Page 16 of Catch Me

“Hey, you know last night when I asked you if you trusted me?” I say, trying to bring her back to me, to pull her out of this pit of uncertainty that she’s launched herself into. She nods once, keeping her eyes on her feet.

I grip her chin and force her golden flecked eyes to catch mine. “You answered yes really quick…why? You barely know me and I don’t have the best reputation with women, so why trust me so easily?”

Her lips part like she’s going to say something, then she closes her mouth again and lets out a tiny, barely audible sigh. “My gut tells me I should trust you,” her eyes capture mine and I hold a breath. “So I do.”

With a tilt of my head and questioning eyes I ask, “That’s it?”

She nods, soft, dimpled smile in tact. “That’s it,” A hint of teasing glistens in the hazel pools that are latched onto me. “And this,” she spins fast and falls backwards, arms out like an angel. “Catch me.”

“Jesus Christ,” I curse, catching her in my arms easily but feeling my heart thrum at the thought of her almost landing on her ass on my bedroom floor. “You’re crazy.”

She grins over her shoulder at me and I duck around her, dropping my shoulder and flinging her over it as she squeals and wiggles. I drop her onto the mattress with a jaw aching smile, smacking a hard kiss to the crook of her neck as her belly laugh echoes through the room.

“I’m getting in the shower you nut case,” I grab a towel from my dresser, she’s still cracking up, eyes scrunched shut, hand on her stomach. “My shower is shit so I'm going to use the main one, back in five.”

“Ok,” she pants, wild curls tumbling down her back as she sits up straight. “Don’t be long.”

I pull my bedroom door shut behind me and head next door to the bathroom. In the same moment that I reach for the door handle, the knob turns and the wood is yanked open fast.

Molly appears from the mist like a siren that’s come on land to drag as many fishermen into her depths as possible, drowning each one as she goes. Her eyes land on mine immediately, she knows what I did last night. I don’t know how she knows but she fucking knows, I can tell from the smirk forming on her lips.

“What’s that smile for?” She says coyly, like she doesn’t fucking know exactly why I'm beaming this morning.

I lean an elbow against the door frame, towering over her. “Just finished my pre-training meal and it was fucking delicious.”

Her face twists with confusion, eyebrows knitting tightly together. “What?” She throws both hands in the air. “You know what, I don’t even want to know.” Her still wet hands land against my chest in a firm smack and I laugh as she saunters off down the hallway to Kyle’s room.

CHAPTER 9

LOIS

When I eventually drag myself out of Nick’s bed and head to practice it's almost 7:45, which means I don’t get into the gym until 8:04am. Being four minutes late might seem like a minor inconvenience to most people, but with the dragon we like to call Ellen waiting for me with crossed arms and raised eyebrows, I know I'm in for a world of pain. She doesn’t think I'm living up to Callie as the new captain, but I don’t really give a shit. I’m not Callie and I don’t need to be, I'm only filling in for her until she’s back…I'm praying togodthat she comes back. She’s coming home with Lily this afternoon and it’s safe to say my whole day at practice is spent fucking up my routines because I can’t stop thinking about squeezing the cuteness out of my niece later.

With the sweat still sticking the baby hairs to my forehead and Sean’s old white hoodie draped over my shoulders, I trudge into my dorm room at almost 7pm. Today has taken it out of me, which is laughable really because my mind was anywherebutin the gym with me. I was either daydreaming about the most perfect night with Nick, remembering his hands all over me, everywhere all at once. Or I was shaking with excitement about Callie being home with Lily.

I turn my key in the lock and push the heavy wood open enough to slip through the gap and drop it closed behind me. Anais is in the kitchen, her shoulder length auburn hair swishes when she looks up at me with a smile.

I come behind where she sits on the barstool, head in her laptop screen and swoop an arm around her neck, hugging her tight. “I feel like I haven’t seen you for ages.” I sigh, her hand gripping the forearm that’s across her chest. “Where have you been?”

“I haven’t been anywhere Lo, it’s you that’s been awol this week.” She laughs brightly and the sound sends a wave of comfort through my chest.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I say into the shoulder of her worn out hoodie that looks a lot like mine, except hers doesn’t smell like my brother…that would be weird.

I dump my bag on the ground. The moment I click the button on the coffee machine my bedroom door creaks open and Sean appears from the hallway. He leans against the wall, a muslin hanging over one shoulder and a sickly sweet grin on his face, one that makes me instantly suspicious.

“Ahh, there she is,” he beams, arms folded. “The light of my life, my favourite sister—”

“I'm youronlysister,”

“Still, you would be my favourite even if I had 100 of them, I'm so lucky to have yo—”

“Ok,” I interrupt his pathetic guilty rambling with a finger in the air. “What have you done? You’re being extremely weird right now.”

He stands straight, pushing his weight off the wall and shrugging, albeit way over exaggerated. “Me? Done something? I would never, I…” he watches my eyebrows lift on my forehead, my lips purse in a disbelieving way and his face drops with a sigh. “Ok, fine, I'm sorry. I was changing Lily on your bed and now there’s a—” he pauses, meeting my gaze for a beat. “Let’s just say the sheet is no longer fully white, if you know what I mean.”

My eyes roll, hands flapping in the air. “Oh for god’s sake Sean!” My finger jabs through the air towards him. “You can buy me a new one.”

Sean brushes his likely sweaty palms against his jean clad thighs. “Yep, I will do that. Also, if you could not tell Callie, that would be great.” He pears over one shoulder towards the bathroom where the door is locked and I assume his soon to be wife is, totally unaware of the situation.

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