Page 34 of Face Off
Throbbing.
“You’re such a fucking tease, you know that,” I say as I brush a finger along her wet slit. Her arousal is already pooling between her legs. “I was hard all fucking practice thinking about you and how you were completely bare down here since you snuck your panties into my bag this morning.”
“Oh, so sorry to cause problems for you.”
She turns around in my arms, rubbing her hands over my tired, tense shoulders. I should probably carry her up to bed and snuggle her into the side of me for a nap before tonight’s game, but my libido has other plans. Gripping her thighs, I lift her onto the kitchen counter, kissing my way down the pulse of her neck.
The sound of bacon popping distracts her, causing her to pull away for a moment before my lips are back on her beautiful skin. “Brooks, I’m going to burn the—”
“Mom!” The sound of running feet echo through the entryway toward the kitchen, followed by the closing of the door. “Mom, we’re home.”
“Shit,” she mumbles, pushing me from between her legs and herself, off the counter. “He’s not supposed to be home till… Hey, buddy.”
Camden comes into the kitchen, throwing his bag onto the island. “Hey, Mom. Brooks, what are you doing here? That was a cool fight last night,” he says, holding out a fist bump to me.
“Uh… no. Cam, what are you doing home from school? How did you get home from school?” Hayley says, moving out of my hold.
“Gram picked me up. I had a doctor’s appointment, remember? She said she didn’t want to wake you.”
“And I see my reasoning for not waking you was justified,” a woman dressed in pink with perfectly styled, ash-blond hair says from the doorway. “If I would have known you had company, I would have just kept him with me.”
Hayley’s face paling just a little as she looks between Cam and the lady in pink. “Celeste…” she says, quickly recovering. “Thanks for taking Camden today. I greatly appreciate it. This is Brooks Miller. A colleague. He plays for the Skipjacks.”
Looks are exchanged between the woman I now know is Celeste and Hayley. Hayley’s almost as if she’s pleading for her to leave and keep quiet. Celeste smiles sweetly before extending her hand to me.
“Pleasure to meet you, Brooks.”
“You, too,” I say, shaking her hand. Her grip is firm even though her hands are dainty. “Well, I should be going. Thanks for checking up on my injury from the game, Dr. Marshall. I’ll see you tonight.”
Hayley flashes me a sad smile before offering to walk me to the door. My hands itch to pull her into a kiss and tell her not to worry about it, but I think right now, it would do more harm than good. Whoever this Celeste woman is has her visibly shaken, and who is this Gram person Cam keeps talking about? Nonetheless, I place a chaste kiss on her cheek before turning and leaving.
???
“Dude, this morning you were on cloud nine. Now you just look confused,” Halloway says while unbuttoning his dress shirt and placing it in the locker next to mine.
He’s not wrong. The entire scene from Hayley’s house this morning keeps running through my head. She was on edge as if she had been caught doing something completely wrong. I mean who is this Celeste woman anyway? I mean she looked familiar, but I can’t be too sure that she’s anyone of importance. And then there’s this whole Gram person, and where were they this whole time? Was Gram Camden’s father?
“Brooks, did you hear me?” Halloway says again, smacking me on the back of my head, drawing me back to reality.
“Sorry, what were you saying?”
“You need to get whatever shit is going on in that head of yours cleared out. We are not losing tonight, and you are not fucking up again and ending up in the box,” Halloway scolds as he finishes tying his running shoes.
I stand from the bench and grab my earpods before stalking away. “I get it.”
He jogs up beside me as I head to the workout room to warm up for the game. “Do you? Because you look like you’re not focused, and it’s the beginning of the season, man. Shit sets the tone for how we’re gonna end it.”
I get on the stationary bike and pedal as he hops on the one next to me. I pop in my earpods, turning my playlist on low, hoping Halloway will take the fucking hint. Yet, I feel him staring at me. His eyes narrow into tiny slits as he pedals. Sitting up straight, I rip my earpods from my ears.
“Jesus, fuck. What?” I growl.
“It’s a girl, isn’t it? The same one you had googly eyes for at the gala and the same one who provides medical treatment to the team.” He smiles triumphantly as I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m right, ain’t I?”
“Ain’t isn’t a word,” I say as I increase my pace on the bike. “And so, what if it is?”
He resumes pedaling with a smirk on his face. “Cassidy was right. You didn’t just get under Hayley’s skin, she’s under yours as well.”
The fuck.
