Off the Record (Off #3)(15)
Leaving Ever in her room, I head into the dining room where I have my laptop set up. After booting it up, I pull up my workout spreadsheet to study it. I’d taken a few weeks off from training following the end of our season. We made it through the second round of the playoffs this year and I’ve not done much but run for the past few weeks. It is time for me to get back into serious workout mode again. Training camp is just three months away.
I shoot an email off to my personal trainer, Brian, asking him to tweak a few things and then I make out a grocery list for the week. It’s time to start clean eating again, which sucks. The only good thing is that with all of the training I’ll be doing, I’ll need to pack in a butt load of calories each day. Too bad it can’t be in the form of pizza and beer though. I also need to take into consideration that I have a house guest. I’ll have to ask Ever what she likes to eat.
As if on cue, the little witch walks into the dining room. She’s changed into a pair of worn jeans and a Hello Kitty t-shirt. She’s pulled her hair up into a pony tail but those thick bangs across her forehead still amazingly cause her eyes to almost glow in their brilliance. I’m beginning to think I could be hypnotized by her eyes if I’m not careful.
Taking a chair across from me at the table, she folds her arms across her chest and says, “So...what rules do you want to discuss?”
I save my documents and close my laptop, pushing it aside. I lean back in my chair and stretch my legs out. Clasping my hands across my stomach, I just stare at her. Why did I ask this girl out before? It was so spur of the moment with me that I didn’t even question my actions. I hardly ever ask women out to dinner. And once she declined, I never gave it another thought.
Okay, that’s not exactly true. I did think about her several times that night. I caught glimpses of her before the fireworks started, and she clearly was having a lot of fun. She laughed a lot and her smile made me want to smile. There was a small part of me that wanted her to be having fun with me...to bestow that gorgeous smile on only me. But I never approached her to talk again, and eventually, I put her out of my mind.
Okay, that’s not exactly true either. Brenda and I had a damn good time that night, but several times I imagined it was Ever underneath me, or Ever’s mouth on me. Just the thought causes a slight stirring in my pants.
“Hello? Earth to Linc?”
I shake my head, bringing my thoughts back to reality. “Right. Have you ever lived with someone before? Usually it helps to set some basic boundaries.”
She nods her head. “I lived with my ex-fiancé for two years. I think I know how to nicely share space with someone.”
I let out a sharp laugh. “Ex? What did you do, run him off with that sharp tongue of yours?”
She stands abruptly from the table. The flash of fury in her eyes sets me back a bit and the venom in her voice chills my blood. “How’s this for a rule? Stay the f*ck away from me, *.”
I’m stunned as she bolts from the room but I’m on my feet in two seconds running after her. She almost makes it to her bedroom when I grab her arm to stop her in her tracks. She spins on me quickly and snarls, “Get your hand off me.”
I immediately release her and hold my hands up. “I’m sorry,” I say quickly before she can bolt again. “That was uncalled for...what I said.”
She stares at me, her chest heaving a bit from anger. Her impossibly blue eyes are just staring at me. She’s calculating whether to accept my apology, I can tell, and that doesn’t look to be forthcoming.
“Ever...I’m really sorry. That was rude and if my dad was here and heard me say that, he would have smacked me upside the head. I know better. I’m still angry about the article and I took it out on you unfairly.”
My words penetrate. I can tell she accepts them by the way the glow in her eyes dies down. I’m glad because they were the truth. That was a complete * move and my father would have read me the riot act. I was raised better than that.
She takes in a deep breath and I’d have to be dead and buried not to notice the way her breasts heave under Hello Kitty.
“Fine,” she says. “Apology accepted.”
“Really? We’re okay?”
She sighs again and her voice is weary. “No, we aren’t okay, Linc. I’ve pissed you off, you’ve pissed me off, and we’re both stuck in a shitty situation. It’s not okay. But I guess I’ll try to make the best of it.”
A short breath comes out of my mouth in relief, and I hadn’t realized I had been holding it to see what she would say. Technically, I can’t hold her here. If she really insists on not fulfilling this obligation, I’d release her from it. I thought I did, but I really don’t want her to be miserable. I just want her to see that she was wrong about me, and I’m apparently not off to a great start.
Just this morning, as I was meeting with Selly, I had nothing but vengeance on my mind. I wanted to make her feel wretched. I wanted to take away her prime assignment to L.A. and make her watch me for six weeks so she would know I was a decent guy.
Now? I’m feeling terrible for what I just said and slightly guilty for causing her to miss out on something that could have furthered her career. However, I’m feeling no less desirous of her seeing the real Linc Caldwell. That’s something I’m not going to compromise on and that wins out over my guilt right now.