Kick (Completion Series) (13 page)

Now my eyes strayed to Joel.
He was dirty and sweaty like the other players. And, how could I not notice his laces. They were a beacon even when all the players’ feet were tangled up. He showed absolute control on the field. I couldn’t tell which brother played better, but I don’t think it mattered. Something about rugby inspired me like no other sport I’d watched before—crazy plays, blood, sweat, and dedication.

The Slam won the
match thirty-four to eighteen. I was down on the field when the final whistle blew. Yellow shirted players congratulated red as the guys laughed, hugged, and slapped each other’s backs and butts. They smiled through the dirt covering their faces and waved at the fans who continued clapping and cheering.

The excitement of the moment wasn’t lost on me. I felt
the thrill of victory clear to my toes. Of course that meant I was here for another week. I mentally straightened my spine. I came to Colt disliking sports in general and especially jocks. Or at least my zero resolve around them. Seeing the match with my own eyes, I couldn’t refute the spirit of rugby. I first thought of this assignment as a joke—when, really, I was the joke. I didn’t even have the courage to speak with my own office co-workers. I lived in a fantasy world were shy introverts became top-notch journalists. What I really did was live in a world that was all about me and my insecurities. It was past time that I got over my poor judgment when it came to men. I was the one to blame for all my decisions.

Women paid to have my breasts, the breasts I hid away because of writing on a locker room
wall more than six years ago. Joel looked everyone straight in the eye even with a horrific injury to his face. I was embarrassed over something I had no control of and it was time I grew a set of balls.

“Well what did you think?” Charlie brought me out of my thoughts
before I could start laughing at my analogy.

I didn’t hide
a grin; a new self-awareness was making me stand taller. “Truthfully… I absolutely loved it.”

“That’s my girl.
” Charlie patted me on the back. “Let’s collect Stub before she catches a nude player and does more than take a picture.”

“You’re horrible,” I said
with a burst of laughter.

Charlie winked
and said, “I watch that woman closely. She has a thing for large muscles. She’ll be the death of me some day, but I’ll die happy.”

For an older man, Charlie was in good shape. This was the first time I saw him in short sleeves and
it was obvious he worked out. He must have been a knockout in his day.

We made our way to the locker room to
find Stub. If I thought the noise was loud before the match I was wrong. Charlie and I could hear the shouts from the hallway. I walked into testosterone heaven. Stub was right in the middle of it all getting her pictures and yelling along with them.

“See what I mean
?” Charlie shouted in my ear.

“
You need to watch her a little more closely,” I shouted back.

“She sells the hot
pics. Puts the match date and players’ names on them and they go like hot cakes. I let her get away with it as my service to the community,” he said shooting a wicked grin toward his wife.

Several players were splashing water bottles around
—plastering wet shirts to hot muscle. My feminine parts were suffering masculine overload. I could only stand watching, stunned, as shirts began whipping over heads and flying around. I think subconsciously I was searching for Van, but it was Joel’s eyes I locked onto. Okay maybe not his eyes for long. I’d seen him shirtless before, but for some reason this time hit my pulse rate even harder. His shorts were off and just his underthingies covered him. No, that wasn’t exactly the truth. They molded his man parts leaving nothing to my imagination. I jerked my head up when I realized he was watching me. His eyes glazed—glassy and intense. It rocked me. Holy shit.

“Hey
, Stub, time for you to leave or I’ll need to deck a couple of these guys.”

Charlie’s words jolted me out of my silent exchange with Joel.
The team had lifted Stub up and was passing her around while kissing her cheeks. I had no doubt this was a common occurrence by how effortlessly she participated.

I looked around for Van
, doing everything I could to avoid Joel. Movement from the back office door caught my eye as Van walked out with his arm around blondie from the bar. I guess her dye and boob jobs worked. Her hair was mussed and there was no doubt that something happened in the office. I had no wish to think about what that something was.

Van’s
eyes passed over me without stopping, the chicken shit. He knew I was there, and I needed to get away. I was jealous even after staring at his brother like a starving piranha. Double damn.

T
he players put Stub down and she twirled dramatically until she stood in front of us, her camera strap secured around her neck. “You better get me out of here before the trunks come off or you know I’ll never leave.”

I plastered a smile on
my face and started moving for the hallway. Stub was talking a mile a minute, so I didn’t need to say anything. Somehow, I had to ditch The Slam Tavern and disappear to my hotel room. There was no way I could go there to celebrate. I walked out of the stadium preplanning a breakdown. Maybe I could order a piece of apple pie to go and bury my hurt in delicious sugar. It was only ten minutes earlier that I was giving myself a pep talk and finding my balls. They shriveled as soon as I saw Van with his arm around another woman.

The fans were rowdy and the beer overflowing at the tavern. Charlie and Stub kept me close
, and I had no chance to slip away before the team arrived. Charlie handed me a beer and I downed it quickly. It felt good to drown my sorrows. Going back on my word to never drink again was like thinking I could cast away my self-doubt because of the thrill over a ball game. 

The s
houts suddenly grew louder and people began cheering. The team had arrived. Fans passed beer hand to hand over heads until the players were guzzling their first glass. This went for both teams. Everyone just seemed… happy. Everyone but me. I downed the second half of my third beer like it was a shot of whiskey.

Charlie and Stub
started a serious conversation with Ron and I saw my chance to get away. I turned and ran straight into Joel’s chest. God, he smelled good—clean with no dirt anywhere in sight.

He leaned in, his breath hot across my ear, “You okay?”

How could I answer that honestly? I couldn’t speak, just shook my head. He took my hand and started pulling me to the hallway that led to the bathrooms. He opened a side door and ushered me into a hallway with a couple of offices. The noise was still deafening. He pulled me inside one of the offices and shut the door behind us. It wasn’t exactly quiet, but it was much better than it was in the central room of the tavern.

I
was stubborn and swore I wouldn’t cry, so I was shocked when I realized a tear was streaking down my cheek. Joel wiped it away.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said softly.

“I really just want to go back to my room and forget the past twenty-four hours ever happened.”

“You want to forget our breakfast this morning?” He sounded hurt.

My voice cracked
as I said, “N-no, but everything else.”

Something passed over his features. I couldn’t read the expression
. For some reason all I wanted to do was run my finger along the ridge of his scar. I was drawn to his imperfection, or at least drawn to uncover the pain he suffered.

“You look good in red,”
he said in a husky voice as he pulled my shirt away from my skin just below my bra line.

He was dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt similar to mine.
He looked wonderful and it didn’t help that I knew what his t-shirt covered. “Joel, I had sex with your brother last night.”

He did the last thing I expected.
His fist hit the door behind my head. It wasn’t hard, but it startled me. “Don’t you think I know that?”

God
, he suddenly looked so angry.

“I feel like a slut. Hell, I am one. Please don’t make this harder on me.” He was so close
, and all I could do was close my eyes hoping he would be the smart one. His forehead met mine. I could smell his breath—beer, musk, unique. Fuck.

“Friends,” he said
, and my eyes snapped open.

I breathed in and out a few times
. It was his sincerity that had me answering, “Friends.”

He watched me for several long moments until finally he took my hand again.
“I’ll walk you back to your room.”

“Thank y
ou.” I turned to open the door.

Joel
stopped me. “Cami?”

I slowly looked up and our eyes locked.

“Stay away from Van.” He didn’t say it gently.

“Not a problem.”

He released my hand and opened the door for me. I wove through the laughing crowd as a song started up. Everyone began singing. I’d never heard anything like it and stopped for just a moment. Joel’s large hands grasped my waist and he moved a little to my side. He nodded his chin toward the door. Half of me wanted to be part of the after-match celebration, but the other part needed some downtime. Just before I turned to walk out, I realized Joel was blocking my line of sight. He’d done it on purpose. Van stood about ten feet away with his arms around blonde boobs and her friend. I couldn’t get out of the tavern fast enough.

Joel released me once we were outside
, at least until I stumbled. “How much did you have to drink?” He took my arm and didn’t let go.

“Two
or three beers. I’m pretty much sober now, it’s just my two left feet.”

I liked his laugh.
I liked him holding me. We were both laughing by the time we got to my room. “Tomorrow is my only day off. I’d like to see you, as a friend,” he said before I opened the door.

Why did my heart speed up? “This isn’t a good idea. We…”

He interrupted me. “It’s a great idea. I’m not my brother. We’ll take a drive, enjoy some good food, and get to know each other.”

For some strange reason I wanted to. “No alcohol.”

His eyes went stormy. I’d said the wrong thing. “Don’t worry, not my style.” I watched him consciously unclench his jaw before continuing. “I’ll pick you up at ten-thirty tomorrow morning if that works.”

I could only nod my head
and escape into my room. After leaning my back against the door for several minutes, I headed to the shower. As I rinsed off, I remembered Joel’s words about alcohol not being his thing. Was alcohol Van’s thing? Did he enjoy making girls tipsy? I shook my head. Dammit, I knew my limits. I could have said no at any time. It was the whole hot-muscled-body phenomenon that I couldn’t resist.

I didn’t exactly sleep. I tossed, turned, and berated myself for being so stupid. At nine the
next morning, I decided to call Joel and cancel, but realized I didn’t have his cell number, only Van’s. There was no way on earth I was calling him.

After
I accepted the idea I was going out with Joel today, I emailed the first installment of my series after adding a little about yesterday’s match. It began with…

If you’re a fan of sports
balls, rugby may be for you.

I could only hope
Miller liked my humorous approach. I decided to dress casually and put on one of the two pairs of shorts I brought. These were white. One of my too-tight sports bras came next. I added a simple, loose black t-shirt and black sandals with a one-inch heel. The shorts came in at about two inches above my knees—stylish without showing too much skin. This was the real me. The other Cami was a fluke, or more likely freak.

Joel knocked on my door a few minutes early
, but I was ready. He wore a pair of blue and white board shorts with a royal blue t-shirt that brought out the color of his eyes. I locked my gaze to those beautiful eyes because his shirt looked painted on. He had too much bulging muscle for my sanity. I needed to think of him as something like a brother… friends.

I could do this.

While I was trying not to check out his body, he didn’t have the same problem. He gazed at my breasts a few seconds longer than he’d ever done before. I had my babies tucked in tight with no cleavage showing, so I wasn’t sure why he stared so long.

“Do friends stare like that?”
I couldn’t help asking because heat was traveling to my cheeks.

“This friend does. You look nice.” He gave me a
crooked grin.

Nice. That was good, right?
So why stare at my boobs? I didn’t get it. His eyes were now on mine and I appreciated his baby blues again.

“Do you need to grab you
r bag?”

“Yes, I never go anywhere without it.” I walked over to collect it off the dresser. “Do you mind if I ask where you’re taking me.”