12. Sienna
SIENNA
Oh my god. Shut the hell up.
I don’t know what it is—the medication, maybe—but my filter seems to have got up and walked off.
Maybe it’s his presence. The fact that he’s gone out of his way twice today to ensure I’m taken care of.
If Bea weren’t pregnant and run off her feet, I know that she’d have been here today making sure I was okay.
I’ve got to admit, Calvin is a pretty good second choice.
I certainly can’t complain about the eye candy.
Even if his jaw is a little more scruffy and his hair longer than I’m used to seeing.
He’s still smoking, and he's sitting on my couch.
While my nose runs like a tap, I sound like a gremlin, and my hair is…
the less I think about that, the better.
This is literally the thing of most women’s dreams. I have a hot, professional hockey player in touching distance, and I feel worse than I have in a very, very long time.
I know I’m not interested in being his plaything, or the distraction I mentioned not so long ago, but even still.
This has to be some sick joke, right? Karma at work or some shit.
Although I have no idea what I might have done recently that deserves this kind of punishment, but apparently, I’m on the receiving end of it.
Is it because I may or may not have gotten myself off to thoughts of him recently?
Fuck.
And now my face is redder and hotter than it’s been all day.
“Shit. Are you burning up?” he asks, letting me know that he’s got one eye on me while he’s eating.
“I’m okay,” I squeak, forcing another spoonful of soup into my mouth.
Even with my dodgy taste buds right now, this really is delicious.
“Are you due meds?”
I shake my head. Although…when did I last take some?
I force my eyes to stay on the TV as the movie continues to play, but I don’t see any of it. Not that it’s necessary; I could almost recite it word for word.
“Were you a cheerleader?” Calvin asks after a few seconds.
“Yeah, I was actually.”
He chuckles. “I can see it. I bet you rocked that outfit.”
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“What?”
“Haven’t you learned by now that hitting on me won’t get you anywhere?”
“I’m not…I wasn’t…It was just an observation. So, did you hook up with the captain of the football team?”
His words drag up memories I’d rather not think about. “Do I look that stereotypical?” I say in the hope of not having to go down that rabbit hole.
“Is there a look for that?”
I shrug. “What about you? Star hockey player of your high school?”
“Nah, no one really cared about me because I didn’t play football. It was like any other sport didn’t exist. I was happy to blend into the background and do my own thing.”
“Huh…”
“What?” he teases.
“Nothing. I just don’t see you as the kind of guy who is happy hiding in the shadows. You seem to like the limelight and all the benefits that come with it.”
He smirks, wiggling his brows. “I can’t complain about the benefits.”
“You’re a nightmare,” I mutter before turning my attention back to the TV as he chuckles beside me.
Despite it being incredible, I can only eat half of my soup. I can’t say the same for Calvin, though. He eats every single dish he carried over for himself, and then when he sees that I’m done, he finishes my soup off as well.
I snuggle down on the couch under my blanket and watch the movie. A comfortable silence falls between us, and I finally relax.
I shift as my legs get stiff, curled up on one of my couches. It’s not small, but I’m also not used to sharing it with a hockey player.
“Come here,” he says, grabbing my bundled-up feet and resting them in his lap.
“What are you—”
“You’re uncomfortable,” he states, fully stretching my legs out and making me groan. “Better?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
I expect him to move his hand, but he never does. Instead, he rests it on top of my feet, as if touching me is comforting to him.
It messes with my head, and I try my hardest not to obsess over the feeling of his palm burning through the blanket and into my skin.
It certainly stops the chills from returning.
I have no sense of how much time has passed; I’m not even sure I’ve been awake, because I barely remember the movie when his hand finally moves. Only, it’s not so he can get up.
“Oh God,” I moan when he presses his thumb into the arch of my foot.
I glance over and find him watching me with an unreadable expression on his face.
My lips move to say something, but I don’t know what that should be.
Should I be telling him to stop?
Should I be asking him to continue?
To leave? To stay?
In the end, I close my mouth and just enjoy.
I tell myself that one foot rub doesn’t make me a puck bunny. That it doesn’t mean anything. And before I know it, I’m drifting off to sleep with him turning my muscles to goo.
The next thing I’m aware of are hands sliding under my body, and the sense that I’m flying.
I inhale sharply through my nose, and my eyes fly open when the potent scent of man hits me.
“Shit,” he curses. “I was trying not to wake you.”
“Why are you lifting me from the couch?” I ask, my voice rough with sleep.
“I’m taking you to bed, darlin’. You need your rest. And as comfortable as your couch is, it’s not enough for you to spend the night on.”
“Oh.”
“Which bedroom is yours?”
“L-left,” I stutter as my brain misfires.
Calvin Keller is about to carry me into my bedroom.
But…it is very, very far from the way my libido wishes it were.
That little whore is desperate for him to lower me onto my bed and then crawl over me, and— Fuck.
Stop fantasizing. Stop it right now.
“I can walk, you know,” I sass, irritated with myself for the direction my brain took.
“Fully aware.”
“What if I need the bathroom? Would you escort me there and wait while I did my business?”
The laugh that erupts from him only irritates me more.
“I’m sure I could assist with that.”
“G-good to know,” I finally whisper as he awkwardly keeps me against his chest while pulling my sheets back.
A content sigh spills from my lips as my body presses against my mattress.
After covering me up and tucking me in like I’m a child, Calvin lowers his ass to the edge of my bed. His eyes dart over my face, almost as if he’s memorizing every inch of me.
It’s weird, but equally, I don’t mind it.
“Do you need anything?”
“Meds,” I force out.
“Where are they?”
“Bathroom.”
“Be right back.”
I watch him retreat into my attached bathroom. Okay, I watch his ass in his sweats as he disappears into my bathroom.
He’s only gone for a few seconds before he returns with the blister pack of cold and flu pills I left on the counter earlier today. And this time, I get a front view of him in those sweats.
Stop ogling him, a little voice screams in my head.
But I can’t help it. It’s…it’s right there and—
“Sienna.” My eyes jump up to meet his as the deep rasp of his voice hits me.
And there’s the smirk.
My cheeks heat for the millionth time tonight.
It’s because you’re sick, I remind myself.
I’m not thinking clearly, and my body is getting away with itself. It’s probably in a state of panic.
What if this is it and Calvin is the last man I see, let alone get a chance to—
No.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I hold out my hand for him to drop two pills into.
Next, he hands me the bottle of water on my nightstand, watching me the entire time.
“Can you unlock this?” he asks, pulling my cell from his pocket.
“W-why?”
“I need you to put my number in it.”
I raise a brow in question.
“In case you need anything. There’s no point in you calling Bea when I’m right upstairs.”
He looks entirely too happy about the prospect of my needing him.
Unable to argue with him, and desperate to have Calvin Keller’s number in my cell, I look at my cell to unlock it before handing it back over.
“I don’t want any kind of booty calls,” I warn.
“Darlin’,” he muses. “I know where you live. Don’t you think I’d just turn up at your door?”
The thought of him standing on the other side of my door propositioning me has my thighs clenching together. The second I agreed, I have no doubt that he’d slam me against the wall and utterly consume me.
I’ve said no to him time and time again, but he’s never been serious.
What would I do if he really turned it on?
Could I really say no to him?
“There,” he says, after taking a selfie with my cell. “now you’re remember who I am in the morning,” he explains as he places my cell on my nightstand.
Tingles burst through me.
This isn’t real.
It can’t be.
It has to be the meds. Maybe I misread the dose and I’m hallucinating.
I didn’t really spend the night with Calvin taking care of me and carrying me to bed. It’s just my wicked imagination playing games with me.
“I’m gonna let you rest. But if you need anything, call me. Anytime. I’ll be here.”
He tucks a loose lock of my hair behind my ear before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my forehead.
Heat surges through me as his soft lips connect with my skin.
“Goodnight, darlin’," he rasps. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
One second he’s there, and then the next, he’s gone, and only a minute later, I hear my front door close and lock.
With a sappy smile and his scent still filling my nose, I curl up on my side and drift off to sleep, filled with filthy dreams of a certain hockey player.
Despite sleeping on and off all day, I get more rest than I was expecting, and when I crack my eyes open, the early morning sun is beginning to creep around the edges of my curtains.
I groan and stretch my legs out as I try to swallow, but my mouth and throat are as dry as a desert.
Rolling over, I reach for my bottle of water and take a swig.
The pain gently pounding behind my temples makes itself known, and I reach for the last two pills in the packet and swallow them down.
My cell taunts me, but I don’t reach for it. Not yet.
Instead, I curl back up and wait for the pills to kick in.
It doesn’t take long for me to recognize the noise that’s coming from upstairs.
Calvin.
I squeeze my eyes closed as images from the day before come back to me.
While those noises previously used to drive me crazy, there’s something comforting in hearing them now.
Forcing myself to grab my cell, I open the top message thread, and I can’t help but laugh when I see the name.
Calvin King of the ice Keller.
Shaking my head, I vow to change that after I’ve sent this message.
Sienna: Shush, some of us are trying to sleep.
I lower my cell and wait.
And less than twenty seconds later, the noise stops.
A smile curls at my lips, and when I lift my cell again, I find that the dots are bouncing.
Excitement flutters in my belly as I wait.
Calvin King of the ice Keller: Good morning. How are you feeling?
All the better for talking to you.