Play with Me (With Me in Seattle, #3)(9)

“But if you f*ck with her, I’ll tear your heart out of your chest, cancer be damned,” Nick states clearly, harshly.

“Nick!” his mom exclaims. My feet are rooted to the floor. I should go take care of this, but I can’t move. I want to hear Will’s response. Silence fills the room and I picture the two guys, one almost a man and one a grown up, staring at each other.

Finally, Will says, “You know, Nick, I already had a lot of respect for you just from our chat earlier today, but now I just think you’re badass. You’re a good man. You don’t need to worry about Meg.”

I walk into the room in time to see Nick nod soberly and look at the floor. The other four players’ smirks have left their handsome faces, and are instead looking at Nick with respect.

“Okay, everyone,” my voice is bright, not giving a clue that I just heard the conversation about Will and me. “I know you probably have a lot more questions for our guests, but I think it’s time we let them off the hook. They’ve spent a lot of their time with us today.”

There are a few groans, but the room erupts into applause.

“Thank you!” The kids call out, and all five players look a bit embarrassed, but boast huge, proud smiles.

“You’re very welcome,” Will responds when the applause dies down.

“Good luck on Sunday,” Bree’s dad calls out. “I have money riding on it!”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Sanders responds.

I follow the players back to the elevators, Will and I lagging behind the others. He takes my hand in his, but I pull away and look around.

“Not at my job, Will.”

“Oh, so I can hold your hand outside of work?” he asks with a cocky grin.

“I didn’t say that.” Damn him.

“Walk me to my car.” He murmurs down to me, so only I can hear.

“You didn’t ride with the others?” I ask.

“No, Trevon stopped at the training center on his way here to get the Hawks gear, and we all met here.”

“Okay.”

When we reach the parking garage, Will’s teammates each hug me tight.

“You do not have an easy job, little lady,” Kip mutters, his face grim.

“Days like today make my job fantastic, Kip. Seriously, thank you, all of you for coming today. You just don’t know what you did for those kids.”

“Why haven’t you asked us to come before?” Jerrel asks and Will coughs, choking on his own spit.

“Actually, I have. Several times. But I always got a no.”

“Fucking Susan,” Trevon mutters darkly. “From now on, contact us directly. I’m assuming you have Montgomery’s number?”

“Uh, no.” I shake my head and press my lips together.

“Well, hell, I’ll give you my number,” Kip grins. “And not just to visit you at work.”

“Back up, Sutherland,” Will warns. “I got this.”

“Good.” Kip winks at me and the guys all go climb in their own vehicles to leave, wave at us and are gone.

“So,” Will murmurs and steps toward me. Despite the magnetic pull I feel, I take a step back.

“I should go back up.”

“I want to see you, Meg.” Well, he’s blunt, isn’t he?

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I murmur.

His eyes narrow and he crosses his arms over his chest. “Why not?”

“This is a busy time for you, Will, and my job is busy too. Hell, I haven’t heard from you for the past two weeks, so I just assumed…”

“Number one, don’t assume. Ever.” His voice is hard and immediately grabs my attention. “Number two, yes, we’re busy, but we can find the time. And number three, I’m interested.”

“How did I end up naked the morning after the party?” I blurt out, ashamed that I can’t remember. His eyes twinkle mischievously.

“You woke up naked?” he asks, a half-grin spreading on his handsome face.

“Yeah, but I remember you making me put the t-shirt on.”

“You were still in the t-shirt when I left that morning. I told you, no hanky panky.”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t try anything.”

“Oh, trust me, sugar, having your tight, naked ass cradled against my dick was damn alluring.” He steps closer to me and tips my chin up with his fingers. “But I wouldn’t take advantage of you when you don’t have your wits about you. When I take you, you’ll know exactly what we’re doing, what you’re feeling, and I won’t stop until your legs are shaking and the neighbors know my name.”

Holy f*cking hell.

He brushes his lips over mine once, then twice, before cupping my face firmly in his big hands and sinking into me, kissing me soundly. God, it’s just as good as I remember, if not better, and I didn’t think that was possible.

If I were wearing panties, they’d be soaked; I’m panting, and I just want to climb him. He pulls back and gently brushes loose hairs off my face.

“You’re so sweet, baby.”

Shit.

I step out of his embrace and rub my hands down my face, trying to clear my head.

“Will, I’m only going to tell you this once. Please, don’t ever call me baby. Ever.” My voice is controlled, firm. He scowls at me.