Kickin' It (Red Card #2)(43)

“Your girl’s resorted to chanting,” Slade joked.

He really needed to stop calling her that in front of me.

People might get the wrong idea.

Then again, she might get the right idea.

I jerked my shirt over my head and then pulled my joggers down to the ground. “Fuck it.” I went all in to my chin and nearly lost my balls in the process.

Parker’s movements were even faster as she got down to her sports bra and black Nike underwear and then jumped into the tub next to mine. Ice spilled over the edge.

Slade grinned down at both of us. “We should do this again next time.”

And then he gave a serious look toward my bath, my knee. “Make sure you ice it later too, okay, man?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved him off and closed my eyes as the door shut behind the maniacs.

“Must have been hard, getting an injury that severe,” Parker said in a calm voice that got my full attention. It was cold as fuck in that tub. I couldn’t even feel my spleen. At this point I wasn’t even sure I had one.

Funny how she’d given me her entire life story from the past year, and all she knew about me was my job and that my sister was obsessed with shoes. “Yeah, knee injuries are never fun, especially public ones.” She nodded her head as I gripped the side of the tub. “It’s not really a sad story, just a normal tale of what happens when you turn one way and your body wants to turn the other way.” I laughed. “I remember falling to the turf and thinking, ‘Thank God,’ which sounds horrible. I loved the game, I just knew that I wasn’t cut out for it, not the way Slade and Jagger were. I loved the stats. I loved watching. And honestly, I made a few mistakes with some illegal substances. The team doctor slipped me some things that were supposed to help. Nobody found out but I hated myself for it. And then I realized I was playing a game I didn’t enjoy anymore. I loved the behind-the-scenes stuff, so when I opened up my own agency it just seemed natural to represent my friends, and it grew from there.”

“How many games did you play, you know, after the whole illegal-substances thing?” she asked in a backward way, skimming past Why drugs, Matt? It just made me want to talk more, open up, then pull her into my arms and ask her to stay.

“I played two seasons,” I said thoughtfully. “I probably would have retired after three. My heart just wasn’t in it, the drugs did the opposite of helping me since I felt so damn guilty. And Slade’s talent—well, you’ve seen him play—is next level. That guy plays like you, he plays with his soul. I never did.”

She was quiet except for water sloshing over the tub, and when I turned she was leaning over it. “You think I play with my soul?”

“I feel it.” I locked eyes with her. “Every time you’re out there, even during practice, you may yell at me, curse me—but you love every minute of suffering, admit it.”

“I admit nothing.” She smiled prettily. “Is our time almost up?”

“I hope it’s soon, before I lose a toe or all function in my lower body.”

“That would be a shame.” I grinned and she added saucily, “Losing a toe.”

I splashed her with cold water; it went directly into her face. “Whoops!”

“Whoops, my ass!” she yelled, splashing me harder, taking basically half of her water and tossing it in my direction. Before I had a chance to think about it, I was getting out of my tub and pulling her into the air and falling back into my tub with her in my arms. She squirmed, letting out a shriek before we splashed in together. I took her completely underwater.

She gasped for air and then smacked my frozen body with her hand.

“I feel nothing.” I laughed harder.

Her teeth chattered as the sounds of footsteps neared, only to move past. I exhaled. Damn it, I was playing with fire, just begging to get burned over and over again.

The door opened. “Time’s up!”

My first thought? Damn.

And I could tell it was hers too, as she slowly rose up over my body. I hooked my hands around her hips and moved to a sitting position as icy water slid down my body, down hers. I helped her out, setting her on her feet. She grasped my biceps for strength and then helped me out.

Both of us had chattering teeth.

Her lips were trembling and blue as she looked up at me with a question in her eyes. And like a coward, I backed away. “Let me get you a towel.”

She hung her head. “Yeah, thanks.”

I wrapped it around her body and held it there, steadying my breathing while she warmed up.

The sound of footsteps neared again.

I frowned. “Slade?”

No one answered.

She just shrugged. “Probably one of them or the janitor. It is getting late.”

“Right.” The hair on the back of my arms stood on end as I quickly grabbed my towel. “I’m going to hit the steam room.”

“Ohhhh, me too!” She followed me before I could tell her that both of us in a small, enclosed space with sweat running down our bodies was a really bad idea.

Once we were both trapped inside the room, I sat down and almost whimpered when she sat down across from me. Next to me would have been better—next to me and I wouldn’t have seen the sweat drip down her chin, I wouldn’t be waiting for the fog to clear so I could count each successive drip onto her naked thigh.