Keeping Score

by Sara Rider

  Gabe Havelak, Lainey’s fiancé and Alex’s longtime friend from their days with the Seattle Surge, walked up next to him and clapped him on the back just as the league officials were about to hand over the trophy.

  “Survived the season, huh?” Gabe said.

  “Barely,” Alex responded, unable to tear his eyes away from Jaime. “You going to miss playing with the Surge?”

  Gabe had made the decision to retire at the end of the season. “Nah, a good woman is worth it.”

  Alex’s thoughts drifted to Jaime. Their relationship was still new and undefined, but he was certain he was crazy about her. Could he give up his career in the world of pro sports entirely for her and still be happy? That he was less sure about.

  The league officials unveiled the trophy. It was the first time the public, and anyone in the league, had a chance to see the trophy. A few of the players had tears in their eyes, none more so than Lainey, who, as team captain, was given the opportunity to hold it first. Gabe clapped louder than anyone, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Man, she’s one amazing woman,” Gabe said as Lainey lifted the cup.

  Alex nodded. “She definitely is.” For some reason, that made Gabe laugh.

  “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or grateful that a good-looking son of a bitch like you isn’t looking at my fiancée when you say that.” Gabe laughed even louder when Alex stumbled over his words. “Not very subtle, bro.”

  Shit. Alex just shook his head. Was he really that obvious?

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me there was something going on between you and—” Gabe pointed to Jaime in the lineup, taking her turn to hold the cup. “I can’t believe Lainey didn’t tell me.”

  “Don’t think she even knows. It’s better for everyone that no one’s aware of the situation.”

  “Don’t worry about me running my mouth. Besides, no one cares what I have to say now that I’m retired. But you do realize that the pretty little Canadian over there practically lives on social media, right?”

  Alex scrubbed his face with his hand. He probably was screwed.

  Just when he thought the moment couldn’t get any worse, Carson Chester ambled up to where he and Gabe were standing. “Havelak, good to see you,” he said tersely.

  Gabe wasn’t the type to let Chester sour his mood, opting only to nod politely and dash away the moment Chester turned his attention to Alex.

  “Heck of a game,” Chester said casually. Alex crossed his arms, steeling himself for whatever Chester had to say. Surely he wouldn’t try to pick a fight with him right here and now. “I’ve been speaking with Dr. Sidhu. She insisted I have you to thank for getting Jaime back on the field today.”

  Alex uncrossed his arms and turned to face Chester directly.

  “She said it’s an extremely difficult diagnosis, and if you hadn’t been so dogged about following those instincts of yours, I wouldn’t have had Chen on the field to play the most outstanding game of her life, or earn that delightful AWSL Championship bonus. So I’ve decided to reject your resignation letter.”

  Alex’s mouth dropped.

  “Why don’t you come by my office on Tuesday and we can get your new contract signed? We need to do some intense scouting for next year’s draft over the upcoming months, and I’m sure we can come to an agreement that is mutually agreeable. Perhaps even a raise.”

  “What about Sam?” he asked cautiously.

  “Victor’s been very outspoken about the fact you need an assistant, so we’ll keep her on.”

  “Does this mean you aren’t concerned about my reputation anymore?”

  Chester shook his head. “The incident with Martin Daniels is in the past, and it looks like the press has already moved on. After this, I’m confident the only thing printed about you will be the excellent work you’ve done with these women. And the excellent decision I made to promote you to lead physiotherapist of the Falcons last year.”

  Alex thought he’d burned through all the adrenaline in his body during the game, but his stomach nearly dropped to his knees listening to Chester. For months, he’d had the expectation that his job was as good as gone at the end of the season. Hell, two weeks ago he’d been absolutely certain that if he was to have any hope of staying on with the Falcons, it’d involve a colossal amount of groveling and a pay cut so severe, he’d probably end up paying them for the privilege. It was his pride that made him send in his resignation letter before getting fired. He never expected this.

  But what about his brother? A million emotions warred inside him. How could he live with the guilt of disappointing his family? But that guilt was nothing compared to the torment he felt when he thought about leaving Jaime.

  Alex’s eyes scanned the throngs of fans that drifted onto the field. In the middle of it all, Jaime stood holding a young girl in her arms, dancing around the giant crowd with a smile of unbridled joy. Alex could barely hold back the urge to grab her by the waist and swing her around in celebration. Suddenly the path was perfectly clear.

  He looked back at Chester and shook his hand. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

  24

  JAIME STILL HADN’T WOKEN by the time Alex came back from his morning workout with a bag full of lemon Danishes from the hotel’s continental breakfast buffet. He couldn’t blame her for sleeping in. The party had lasted until the early hours of the morning, though they’d snuck back to his hotel room to continue the celebration in private sometime after midnight. Taking care not to wake her, since she didn’t need to show up for the media blitz for another few hours, he slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower.

  After he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist and set the small coffeemaker to brew, then pulled up a chair to watch Jaime sleep while munching on a stale pastry. She’d thrown off the blanket and rolled to her back sometime during his shower, leaving wisps of hair mussed around her face and the crisp white sheet precariously low on her ample chest. He’d come to discover over the last few weeks that she made the sweetest little whimpering sound when she slept that never failed to make him instantly hard.

  He polished off the last bite of Danish and reached for the edge of the sheet and tugged it down to her waist, revealing gloriously full breasts and pert brown nipples. Goddamn, she was a beautiful woman.

  “Pervert,” she muttered with her eyes still shut, not bothering to cover herself.

  “I prefer to think of myself as a man with a healthy appreciation for aesthetic beauty.”

  “In other words, a typical boob man.” She yawned and stretched her arms above her head and winced, then tried to cover her discomfort by doing a sultry little wiggle. He’d never known a woman so confident in her body. It was devastatingly sexy.

  “That’s not true.” He moved to the edge of the bed and reached for her foot, rubbing deep circles into her arch. “I adore every part of your body. For instance, a quarter of the bones in your body are in your foot.”

  “You don’t say?”

  “Mmm-hmm. And nineteen different muscles, ten tendons, and over one hundred ligaments.”

  “That doesn’t make me special. The same could be said for anyone.” She twirled her ankle in his hand.

  “Yeah, but not just anyone could make this silly bright orange nail polish look sexy.” He kissed a trail to her knee, winding his way along the bruises and scrapes speckling her shin. She still smelled like fresh citrus. “Your knee is the most fascinating and intricately crafted joint in the body.”

  “And only you could call joints fascinating with a straight face.”

  He scooped his hand behind her knee and nudged her legs apart. He paused to savor the slight trembling of her thighs. “It’s also one of the most erogenous spots on the body.”

  “Yeah right.” He ran his fingers softly behind the joint and nuzzled her inner thigh. She gasped as he scraped her delicate skin wit
h the scruff on his jaw. He wanted to wrench her legs open and feast on her honey-slicked heat, but he knew her body wasn’t up for it yet. Even if she hadn’t pushed herself beyond every limit in the game last night, she was in the full swing of morning stiffness. Luckily, he was a patient man.

  “Fine. I might be convinced.”

  He caught her wrist as she brushed her hand through his hair and turned his attention to her slender arm. “For some women, a light touch on the inner forearm can stimulate arousal.” He licked a soft trail from her wrist to the crook of her elbow.

  Jaime’s entire body trembled. A provocative whimper drifted from her lips. “I think your tongue is the erogenous element here.”

  He shook his head. “You are the most sensitive, sensual woman I’ve ever met.”

  “It’s you, Alex. You do this to me. You make me want to explode,” she whispered raggedly, sending fire burning through his veins. He hardened instantly, tenting the stupidly thin hotel towel.

  “Have I mentioned you’re also the sexiest?”

  She snorted and pushed up on her elbows. “Not with this black eye.”

  He maneuvered himself to lie next to her and cupped her cheek with his hand. “It destroys me every time I see you get hurt out there, but I know it’s part of who you are. You’re tough. I adore that about you.”

  He kissed her temple, taking care not to touch the tender, purple eyelid. “Your brain, too. It’s one of the sexiest things about you. I’m definitely a brain guy.”

  The pace of her inhalations picked up as his mouth nipped down to her elegant collarbone, then to the smooth expanse of skin above her heart.

  “Right here is what attracts me most about you.”

  “You’re pointing awfully close to my boobs again.”

  “Your heart, querida.” The atmosphere in the room shifted the instant the words left his mouth. Their eyes locked. Somewhere along the way, he’d crossed an invisible, irrevocable line. There was no going back. He was madly in love with her.

  Jaime’s cheeks flushed. She broke eye contact and cleared her throat. “So . . . we haven’t really talked about where this feelings thing between us is going now that the season’s over.”

  “Where do you want it to go?” he asked as casually as he could muster. He’d fallen so hard and fast for this incredible woman, he never stopped to consider whether she thought of this as more than a temporary thing.

  The passing milliseconds stretched into an eternity while she played with the corner of the sheet lying across her stomach and considered her response. “I’d like to see where this can go, but I kinda got the impression after last week’s semifinal that you were trying to get rid of me.”

  He sat up and pulled her against his chest. “No, of course not. I want this to be more than a fling.” Since his talk with Chester yesterday, all he could do was think about the possibility of staying with the Falcons. Staying with her. With Sam joining the staff permanently, the obstacles in his way were vanishing. He’d still need to find a way to clear their relationship with the rest of the team’s admin and break the news to his brother, but Jaime’s infectiously optimistic attitude had worn off on him these last few weeks.

  “Really? Even if it means dealing with the fact I’m traveling in and out of the country a lot for the next few months?”

  “Yeah, but it also means I’m going to spend a hell of a lot of time nagging you about taking care of yourself between the tournaments and training camps.”

  “Deal. But can you handle the fact I’m an ardent believer in spending at least an hour every Sunday dancing around my apartment naked?”

  “As long as you can get used to my habit of spending at least two hours every weekend deep cleaning my house.”

  “I think I can handle that. Plus, if I help you clean, then it should only take one hour.”

  He laughed as the image of her tornado-aftermath bedroom flashed in his mind. “Actually, it’d probably take three if you tried to help, but that’s okay. It’d be worth it to spend time with you.”

  She kissed him and reached for the edge of his towel. A hiss of pain escaped her lips, and her fingers stiffened against his skin.

  He covered her hand with his. “Hey, we have lots of time. We don’t have to do anything right now if you’re not up to it.”

  “Trust me, I’m up to it.” Her eyes gazed down to his lap. “And clearly so are you.”

  She circled his cock and stroked him, making him groan with need.

  “But I might need a little extra time to warm up today,” she added almost shyly.

  He couldn’t hold back his grin. “A little extra foreplay?”

  She licked her lips and nodded.

  “Not a problem,” he said, cupping her breasts with his hands and burying his face in the delicious fullness of cleavage. He could easily spend hours savoring the wonders of her body. “We can take as much time warming you up as you need. After all, I am a boob man.”

  BY THE TIME SHE finished rounding up the team’s boarding passes and made it through security, only having to stop twice to sign autographs, Jaime was exhausted. The adrenaline sustaining her these past few weeks had finally drained away. Her hands ached from holding countless pens, and her ankle was so stiff it felt like she was wearing a cast. And the slow, sensual romp with Alex this morning had lasted so long, she was two minutes late for the noon press conference. But it was all worth it.

  They were heading home as champions.

  She sat down at their gate, surrounded by her teal tracksuit and gold-medal-clad teammates, and closed her eyes, trying to soak up a little extra energy from somewhere in the ethers.

  Her stomach was churning like clothes tumbling in a dryer. Who knew what would happen next year? Some of the players would be traded. There was some chatter among the lesser-paid players about early retirement. She couldn’t blame them, but she’d miss the hell out of them. The life of a female pro athlete involved a lot of sacrifice, but now that she’d had a taste of the reward, she didn’t think she could ever give it up. Her first gold medal. She could finally stop telling people that she preferred bronze, seeing as it complemented her skin tone much better. Even though every inch of her body was sore and exhausted, all she could think about was how hungry she was to win another.

  The question was, would her body let her?

  She was counting down the days to her next cortisone shot. In the meantime, all she could do was hope that her RA wouldn’t flare at next month’s training camp in Vancouver.

  When she was with Alex, the uphill battles didn’t seem so steep. That was the one good thing about the AWSL season ending. They wouldn’t have to be so secretive about their relationship.

  “Oh my god! Jaime, you have to see this,” Alyssa chirped a second before something smacked her upside the head.

  She opened her eyes and was greeted with a swirling mass of colors less than an inch from her eyes.

  “The Bodies of Sport issue is out! You look amazing.”

  Jaime snatched the magazine and held it at a distance that didn’t make her cross-eyed. “Holy shit!”

  Alyssa wasn’t kidding. It was amazing. Epic. They’d used a shot of her twisting in midair for a side volley, firing a soccer ball from her left foot. Her hands were clasped inside of Martin’s, whose body was posed like he’d just swung her in the air. She looked fierce. Every ripple of muscle in her body was highlighted by the angle. The Hawaiian background had been rendered to exaggerate the brilliant colors, making it look like it was taken straight from a dark, twisted fairy tale.

  Soon enough, her teammates had all rushed over to the small bookstore to get their copies and flipped through the glossy, sexy spread featuring athletes from every sport imaginable, cooing and squealing over the display of gorgeous bodies. It still didn’t seem real that it was her—her face, her body—on the cover.

  A
t some point she’d bring herself to turn the page, maybe even read the interview. For now, all she could do was stare at the cover. It was more beautiful than she could have imagined. What would Chelsea think if she could see this?

  Alyssa slumped into the hard plastic seat next to her and fanned herself with the rolled-up magazine. “That Martin Daniels is so hot, I don’t know how you managed to not spontaneously combust.”

  “Like I said before, he’s not really my type.” Jaime’s eyes tracked over to Alex who was coming back from Starbucks with an enormous white paper cup in his hand. Nope, her type was definitely dark, blisteringly sexy, heroic, and hopelessly addicted to caffeine.

  “Hey, Alex,” Alyssa called out as he passed by, tossing the empty coffee cup in a nearby garbage bin. “Did you see Jaime’s Bodies of Sport cover?”

  A trace of a grin tugged at his full lips. Lips that had spent the better part of the morning doing things to her body so dirty, she couldn’t look at him without blushing. Not to mention the things she’d done with hers once her body had finally limbered up. By the time he’d walked over and casually plucked the magazine from her hand, she was practically wet from reliving the recent memories.

  His smile widened as he took in the image, and she let out her tightly held breath. She didn’t realize how much his approval meant to her. But just as abruptly, his smile vanished, replaced with a hard scowl.

  He muttered a curse and flipped furiously through the pages, stopping at a random page near the back. “Shit.”

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, taken aback by his reaction.

  He turned around like she didn’t even exist and stormed off down the busy terminal walkway, eyes glued to the pages of the magazine.