Page 123 of Holding On

"Then I'll take a nap with you. I'm tired too."

He doesn't respond, which annoys me. If he doesn't want to see me, he just needs to be honest and tell me.

"I'm gonna head home," I say. "Let you be alone. Talk to you later."

"Becca, wait!" he says as I was about to hang up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I DO want to see you. Can you pick me up?"

"Only if you promise not to be in a bad mood. I can handle you being tired but I don't want to be around cranky Ethan today."

"You won't. I promise." His tone lightens. "What time will you be here?"

"About ten minutes."

"I'll wait out by the stadium."

"Okay. See you soon."

When I get there, I see him standing in navy track pants and a white t-shirt, his hair wet and a thick layer of stubble on his face. Damn, he's hot.

"Hey," I say, as he gets in the van. I take his crutches and lay them behind his seat.

His hand catches my face as I turn back around, and he holds it in place as he puts his lips to mine. Just the feel of his lips as we kiss has my body tingling.

We may be skipping the nap.

"Hey," he says, smiling against my lips. Then he kisses me again, and I swear if we don't leave, we'll be doing it in the van. I've been thinking about him all morning. Thinking about what he does to me when we're in bed. Wanting him to do it again.

"Thanks for picking me up," he says, backing away.

"No problem." I adjust my seatbelt which got twisted when we were kissing.

"So you got off early?" he asks as we're heading to his house.

"Only because I worked like crazy trying to finish. I didn't feel like cleaning today and I just wanted it over with. Plus..." I glance at him, "I kind of wanted to see my boyfriend."

"You worked your ass off just so you could see me?"

I glance at him again. "Is that a problem?"

"No. If it were up to me, you'd quit that job and hang out with me all the time."

"I can't quit my job." I chew on my lip. "But after working so hard, I could use something to help me relax."

He chuckles. "I'll take care of that when we get home."

And he does. Moments after we arrive at his house, we're in his bedroom. Clothes stripped. Sheets tangled. By the time Ethan's done with me, my mind and body are totally relaxed. I just want to stay here the rest of the night, but unfortunately I have to be at work in a half hour.

"How was your workout?" I ask, still wanting to know why he went.

"Fine," he answers, but I feel his body tense.

"Are you going back there? To train with your coach?"

"Yeah. It's what I need to do if I want to play this year."

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