by Ally Adams
“No,” I said, “it’s definitely you not me,” I teased and he laughed. But I kept going. “You are gorgeous and fun and sincere and...”
“And you are working things out with that other guy aren’t you?” he finished my sentence.
“I think we might be. I’m sorry that I went out with you on Friday... I should have waited longer to see.”
“I’m not sorry,” he said. “I had a great time.”
“Dane, you’re making this so much harder because you’re so lovely.” I sighed. “Can’t you just call me a cow or be super angry at me?”
“I’m super angry at him for sticking around but I guess he knows he’s onto a good thing. I’m super jealous too, but he better treat you right because I’ll be waiting in the wings ready to move in,” he said, his voice lowered.
“And I would love that chance,” I said, “but you and I both know that you won’t be single for longer than a minute so consider us ships passing in the night.”
“I’m not the Titanic Alice, so don’t sink me yet. Can we stay friends and I mean friends? I won’t cross the line.”
“Yeah,” I brightened, “I would really like that, really like it.”
“Good.” I heard relief in his voice too. “So you could come to some of our movie preview nights just as friends if you were free, and bring your friends.”
“That could work,” I agreed. “Thank you Dane.”
“Hey, it’s all good. See you soon then.”
“Yep, for sure.”
I hung up and breathed again, that was a shit job but it was done. He was so nice. What were the odds of meeting two great guys in the same week? The universe worked in mysterious ways. I finished getting changed and went out to catch up with Cassie.
“Diaries,” she said.
“Sorry?” I was confused.
“We need to coordinate our diaries. Now that we both have boyfriends, we can work out a system of who wants the place to herself and when.”
“Oh right, sure, but I don’t think I’m going to be at Tomás’s place a lot initially,” I said.
“That’s fine because Rick has a great place and we’d both probably rather crash there anyway. You won’t be pissed if I’m not home much will you?” she asked.
“Not for a moment.”
“That’s a relief because my former housemate wanted company all the time. I swear she followed me into the shower one day.” Cassie rolled her eyes.
I laughed. “No I’m good in my own space. But this Wednesday night, I might be going to Tomás’s,” I said.
“I’m going to Rick’s place. His mother leaves on Tuesday thank the Lord.” Cassie chewed on the end of a pen. “If you and I are coming and going with work, college and new boyfriends, maybe we should get a third housemate so someone is here,” she suggested. “It would cut our rent down too.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” I agreed. “I’m happy to pay less. A guy, maybe?”
“Perfect. A guy who can cook, like a chef would be good. Or a flight attendant who is away a lot or a male nurse who does shift work, so between the three of us, there’s always someone coming and going but we’re not living in each other’s pockets. We’d have some fun, too, with a full house.”
“Absolutely. Maybe a player who is at training a lot and away every third weekend at away games,” I suggested.
We both brightened at the thought.
“Brilliant,” Cassie agreed.
“I’ll keep my ear to the ground,” I said. “But there are only two bathrooms... I don’t want boy germs.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Me either. You and I could share and give him the ensuite room.”
“Done,” I agreed. “Leave it with me.”
My phone beeped with a text message and it was just the man I wanted to hear from—my Tomás, part-time tango dancer and full-time soccer star. He must have been finished at training.
TOMÁS: I need 2 C U 2nt
ME: U still have a guest
TOMÁS: I don’t care, I need 2 C U
ME: U saw me 2day sexy tango guy. C U Wed. Only 2 more days
TOMÁS: Just 5 mins, come 4 a ride on my bike
ME: Mm, supa tempting & I get 2 wrap my arms around you. Bike ride only?
TOMÁS: Promise
ME: No repeat of last nyt
TOMÁS: If U insist. Your place @ 7
ME: U will bring me back home?
TOMÁS: Of course bella, I’ll do my best
ME: Promise
TOMÁS: Ok, promise
*****
Tomás must have come straight from training as fifteen minutes later I heard his bike out the front, and with a wave to Cassie I bolted down the stairs to meet him. He always looked so sexy straddling that bike. He alighted, pulled his helmet off and grabbed me in a passionate kiss before I had time to speak.
“Better,” he said, pulling away. He handed me the helmet and I put it on. He lifted the bike seat and pulled out a jacket. “I have a present for you.” He rushed the next words before I could protest. “It’s a safety gift, for travelling so I want you to accept it, please.” He handed me a soft black leather jacket. “I’ll make a bike chick of you yet.”
“Wow, thank you Tomás, when did you have time to get this?” I asked, delighted, and slipping my arms into it.
“This morning,” he said. “Very cute, just right,” he said pulling it tight around me.
“Thank you, I love it, it’s beautiful.”
“So you’ll accept this? Should we have an accident, it’s much safer riding in a strong jacket like this.”
I smiled. “It’s very thoughtful and since it is a practical, safety gift, I’d be delighted to accept it. Thank you.” I smiled at him.
“You’re welcome.”
“You know you were the star of the Saints’ Sisters’ lunch, you sexy thing,” I teased him.
“Let’s not talk about it.” He swung his leg over the bike and I studied him.
I stood beside him on the bike. “You were great, you know that don’t you?” I frowned at him.
He shrugged. “I don’t like being pressured into doing things, like an ambush.”
I bit my lip, wondering where this was coming from. “Did you really not enjoy it? It was fun and you made a lot of people happy.”
“I would do it for you Al...iss, but... it doesn’t matter, climb on board,” he said.
Mm, odd. I jumped on behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist as he started the bike. God it felt so good. He pulled his own helmet on and we pulled away from the curb. We drove for a while along the beach, through the city, and it was amazing. Eventually we went to his favorite quiet spot on the beach and he parked the bike, and helped me off. We walked down to the sand.
“Can we sit for a while?” he asked.
“Sure, but if Julieta is going home Wednesday, shouldn’t you be home doing some last minute socializing?” I asked, not wanting him to but not understanding why he wasn’t.
He shook his head. “She’s away for the night staying with her aunt. She’ll be back tomorrow, so we’ll do a dinner with Valentina tomorrow night and I’ll take her to the airport Wednesday morning.”
I nodded, taking it all in and knowing tomorrow night would be tough for me thinking of the three of them together. He sat on the sand and raised his arms to me, lowering me down between his legs. Tomás wrapped his arms around me and we sat in the warmth of the night, watching the waves and listening to the quiet and the waves breaking at his favorite get-away place. If we could just stay here, like this for the rest of our lives, it would be perfect.
“Tomás...”
“Yes?”
I turned slightly to face him, digging my legs under his.
“I don’t understand what you said earlier, about the ambush... you looked so great today, why does it bother you?”
He sighed. “I’m not like Lucas or The Russian or even Nik. I’m a bit like Ed. We don’t like the limelight.”
“But
you’re in it so much,” I said. “Your picture is everywhere and you’ve got sponsorship contracts where you appear wearing brand gear and watches.” I thought of the gorgeous shot I saw of him wearing a designer watch. “There’s footage of you all over YouTube.”
He nodded. “But that’s for sport. I’m comfortable with that, I know it and the model shots, I agree to do those with a photographer, not an audience. But I don’t like being singled out as the center of attention in a crowd.”
“I get it,” I said, “and it won’t happen too often but I guess it is part of what you have to do now as a signed player.”
He sighed and nodded his agreement. “True, but I don’t have to like it,” he said, softly. “Unless…”
“Mm?” I prodded him.
“You wanted to shoot a sexy Saints’ calendar… maybe you could find a month for me and we could try all these different poses and positions in private to pick one for the shoot?”
I laughed. “You’re a nutter,” I teased him. “But hell you were sexy doing that tango, I think I orgasmed when you were on the dance floor.”
His lips reluctantly twitched into a smile and he looked directly at me. “Well that makes it all worthwhile. I wish I’d known that earlier; it gives me a hard-on thinking of you all flushed and wet.”
“I can’t wait for Wednesday,” I said, running a finger along the stubble on his chin line. “I want to tell you something...” I said, getting Tomás’s attention.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I want to say what you said to me, because I feel the same, but I can’t say it until you are one hundred percent mine,” I said looking into his eyes.
A look of relief and sheer happiness crossed his face.
“But you feel that way, Al...iss?” he said, his face all smiles.
“Yeah, I do.” I grinned.
He lowered his lips to mine then groaned and pulled away.
“You don’t think we could just...” he began.
“No,” I said. I was sticking to my guns even if it killed me. I was going to be the only woman in Tomás Carreras’s life and I wasn’t going to go the whole way with him and send him home to his girlfriend/ex-girlfriend.
“You’re seriously not going to let me touch you or stay or...”
I shook my head. “It’s not easy for me either let me tell you.”
“Fucking hurry up, Wednesday,” he muttered.
I grinned and he went mad at me.
“Stop teasing me Al...iss.” His eyes narrowed.
“What? Me?” I said, wide-eyed. “You wanted to go for a ride on the bike, that was your idea.”
“Mm,” he grunted.
“You stopped here and wanted to sit on the beach.”
“Right,” he conceded. “Yeah well, you look too damn cute.”
“Sorry,” I said, and giggled.
He pulled me onto his lap and his tongue slipped into my mouth. He pushed against me and I felt the hardness of his erection. I felt just as needy. God, I loved this man.
Chapter 33
When I arrived at work on Tuesday morning I was accosted by both Jim and The Russian... this looked like trouble. Sasha, Kay and I looked up as the two of them walked into our area and stood with their arms folded across their chests. It looked pretty funny—The Russian wall and next to him, Jim, who was thin and five-foot-seven on a good day. I started to laugh.
“Very good job yesterday, Alice, ladies,” Jim said.
“Thanks boss, it was a good team effort.” I wondered if this was about me telling his wife that Jim was completely off the radar for all the office girls, men have delicate egos after all. “But, I’m sensing something is wrong...”
Kay started giggling at the sight of them.
The Russian nodded. “I was upstaged by Tango, Alice, that doesn’t usually happen. I’m usually the star,” he teased with just the hint of humor twitching on his lips.
“You’re calling him Tango now?” I winced, knowing he would hate that.
“Yep, new official nickname. Pez is out, Tango is in,” The Russian confirmed.
I sighed. “Well Russian, if you had done the solo, if you had done your Sweet Child of Mine number or similar as we begged you too, the audience would have been saying Tomás who? It was generous of you not to blow him out of the water.”
The Russian took this onboard and nodded. He was happy to play the martyr.
“I’m that kind of a guy, Alice.”
Sasha laughed and he gave her a stern look. She tried to turn it into a fake cough as I hid my smile. I looked to Jim.
“And Jim? An issue?” I asked. I was ready for this one. I was going to appeal to saving his marriage or something like that, when he surprised me.
“Maggie, the wife...”
“Oh we met her, she’s lovely,” I said and Sasha and Kay nodded their agreement.
“She might well be, but now she wants to go and have tango lessons.”
My mouth fell open. I didn’t see that coming and I burst out laughing. Everyone joined me.
“Ha ha, yes, very funny,” he said, and rolled his eyes.
We heard the coffee van arriving. “Gee, well given you two were so wronged, I guess it is my shout for coffee,” I said.
The Russian looked at Jim. “That should go some way to restoring things,” he said.
Jim nodded. I took their orders and checked if Ed, Kay and Sasha wanted one. Small price to pay for how lucky I was to work with them and have this job.
*****
When I dropped the coffee in to The Russian I flagged that Cassie and I were looking for a male housemate for our three-bedroom apartment. The new tenant would have the room with the ensuite and I mentioned the price. We were charging them a bit more since they had their own bathroom. The Russian said he’d pass the word around and I mentioned it had to be someone who was away a lot preferably.
Word spread fast because just before training that afternoon around three o’clock, Nik, the Kaiser, made an appearance in our office. He dropped down into the chair at the front of my desk and again, Sasha and Kay’s mouths fell open. He was exactly as Mia described him, gorgeous in all his German glory—six-foot-five, very blond-white hair cut very short, and the bluest of eyes. He was a perfect German specimen.
“Alice, we met at Lucas’s pre-season party. I think we had a dance?” He frowned.
“Nik! We did!” I exclaimed. “Have you met Sasha and Kay?”
Nik rose again and his eyes widened at Sasha—equally blonde and very alternative.
“Sah…sha and I have spoken many times on the phone organizing media interviews,” he said. As he moved over to shake her hand, an electric shock tingled their hands and they both pulled back.
“Ouch.” Sasha shook her hand and studied him.
“Sorry, that was quite a zap.” He smiled and Kay and I exchanged looks. Mm. That’s all I had on that but I’d be watching Sasha.
He greeted Kay and shook hands with her, with no zap, and he sat back down in front of my desk, every now and then glancing over at Sasha and I noticed she was trying really hard not to glance at him. Mm, interesting.
“You are looking for a housemate?” he asked. “I’ve got to be out of my place in a week but I just want somewhere to crash. I don’t have much and I’m not home much.”
“Neither are we,” I said. “Want to come over and meet Cassie and check it out?”
“Yeah, after training work for you? Say six o’clock.”
“Great.” I gave him the address and he thanked me. We all watched as he left, Sasha stretching her neck around the corner just that little bit further to check out his nice tight butt.
“The Germans have made many great things,” I said, teasing her.
“Yes the BMW,” she said, her face a mask of appreciation.
“The airbag I believe,” I added.
“The helicopter,” Kay added.
“Really?” I said, impressed. “A very talented people.”
&
nbsp; I quickly texted Cassie to make sure she could be there at six and got the affirmative back from her. Never a dull moment.
*****
Nik arrived a little before six as training finished early. I let him in, introduced him to Cassie and noticed that she admired his form as well. God, we were hopeless. She showed him around.
“Alice and I will share this bathroom and you can have the main room with the ensuite but we’re charging you a little more for it and you can’t use our bathroom, no boy germs,” she explained.
He grinned and nodded. He walked into the room, which currently had Cassie’s stuff in it and through to the ensuite.
“Yeah this is fine,” he said. “Bigger than what I’m currently in and half the price.”
Cassie frowned. “Bummer, we should have charged more,” she teased.
“There’s only one garage, but if you’ve got a really expensive car you can take it,” I started to say and Nik cut me off.
“That’s okay, my car is used to being outside, it’s just a SUV.”
“Do you work as well as play soccer?” Cassie asked.
“No, but I like something that fits my surfboard in the back,” Nik said.
“Right. Well want a juice, tea, beer or wine and we can talk terms and conditions?” I suggested.
“Yeah, I’ll have a beer if you girls are going to join me?”
“Definitely,” Cassie said and grabbed a beer for herself and Nik while I helped myself to a glass of wine. We made ourselves comfortable on the large L-seater.
“Shall I start?” Cassie asked and we nodded.
“No parties unless we all agree to hold one,” she said.
“No relatives staying unless we all approve,” I added.
“No girl underwear and washing hanging around,” Nik said.
We both looked at him; that was a new one.
“Fair enough,” Cassie said. “No eating from each other’s shelves in the cupboard and fridge unless it’s a communal shop or you’re invited. By the way Ali, sorry, I had to eat some of your chocolate.” She looked sheepish.
“Had to! I get it,” I said, and grinned. “I’ve got nothing else unless we should discuss cleaning?”