Page 35 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

He slid the key into the doorknob and opened the door slowly. “You’re right, you’re very coherent despite all the stumbling.” She walked into her house, pulled the keys from the doorknob, and stared back at him smugly from inside.

“Goodnight.”

“Lock the door, please.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

He waited until he heard the lock click into place before he walked back to his car.

Chapter thirteen

Lucia

Utterly, totally, completely embarrassed. That was the best way to describe how she’d felt the next morning. She couldn’t believe the things she’d admitted to Colton, even if they were true. And the kiss? The hug? What the hell was she doing? She was still working through the end of her last relationship, the last thing she needed was another…complication. She’d come here to do her damn job so that other teams would see her value and clamor to have her join them. From there, she would go on to be a head analyst. She had no guaranteed contract with the Sabertooths after this season, so she had to work extra hard to make sure she had a place to go for the next one.

And yet she couldn’t deny that she’d wanted to invite him in, wanted him to push her against the wall of her little house and make her moan like Max rarely had. For the next week leading up to their home game, Lucia had gone out of her way to stay away from Colton. Sure, they’d still met for their sessions like normal, but she’d given excuses for why she couldn’t go to dinner after, or she’d left early so they wouldn’t run into each other in the parking garage.

It was too embarrassing, and being near him brought up feelings she wasn’t willing or ready to address. She’d always been professional with Max at work, never so much as having the urge to kiss at the Vipers’ facility. It was strange for her to feel this way with Colton.

At least she could usually get away with not seeing him after game day. Especially not on game days at home after a hard-fought win. They’d put up such a fight, each and every one of them beat up and bruised, but with winning smiles and bright eyes. She was sure he was already out celebrating with the team, enjoying the whooping and hollering of his teammates as they congratulated him on being back.

And he kind of was. Whether or not she’d helped him, he’d played a hell of a game and deserved to go out and enjoy it. She was proud of him and the fight he’d put up to prevent the mistakes of prior games. He’d also nearly doubled his yardage, which was truly a feat.

Knowing he was long gone, she felt comfortable removing her hair from its clip and downloading the film from the game. She could go through it before she left for the night so she’d be ready for their sessions that week. Which also meant she could continue to leave early on days they didn’t meet because she’d be ahead. It was a great plan. Maybe she’d even take Jenna up on getting a drink on King Street.

Charleston was growing on her. She’d despised it when she’d moved, so set on ending up in Virginia for the rest of her days. But Charleston’s energy, its Southern charm, both on game days and in general, was intoxicating. She’d yet to explore much of the city, but what she had enjoyed had made her think twice about applying to other teams for next season. Maybe there was somebody she could beg at the Sabers to let her keep this job, especially with how Colton’s performance had improved so far.

She spent twenty minutes watching and clipping the first half of the game to put through her software. Her program was glitching a little bit, so her head was buried close to her laptop as she tried to debug the code. Someone knocked on her door, and she jumped a little, her knee hitting the underside of her desk. She winced.

When she looked up, there was Colton, freshly showered and—unfortunately—rather mouthwatering. She shot up, unsure why she felt so embarrassed. Her knee screamed in pain from the beating it’d just taken.

“H—hi. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be out celebrating.”

He looked serious, far more serious than he normally did in her presence. At least recently. He’d been goofy and silly almost every time she’d seen him since they’d come to their tentative truce. The taut set of his facial muscles was jarring, and she grew even more confused when he closed the door halfway.

“I thought I would be too.”

“Oh.” She said it like she understood what he meant, but she really, really didn’t. What was he doing in her office?

“Everyone invited me out, but as I was showering, I realized I didn’t want to go.”

“Oh?” She needed to find something else to say because this was getting out of hand. And what was with that breathless thing going on with her voice?

He took a step forward, then another. “I realized there was something I wanted to do first. Something I needed to do.”

Dear god, his voice was husky. So deep, she had to clench her thighs together to stop the feeling that started to unfurl there. Embarrassing. She needed to get laid so badly. This was not like her at all.

His eyes flicked down to her thighs, like he’d seen that subtle movement, and when they came back to her face, his pupils were dilated, his eyes darker. He still hadn’t thrown her that grin he’d been sporting so much recently, and his chest was moving fast, like he was struggling to breathe.

He moved even closer to her, and she felt it too, that feeling in her chest that constricted her lungs, just a bit. She remembered his last words, vaguely.

“Wha—what was it that you needed to do?”

She blinked, and he was right in front of her. Despite her heels, she was still looking up at him. She struggled to swallow with him so close, and he tracked that with his eyes too, seemingly so in tune with the subtle movements of her body. Their chests rose in unison, breaths mingling as he looked at her lips through lowered lashes. Her abdomen warmed, liquid and needy. A small, reedy gasp left her as his right hand found her waist. Had that been her? That hadn’t sounded like her.

“Can I…” He trailed off, and Lucia hoped he was asking if he could kiss her because the answer was yes. Absolutely yes. One thousand percent yes.

She nodded her head.

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