Page 66 of Striking Heat
“Is it the green kind?”
“Is there any other kind? I mean, is mint ice cream even mint if it’s not green?” I laugh, thinking about how silly it is to take a stand on whether the mint is green or white. When really it’s only green if you put food coloring in it.
He chuckles. “No, I guess not.”
I get out of bed and head into the kitchen. I grab two bowls, peeking out my kitchen window. It overlooks my backyard.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
~DANNY~
Iwake up and realize I’m still in her apartment. I told myself I was going to sneak out at some point, but it’s the morning and I haven’t left yet. I’m not sure if she has anything this morning; she didn’t say. I look over my shoulder and see her sleeping so sweetly. Her lips are slightly parted, and she’s breathing in and out evenly while her eyelids flutter.
I grab my phone so that I can see what time it is.
6:32 a.m.
I have several unread messages from August. My blood runs cold. I wonder if he’s figured it out or if he’s been looking for me and noticed that my car is at the team housing. I tried to hide at the edge of the lot, away from where the girls tend to park, but maybe that’s why he saw it. Maybe I should have made sure I blended in.
I unlock my phone to eight unread messages from him. I scroll to where they begin and read them.
August:Hey, man. Wanna hang out tonight? I'm in the mood to celebrate.
August:Come on, it’s beer 30. Let’s hang.
August:You up for a beer or not?
August:Okay, I was hoping to talk to you about the article. We need to get it wrapped up.
August:Where are you at, man? The team is here, but you aren’t. I thought you’d be here scoping out Mac some more.
August:Are you hooking up with someone? Is that why you’re not answering me? Well, either way, let me know about the article. The old man is breathing down my neck about it. With the win, he wants to capitalize on good press.
August:I hear you’re coming to the next away game. That’s great. Let’s get the article out shortly after that.
August:Dude let’s play golf this week and talk.
He’s like a hyperactive teenager. I wonder if he’ll ever grow up. Is that why Maxwell keeps him under his thumb? Or is he this way because he’s constantly under his dad’s thumb and can’t do anything on his own? It makes me wonder if that is how I would be if I hadn’t chosen a completely different career path than my father.
I gotta get out of here before anyone sees me. I don’t want Mac to be caught, so I’ve gotta go. If I wait much longer, someone from the team could wake up and see me here. Or come over and find me here. I’m not going to let it ruin something for her.
Plus, I have my own career to think about too. I’m sleepingwith the person I’m being paid to interview. She doesn’t know that part yet. Cromwell is paying a hefty sum to have this article published by my paper. It would comprise everything—ruin my career, maybe even hers. Especially once Cromwell gets wind of it, I’m not sure what he would do to her. Sure, she’s the captain, but still, the city isn’t that thrilled with the team anyway, so they could easily replace her. She’d never play pro soccer again. And then she would be like me, living a life of what-ifs.
I rise quietly and find my clothes. I pull them on and carefully make my way to the entrance of her bedroom. I pause and look back at her, sleeping so peacefully and looking gorgeous doing it. I hate to leave her, but I have to do it. There’s too much at stake for us to have a normal morning here.
I creep out into the living room and see it’s sparse of decorations and she keeps it very neat. Which is probably pretty easy considering there aren’t too many personal effects. Just a bookcase, which has a lot of books and some pictures. I slowly make my way over to the bookcase to see what they are. It’s her in college, wearing the Portland U uniform. She’s got pictures of her with Cassie—a lot with her. They must be best friends.
There’s a picture of her when she was younger. She still has that same bright smile, and of course she’s in a soccer uniform. It must be high school. They’re all holding medals, like they won a tournament or a championship or something. She was beautiful even back then.
I walk to the front and open the door. It’s one of the locks with the keypad, so it looks like I can lock it from the outside too. I decide to send her a text message letting her know that I left and why. I don’t want to upset her or hurt her. Hopefully she gets that it’s safer this way.
Danny:Good morning, beautiful. I’m sorry you woke up alone, but I had to go. I didn’t want you to get caught. Ihad a great time last night. Congrats again on the big win. Call me later if you want.
I’m not sure why I threw incall me laterin there, but I hit send. Even when I’m at the diner working on the article, which doesn’t have a lot of content to it because I can’t stop taking her clothes off long enough to ask her a question, I’ll constantly be checking it to see if she’s called.
It doesn’t look like anyone is up and about. It’s not even seven in the morning yet. They’re all probably taking this time to sleep in. I look around before I jog to my car, hoping to get out of there before I’m detected. I think it works as I unlock the car and peek around to make sure that no one is watching me.
I leave the parking lot and immediately head to the diner. There has to be something I can start putting together. August sent me those texts asking about it, reminding me that his father is looking for something soon. Mac and I just have to stop being alone. She has to quit looking so adorable when she smiles and stop turning me on with her quick wit and quips.
