“Mom, I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”
I hung up and pushed my phone back into my gym bag. My hand reached for the door handle, but then I paused and turned back. He was still staring out through the windshield, ignoring me.
“Listen, about this morning. I didn’t mean to barge in and—”
He shook his head before I could continue, leaned over, and pushed open my passenger door. I ignored the feel of his strong forearm as it grazed my bare thigh.
“Get out, Brie,” he ordered. “I’m late for a date.”
All day he’d treated me like shit, and now he was pushing me out of his truck so he could go on a date? I hated the idea of him out on a date. He was supposed to be focused on us and our training.
I shook my head and shoved off my seat. “Thanks for the ride, Coach. Maybe tomorrow after you bang some random chick you’ll actually be able to look me in the eye at practice.”
I slammed the truck door closed hard enough I knew it would piss him off, spun on my heel, and walked toward the guesthouse, resisting the urge to flip him off over my shoulder. I’d never once talked to a coach the way I’d just talked to Erik. As a rule, I respected authority, did what I was told, and kept my head down. I wouldn’t lie though—walking away after delivering the last word felt pretty damn good. Maybe I liked this new version of Brie better than the old one. She had chutzpah.
When I pushed through the guesthouse door, I found my team sitting around the kitchen table, eating dinner. I dropped my gym bag near the door and glanced over their meals: broccoli, chicken, sweet potatoes. It looked pretty bland, but I was too hungry to care.
“Finally! I was about to put a search party out for you,” Molly said, spinning around to take me in. Her eyes widened at my flushed face.
I headed for the fridge and pulled out one of the meals sitting up top. It was filled with asparagus instead of broccoli. What a culinary adventure!
“You okay?”
I nodded and dropped my meal on the kitchen counter. On second thought, maybe I need a chance to cool down. I put the meal back into the fridge and walked past them toward the stairs. “I’m going to shower.”
Not one of them said a word as I took the stairs two at a time and slammed my bedroom door. I stripped off my leotard and tossed it in the dirty clothes hamper. I turned the shower on to its hottest setting and let the water spill down over me, erasing my weird morning and my shitty practice and that tense car ride home. No amount of lavender-scented body wash could calm me down though; I was still fuming when I stepped out and wrapped myself in a towel.
I whipped the bathroom door open and leapt a mile in the air when I spotted Rosie, Lexi, and Molly sitting on the edge of my bottom bunk waiting for me.
“Can’t a girl get some privacy?” I asked, rifling through my clothes until I settled on the same pajama pants and tank top I’d been wearing earlier that morning. The cotton material of the tank top was worn and soft, and in that moment, that’s all I wanted: something familiar and comfortable.
“Oh please.” Lexi waved her hand. “I’ve seen boobs in my day; don’t act like yours are all that great.”
I glared at her as I pulled my underwear on beneath my towel. “At least I have them.”
She laughed. “She’s back! I was scared we’d lost you for a second.”
I shook my head as I pulled my tank top over my head and dropped my towel. “Sorry, Erik was just such an ass today and I swear he’s targeting me more than anyone else.”
The three of them nodded.
“Obviously,” Molly said.
“Maybe he’s just having a hard time adjusting to the five of us living here,” Rosie said with a shrug. “And I mean, you did break into his house this morning.”
Lexi snorted. “Rosie, you’re naive. Brie might be a criminal, but that’s not why Erik is worked up. He sees what we all see. Brie has this sexy, alluring thing about her.”
I waved my hand. “Hi, I’m right here. Remember?”
Molly laughed and pushed off the bed. “All right c’mon. Let’s go put on a movie and relax. No more thinking about practice for the rest of the night.”
We agreed, and I told them I’d meet them downstairs after I finished drying off. Once they were gone, I walked into the bathroom and stared at my reflection. Was Lexi right about me being sexy? I’d never in a million years thought of myself that way.
I leaned forward and stared at my features. I had light brown eyes that looked brighter in the sunlight. I had clear skin and a few freckles dotting the bridge of my nose. Sometimes if I angled my face just right and pouted my lips, I felt pretty. I did it then and after a moment, I realized what I was doing: I wanted to be sexy for Erik. I was trying to see what he saw when he looked at me. I shivered at the thought.
“Fuck him,” I muttered, reaching for my hairbrush and yanking it through my long brown strands. There was no point in blow drying it. I’d just toss it into a braid or ponytail for practice in the morning.
The girls had already picked a movie by the time I made it back downstairs. I plopped down in the middle of the couch between Molly and Lexi, and Molly passed me a giant bowl of popcorn. I ate it, stuffing giant handfuls into my mouth. I knew I’d eventually have to get up and make dinner, but until then, I’d fill my stomach with buttery goodness.
“Did you guys seriously pick a romance?”
“Yes,” Lexi said, stealing some popcorn. “Deal with it.”
I didn’t know what the movie was called, but it had Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling and there was no need to actually pay attention to the plot. Really, it was worth it just to see Ryan Gosling walk around in a fitted suit.
Sometime later—during a part of the movie that didn’t include Ryan on screen, thus wasn’t important—I heard a truck door slam and my heart leapt in my chest. It was early, which meant Erik’s date must have been terrible if he was already home. I pushed the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table and hopped off the couch.
“What are you doing?” Lexi asked, following after me.
“Spying,” I said, pulling the living room drape aside to see the gravel drive.
Erik was rounding the front of his truck to open the door on the passenger side. The seat I’d occupied two hours earlier had been stolen by a leggy blonde with a tight black dress and killer heels. He held the door open for her as she stepped out and I rolled my eyes. Who is he trying to fool with the gentleman act?
“Jesus Christ, is that a playboy bunny?” Lexi asked.
I glared at her. “She’s not that pretty.”
She snorted. “Yeah, hot is more like it.”
Whatever. So she had that beach babe thing about her—long blonde hair curled to hell and tan skin—big whoop. Everything was probably fake. I hope.
Erik pressed his hand to her lower back and guided her to the back door of his house.
“Is he seriously bringing a new girl back to his house?” Molly asked from over my shoulder. “He was with a brunette the other night.”
“So inappropriate,” I spat just as the two of them ducked inside. The kitchen light flipped on and I caught their shadows moving behind the drapes.
“I mean, it’s not that inappropriate. He’s single and young,” Lexi argued. “It’s not like he has to be celibate just ’cause he’s our coach. He’s not a priest.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Whatever. He can do that stuff somewhere else. We don’t need to be around it.”
“You’re jealous,” Molly said, watching me as I spun away from the window.
“No. I just think it’s super unprofessional.”
Lexi smirked. “Fine. Then let’s do something about it.”
Chapter Twelve
Erik
I lied to Brie when I pushed her out of my truck. I didn’t have a date, but I did go to my favorite bar downtown and nurse a drink for half an hour before Cassie approached me. She was in the middle of finishing her internal medicine residency at a hospital downtown. She’d explained
that most nights she was on call, but she had the night off and fortunately for her, she’d found me at the bar. We’d talked for a little bit then I’d leaned closer, brushing her silky hair off her shoulder.
“Want to head out?”
A smile had slowly overtaken her lips as she nodded. “Let’s go.”
I lead Cassie through the back door of my house and offered her a glass of wine.
“I’d love one,” she said, turning slowly and inspecting my kitchen.
“Red or white?” I asked.
“White please.”
I pulled open my fridge and found a stray bottle rolling around in the bottom drawer. I rarely drank wine and the fact that I actually had a bottle chilled was a happy accident.
“This is a pretty cool place you have here,” she said as I uncorked the bottle of wine. “How long have you lived here?”
“Nearly ten years.”
She nodded and took a seat at the kitchen island. Our gazes landed on the bag of muffins sitting between us. Brie had left them there that morning and I’d already devoured four.
“These look homemade. Do you bake?” Cassie asked with a smile.
I shook my head, reached for the bag, and tossed it into the trash. “Nope.”
She laughed, nervous.
I didn’t bother offering up any more of an explanation as I poured her a generous glass of wine and slid it across the counter. Her blue eyes met mine and she smiled.
“Cheers.”
Before I could bring my glass to my lips, there was a knock on the front door.
Cassie frowned. “Who’s that?”
“Probably Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
She laughed. “This late?”
“They’re relentless this time of year. I swear they have a quota.”
I whipped open the door, surprised to find Rosie standing on the porch, fidgeting and wringing her hands.
“Rosie?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
She swallowed slowly. “Um, do you have an egg we could borrow?”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out if I’d heard her right. “An egg?”
Her eyes darted to the guesthouse and then back to me. “Uh, yeah. An egg.”
“To borrow?”
Her hands squeezed tighter as she nodded.
“Right,” I continued. “An egg.”
I walked back into the kitchen, pulled the full carton out of the fridge, and walked back to hand Rosie the entire thing.
“Thanks,” she said, taking it out of my hand and bolting from the porch.
“Were they hungry?” Cassie asked with a laugh after I closed the door and joined her in the kitchen.
I took a long sip and nodded.
She laughed again. I was happy she didn’t pester me about the intrusion, and even happier to see her glass already in need of a refill.
I opened my mouth to ask her about residency, curious about why she’d chosen the internal medicine route, when another knock sounded from the door.
Her smile faded. She clearly hadn’t expected any disruptions to our night. I held up my finger, dropped my glass back to the counter, and walked back to answer the door.
This time, Molly was standing on the other side, holding her hand to her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, speaking a little more gruffly than I had with Rosie.
“Do you have an Advil?”
I shook my head. “You guys don’t have Advil over there?”
She sighed. “No, and I have a really bad migraine.”
I gripped the door, resisted the urge to call her bluff, and turned for the stairs. Once there, I reached into my medicine cabinet for Advil and pulled out Tylenol as well. When I handed both over to Molly, she peered over my shoulder, trying to get a good look at Cassie.
“Is that it?” I asked, holding the door in my fist and starting to close it on her when she hadn’t budged.
“Oh, right.” She turned and shook the pills overhead. “Thanks!”
I closed and locked the door, walked back into my kitchen, and finished off the rest of my wine with a long gulp.
“Is everything okay?” Cassie asked, peering at me from beneath her long lashes.
I nodded and tried to plaster on a smile. “There’s a group staying in my guesthouse and they’re being extra needy tonight.”
“Oh, like Airbnb?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
I hadn’t told Cassie about my job because I didn’t like all the questions that came with the conversation. It was safer to stick to medicine. Usually doctors could ramble on for hours if you got them started.
“So, tell me what it’s like working downtown. Do you have to work in the ER?”
Her eyes lit up at the question, but she’d hardly opened her mouth to answer when another knock sounded at my door. This time, the knocks were louder and longer than before and I nearly threw my empty wine glass across the room in frustration.
Christ.
“Um…if you need to handle your guests, I can totally come back another time,” Cassie said, starting to edge off her barstool.
I shook my head and reached out to touch her arm. “Stay. This will just take a second.”
I can kill five girls quickly, right?
When I whipped the door open, Lexi was standing on my porch with her arms crossed and a devilish smile spread across her face.
“Evening, Coach Dub.”
“What do you want, Lexi?”
She smiled wider. “Do you have a cell phone charger I could borrow? Mine’s dead.”
“Borrow one from one of your teammates,” I said, stepping back to close to door.
She reached out and used her hand to keep the door propped open. “Fine. Then I need a thermometer.” Her hand covered her mouth as she pretended to cough. She didn’t even bother to sound convincing. “I think I’m coming down with something.”
“Lexi, I don’t know what kind of shit you guys are pulling, but—”
I felt a hand hit my lower back as Cassie slid past me to get through the door.
“Hey, this has been fun, but I’m going to head out. I have an early shift tomorrow.”
I shook my head and reached out for her. “No. Stay.”
She smiled and waved her phone in the air. “It’s cool, the Uber driver’s already a minute away. I’ll catch you around town sometime.”
She waved over her shoulder and headed down the gravel drive without a second thought. I couldn’t blame her. In the ten minutes she’d been in my house, I’d had three different people come and knock on my door. I’d treated each one with more disdain than the last, and if I were her, I would have left too.
Lexi shot me a self-indulgent smile. “Actually, I feel better now. Maybe it’s a miracle? I should start going to church again.” She turned and hopped down the porch steps. “See you at practice tomorrow!”
A few yards behind her, nearly hidden in shadows, Brie stood with her arms crossed. Her chin was raised; her shoulders were back. She was wearing a smirk that matched Lexi’s and the gleam in her eyes—shining in the moonlight—conveyed how proud she was of herself.
When Lexi reached her, they fell into a fit of giggles and turned to speed back to the guesthouse in tandem.
“BRIE!” I boomed.
She stopped dead in her tracks. Lexi tried to pull her forward, but she wouldn’t budge. She knew better.
“I need to talk to you,” I said, lowering my voice to a subtle shout.
She said something to Lexi and then turned to assess me. Lexi continued to the guesthouse, glancing between; she was clearly worried to leave her friend with me, but Brie stood confident.
“Then talk,” she shouted across the yard, locking her arms across her chest.
“In private,” I said, walking back into my house and leaving the door open for her.
I poured myself another glass of wine, then thought better of it and poured it down the sink. I corked the bottle and stuck it back in th
e fridge, slamming the door closed in time to hear Brie’s footsteps hit the hardwood.
“Shut the door,” I said, turning to assess her.
The cool girl standing in the shadows a moment earlier was replaced by the softer version I’d seen in my kitchen that morning. Her hair was still damp from a shower and when she turned, I noticed she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She was nothing but soft tan skin and wide brown eyes.
“What do you want?” she asked with a skeptical tone.
“That was quite a stunt you just pulled,” I said, stepping around the kitchen island and cutting the distance between us in half.
She braced herself, steeling her shoulders and fisting her palms as I grew closer. She glanced away, pinning her attention on my couch, and shrugged.
“I don’t know what you’re t—”
“Cut the bullshit. What is your goal here?”
It was a long few seconds before she finally answered, and by then I was only a foot away from her, close enough to inhale the sweet scent of coconut from her shampoo.
“We just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to bring girls back to the house. Surely you can find somewhere else to fuck them.”
My lips twitched as the expletive left her lips, but that wasn’t the word I focused on.
“Women,” I corrected.
“What?” she asked, her gaze snapping back to me.
“I fuck women in my house. Not girls.”
Her eyes narrowed and I felt desire grip my cock like a warm hand. Those damn eyes. If they weren’t slicing me in two, they were begging me closer, promising to devour me.
I took another step closer. “You’re upset I brought my date back here?” I leaned in close so she couldn’t miss my words. “Guess what…” My voice was low, nearly a whisper. “This is my house and I’ll fuck here whenever I want.”
Her nostrils flared in anger.
“You’re supposed to be our coach! I just don’t thi—”
“I don’t care what you think,” I argued, cutting her off. Her back hit the front door as she tried to get away from me, but I conquered every inch she ceded. She thought she could manipulate my life, thought she could send her teammates over to do her bidding and there wouldn’t be consequences?