Page 63 of Striking Heat
Mac giggles and turns back to the rebounder. She’s not dismissing me, though. But she keeps smacking the ball.
Thump.The ball makes another loud smack against the wood. She’s the only one with this type of contraption in her backyard, and as far as I know, she’s the only one who uses it.
“You won. You know that, right?” I ask her. I move so that I’m standing off to the side of her rebounder. I can still see her face and watch those beautiful blue eyes roll as I state the obvious.
“Yeah, I do. But one win doesn’t wipe away the rest of it,” she admits with a shrug.
“Oh, come on. That was the best game I’ve seen you and this team play all season.”
The smile the compliment rewards me with is worth me giving her about twenty more of those. But I don’t. I wait for her to explain herself. Before she does, she passes the ball to the wood, receiving it back with a perfect stop. I want to step in and break the movement, so she’ll talk to me, but I let her go. Let her work through whatever it is that’s going on in that head of hers.
The silence stretches on, and finally she turns and looks at me.
“What are you doing here?” Her tone isn’t accusatory or rough; it’s genuine curiosity. “I hadn’t expected to see you tonight.”
I shrug. “I wanted to see you.” I cringe inwardly at my words. Why do I sound like such a chick? I’m basically telling her that I missed her. That I wanted to see her. That I wanted to have those long legs wrapped around me while she moaned and begged for me to drive into her until she couldn’t take anymore.
“It is nice to see you.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed that you have to admit that to me,” I tell her.
She only shrugs at my comment. There is no witty retort; not like before. I guess the verbal foreplay that’s been happening between us isn't going to continue tonight.
“What’s going on?” I move closer, circling her in my arms as I gently pull her toward me. She comes so easily and lays her head on my shoulder. I get the feeling she needs this hug more than she needs the victory tonight. And I don’t understand why. “Talk to me.”
The silence in the quiet of the backyard is stretching between us, but I don’t push, and I don’t ask her questions I know she’s not ready to answer. She’ll tell me all in good time, I think. I can see a few teammates’ windows from here. But there are no soft glows coming from them. No one else is home.
“The rest of the team go out to celebrate?”
She nods. “Yeah, they wanted to head out tonight.” After stepping out of my arms, Mac picks a ball up and begins juggling it in front of her.
I watch with rapt attention as it lightly bounces from one knee to the other. It’s slow and deliberate. I’ve seen her work it much faster than this, but tonight she’s moving slowly on purpose. My dick twitches at the thought of working her slowly over and over again.
Fuck! What is it about this girl that makes me take everything she does and turn it dirty? Every moment, every touch, and all her words stir something inside me. She needs me to be someone who will listen to tonight, and all I want to be is the person who makes her moan.
“I should be on cloud nine like the rest of them tonight. We won, and I got a hat trick.” She shrugs and shakes her head. “Those are all good things.”
“They are.” I nod and patiently wait for her to continue.
“I wanted to look at the media tonight and be like,in your face. Because, you know, we pulled off a win, even though they were sure we were going to lose.”
I’m one of those members of the media who normally tell her that the organization, even though it’s new, isn’t hacking it.
“The last thing anyone thought this city needed was an NWSL team.”
“I think you’re proving otherwise,” I remind her. “Look at those fans tonight. The arena was downright electric tonight. I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing to see you all succeed, and I loved the win. Every last fucking second of it.” I step closer to her and bring my hands up to either side of her face. “You were amazing out there, andthisteam is exactly what we have been missing.”
She smirks. “Are you trying to tell me you were wrong?”
I lean in and brush my lips with hers. “I would never admit being wrong.” Her eyes sparkle in disbelief, so I add, “Normally. But this is one of those times that I think I’m happy to say I was wrong about this team, and most importantly, you.”
Mac giggles. “That’s only because I give you ass.”
She’s deflecting, trying to keep the emotions on the surface, making sure I know that this can’t work, especially if the media is to take her seriously as a player and the Blaze seriously as a team. She needs them too. Mixing a little business with pleasure is a surefire way to make sure everyone has doubts about her ability and the team’s worth.
“I think there’s more to it than that. But we can go with that—for tonight.”
She shakes her head. “Danny boy, there is no way you need anything more from me than what I’ve been giving you.”
