentlemanly one here who isn’t trying to look up my shorts to see my underwear.”
“Oh.” He pouted. “You’re wearing underwear?” He muttered a “damn” as he curled into the ball more.
Shaking my head, I adjusted my stance, forcing my focus back where it belonged.
“On three,” Coach Em called out from somewhere behind us.
Thank god.
I dropped my center of gravity, locked in, and for a brief, blessed second, it was just rugby again. Just movement and timing and control.
Out the corner of my eye, I noticed someone enter pitch side as I scooped the ball, but too determined not to fall on my ass like Jake did, I held my core and stepped back, ready to pass the ball on as if this were a real play.
“Yes, Davis, nice work.” The praise from my coach was much needed. Jake sprung to his feet, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, tucking me right under his arm.
“That was so fucking clean. You’re a dream partner, way better than your brother.”
I snorted. “I’m faster than Nate,” I said, knowing my brother would hear me a few feet away.
Nate’s growl could be heard for miles. “First, you can’t run as fast as your mouth can, little sis. Secondly, you miss being my partner, Jake, don’t even lie.”
“I don’t miss being that close to the monster you got in those shorts.” Jake laughed, and Lola tilted her head, trying to check my brother out.
“Please don’t look at him like that,” I begged her.
“Girl, it’s hard not to,” she said unapologetically. Then she waved her finger between me and Jake. “Meanwhile, what’s this?”
Jake didn’t move his arm. “We’re friends.”
Evie cackled behind us, getting our attention. “I don’t see you rubbing all up on your other friends here, Jakey.”
I side-eyed my brother to check his reaction, noticing his face was only a little pinched. Progress.
When I looked back at Jake, I found him staring down at me.
“Mhmm.” He hummed, his gaze drifting lazily all over my face, my lips, my body. Heat rose in my belly like a furnace, my legs twitching with the need to press them together. The sides of his mouth lifted as a soft and gentle grunting noise left his chest. Oh, dear god…
“Who is that?” Lola asked from my left. I turned my head to see where she was pointing.
“Is he upper management?” Evie asked.
But I knew, as soon as I saw that jet-black hair, tailored suit, and strong jawline, that I was looking right at my baby daddy.
“Derek,” I whispered.
“Derek?” Jake asked, eyes bouncing between him and me, still tucked under his arm like that was normal.
“I, uh—” My cheeks blazed, because what the hell was he doing here? We’d scheduled to meet up this weekend, not now. Not here. Nate moved closer, ignoring Jake’s arm around me, his attention aimed at Derek instead. “What’s he doing here? I thought he wasn’t coming until Saturday?”
I swallowed as almost everyone was now staring at Derek. Great. Another spectacle for people to enjoy at my expense. I was two for two for drama in this place. “Saturday was what we agreed on.”
“Who the hell is this guy? Do I need to tackle him?” Jake asked, flexing his arm behind my head, then moving it completely ready to pounce on command.
I wasn’t ready to have him not touching me yet, so I placed my hand on his bicep for the second time today. “No, it’s okay. Derek…He’s Cai’s dad.”
Jake paused, then turned to assess him, crossing his arms over his body.
“Oh,” he whispered, shoulders tensing. I wasn’t sure what conclusion he’d come to, but I had the urge to help him understand that Derek and I weren’t together. Still, Jake stepped aside, and my body didn’t like that one bit, all the energy that’d built between us slowly deflating.
I wanted to reassure him somehow, but what would I do? I’m pretty sure my body and mind had frozen in time anyway, trying to figure out what the fuck was happening.
“S, you’re looking good,” Derek said, loud enough for everyone around me to hear. I wasn’t used to him complimenting me; he was never the lovey-dovey type. I almost laughed out loud, only he wrapped his arms around me, leaving my body stiff and my brain even more confused.
I pulled away, feeling eyes on my back as I steered Derek away from everyone. “What are you doing here?” I asked, keeping my voice quiet. “I thought your flight was tomorrow. That’s what you told me.”
“Relax, it’s not a big deal. I thought I could surprise you.”
Relax? The way my pulse spat out an irregular rhythm would send me into cardiac arrest if this man told me to relax again. Irritation flared quick, hot under my skin, my shoulders tightening as I fought the instinct to snap back harder than I should.
“Showing up unannounced to my training isn’t a surprise,” I said, keeping my voice controlled, even as embarrassment pushed in the opposite direction. “It’s disruptive.”
He huffed like I was being dramatic, like this was still something he could brush off with a smile and a shrug.
“I just wanted to see you. See Cai. It’s not that deep.”
Stepping backward, I inhaled air greedily. Not that deep, seeing his son, being in my space without asking…
I didn’t get to finish my thought because Nate greeted him. “Hey, man, I thought you were coming in tomorrow.”
Derek clapped Nate on the shoulder like this was normal, like he hadn’t just dropped into my day and thrown it all off. “Got an earlier flight,” he said with a smile. “Thought I’d come see my favorite people.”
“Yeah?” he said, tone lighter than the look he gave me. Nate knew I wouldn’t be thrilled about him showing up here unexpectedly. “Good thing my apartment is empty tonight too for you.”
That was the other thing; Nate was housing him, and he had the audacity to show up early…
Derek’s eyes flicked over my shoulder as I perfected my glare, and his face changed. Initially, I didn’t know who he was looking at, but when a deep rasp rattled against my back, I knew. “Hey, I’m Jake. Seren’s new best friend.”
A snort tried to escape, but I managed to press my lips together to keep it in.
Derek seemed to look him up and down. “Oh, I know who you are. Local ladies’ man, always in the media for something, living the high life, am I right?”
Everything in my stomach pulled tight at the joke that fell sour. Even Nate frowned, and he and Derek had always been on good terms. But then so had me and Derek, until he told me to relax. Still not over that.
Jake didn’t even flinch, only tipped his chin and smiled, but it wasn’t his usual bright one. It was dimmed and small. “That so?”
“Yeah.” He scoffed. “I’ve been there. It’s all fun and games until someone gets pregnant. Next thing you know, you’re chasing your kid across states.”
“Alright,” Nate cut in, sharp enough to slice straight through it, his body angling forward like he’d decided he’d heard enough. “That’s enough.”
Jake huffed out a breath, the energy shifting to something much more potent. Instinctively, I grabbed his hand, tucking it behind my back, squeezing twice, telepathically transmitting it’s fine and don’t react. I knew it was a long shot, but I’d hoped it might calm him somehow.
Intercepting, I wore a wide smile that made my cheeks ache. “We’re not done here yet, so why don’t you head out, and I’ll meet you later for a coffee?”
Derek’s jaw ticked as he stared at Jake. “Sure,” he said through gritted teeth, then he looked at me with heat that caught me off guard. “Call me when you’re done, and we can get our son together.”
The pointed way he delivered that line made my nose scrunch. I’d never seen this side of Derek before. Then again, he’d probably never seen me so close to another man before today.
“Let’s go,” Nate’s voice was borderline barking, and I knew his patience was thin. Derek nodded and turned to walk off the pitch, and my shoulders relaxed.
I didn’t have to turn around to assume that my team and the Knights were watching the whole thing, because I could feel it—the weight of it sitting between my shoulder blades, the kind of attention that was laced with curiosity, with questions I knew people would be wanting to ask.
But I also knew I wasn’t ready to share it all yet.
Behind my back, Jake’s hand was still firmly in mine, and he squeezed twice.
I closed my eyes and inhaled, choosing to believe that he understood the tension inside me at this very moment, even though there was no way he could.
I let myself have that second as Derek left the pitch.
Then, I exhaled and squared my shoulders, ready to get back to work.
I had to keep my game face on for my team.
I wasn’t about to be shook by a surprise appearance. I was better than that.