Page 12 of Brighter than the Boss
Next up was how to get out of a headlock on the ground. Again, Shasta positioned Cain as the aggressor on top of me while we lay on the mats. Cain wrapped his arm around my head, cradling me close to him. While Shasta kept giving instruction and answering questions, we lay there, uncomfortably close for long minutes.
"Next time, make sure you brush your teeth before volunteering, Sunshine." Cain was smiling at me, his lips looking so smug with their insult.
I smiled back sweetly. "You bet. As soon as you start wearing deodorant."
His smile vanished, and he bent his head to smell his armpit right by my head, nearly knocking our foreheads together. He pulled back, his breath fanning my face from less than an inch away.
"I smell fine, babe."
"Sure you do, honey." I smiled coyly.
He frowned.
"Okay, so Sunny will demonstrate this next one. Watch closely what she does with her hands." Shasta's orders broke through our passive-aggressive bubble.
I reached around like I was giving Cain a hug, my hands low on his back. Slipping my hands under his shirt, I felt more than heard a growl coming from the big guy pressed up against me. Before my body betrayed me completely and went in to cop a feel, I scrunched his shirt all the way up to his head and then whipped my arm around and grabbed the length of shirt, synching it up tighter, like a noose around his neck.
He gave it a good try, but when his face was dark red, he finally dropped his arm from around my neck and went to save his throat. That gave me the opportunity to shrimp out from under him again, using my feet on his hips to push away.
The whoops and hollers from the crowd broke through my awareness. For a split second, I thought they were excited over the move I'd made, but no. All eyes were still on Cain, his shirt still not covering his muscular, tan back. Jesus, it shouldn't be legal to have such a broad back and yet have such a tight waist. The ladies didn't stand a chance. No wonder he had his pick of women.
I reached down and pulled his shirt back into place, killing the fantasy playing out in every teen girl's head right now.
Cain looked up at me again, that damn smirk still in place. "Always dressing each other, aren't we?"
My eyes nearly popped out of my head, picturing him handing me my red lifeguard swimsuit. I spun around and stalked over to Shasta.
"We about done here?" I whispered to her.
She winked and addressed the group. "All right, ladies, we're done with our demonstration for today. Let's head over to the picnic benches for some lunch!" The kids hopped up and stampeded over to the pizza and drinks waiting for them.
I felt a warm presence at my back.
"Thank you both for being such great sports. You're a natural, Sunny-girl." Shasta patted me on the back, looked over my shoulder to deliver her approval to my nemesis, and walked off to join the girls, leaving me alone with Cain.
The warmth came closer and as much as I was shouting at my legs to move, I stayed in place, the anticipation of more touching too much to ignore. Like a toddler tasting ice cream for the first time, I now craved the weight of his body.
"Are you leaving?" His voice grumbled out from behind me, nothing touching, but every cell in my body ready and waiting for the hit.
"Um, no. I have to wait for Brinley. She drove me this morning so I could help lug in the volleyball equipment." I nodded toward the courts, where Dean was helping her load up the balls and take down the nets.
"Looks like Dean's got your job covered. How ’bout I take you home?"
I turned to face him, weary of his kindness. In my limited experience, his kindness usually was followed by humiliation or mocking, neither of which I wanted more of.
"I'll get an Uber." I turned and walked away to grab my stuff, eager to escape him now that the distance was letting my brain back into the game. The man was dangerous to my sanity. Steering clear was my best option.
Cain snatched my bag out of my hand, after approaching silently from behind.
"Hey!"
"Let me take you home, Sunshine." He started to walk off, like it was a done deal.
"Hey, wait up! You can't just steal my bag and tell me to ride with you. We're not at work. You're not my boss right now."
He stopped so suddenly, I almost ran into him. I pulled back with a yelp just in time. No touching, body.
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "Did you just squeak?"
