Page 56 of Down to One

That night, Katie bit her nails watching all the sportscasters debate the severity of his injury while not-so-patiently waiting for him to call with the real story. He never did.

He surprised her with a call the next morning though, before her shower while she was still sipping coffee in the kitchen. Katie barely made it through the standard pleasantries before prodding about the wrist.

"Sooooo….isitbad?"

He didn’t have to ask what she meant. "Nah, nothing I can’t handle."

"Are you going to have to miss some games?"

"OhI’mplayingtoday,"heassuredher."It’snotabigdeal. Honestly,thebiggestpainintheassishavingtojerkoffwithmylefthand."

CoffeesnortedupKatie’snoseandsloshedovertherimofhermug.

"I’mserious,"hesaid."Myrightone’soniceandobviouslyI’mnotsupposed to overwork it. Since you’re not here to do it for me…what else can I do?"

A slow burn crept up Katie’s neck and into her cheeks, but she giggled as she mopped up coffee with a paper towel.

"You almost made me stain my tank top," she said.

"Which tank top? The Maverick one?"

"Yes."

"The white one I asked you to wear?"

"That’s the one."

"Let me see you in it," he said, and Katie’s phone instantly started vibrating with his FaceTime request.

Withonlyasplitsecondtoreact,shetuggedherscrunchieoff, finger combed her hair, and gave the tank a quick straighten. But all thoughts of her own appearance went out the window when Landon showed up on her screen. Her heart ached at the sight of him propped up against a hotel headboard without a shirt, hair a delightful mess, eyes sleepy. He ran his hand across his chin and the tiny bristling sound sent a rush through her stomach. She wanted it to be her hands on him. Her cheeks and chin brushing up against that stubble. Her thighs.

"You’re really wearing it," he said, his eyes dipping shamelessly to her chest.

"You’rehittingoverthreefortyandyou’reonanineteengamehitting streak. Of course I’m wearing it. You could ask me to sleep in a burlap sack if that would help us get to the post season."

He waggled his eyebrows. "I could actually see you making that look hot as hell, but I’ll make do with this. Now take it off."

Katie froze, eyes and mouth wide open until Landon laughed out loud as a hot blush crept up her chest and neck and into her face. Not because she was at all self conscious about her breasts, but because she always seemed to come off like some inexperienced prude around him. So, just to throw him off his game, she tipped her head sideto side to let him know she was thinking about it, then lifted the hem ofher shirt and showed him she wasn’t wearing a bra.

Landon’s eyes turned to saucers and he sat up straighter on the bed. "Holy shit, I didn’t think you’d really do it. Ok, this is good."

Katie just as swiftly pulled the tank top back down. "No, that’s all. I was just teasing."

"What?Seriously?That’sit?"

"Yes,that’sit.I’vegottogetreadyforwork."

"C’mon baby, we could have some fun with this. Just real quick. I promise you’ll get off."

"Oh yeah, that’s exactly what I was worried about. No, it’s not the best time of the month for all that, if you know what I mean."

"Ahhhhh," Landon nodded as if that explained everything. "Okay, yeah, now I get why you look kind of run down."

Katie shot him a glare that could have melted the phone. "Excuse me,butwhatthehelldoesrundownmean?It's like six in the morning.Andfortherecord,womencan be upset or tired for many other reasons than the one men conveniently like to blame everything on. I can promise you, that’s the least of my problems right now, okay?"

Landon didn’t seem too chagrined based on the sly look he bit back before he relaxed into his pillow with one arm behind his head. Katie didn’t have the luxury to cozy back up in bed. Not with the incoming email that flashed at the top of her screen.

"What the…? No…no, no, no, nooooo." Her FaceTime screen turned black as she clicked on the message from Lori. "Fuuuck."

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