When he got to the end, Jax fell silent.
“I’m screwed.”
“Maybe not.”
“How the hell do you get ‘maybe not’? Did you just hear the same thing I did?”
“Look, I’ll admit it doesn’t look great. The fact that he read it…ah, an hour ago and hasn’t replied isn’t ideal, but, sweetheart, I don’t think all is lost. Not yet anyway.”
“Well, you’ve got more faith than I do,” I grumbled miserably, pulling out a pair of fluffy pink socks from the drawer and putting them on.
“I always do. Look, I’m starving. Let’s order Chinese and watch a movie.”
“Fine. But not some lame-arse love story.” I pouted. “And I want dim sims too.”
“Deal.”
After arguing for twenty minutes, I gave up and grabbed a handful of chips while Jax loaded the movie.
“Dinner’s on the way,” he reminded me.
“So?”
“You’re eating chips.”
“How very observant of you.”
“Elise! Stop trying to eat your feelings. Sit your arse down and watch the movie.”
Grabbing another handful of my favourite barbeque chips, I shoved the bag back in the cupboard before slumping into the couch, tucking my feet up under my bum.
“Are you going to sit there and pout all night?”
“Probably,” I admitted with a shrug.
“Great,” Jax replied with a smirk.
On the screen in front of me, the big-boobed blonde cried into her cocktail because the idiot in the suit didn’t show up. Damn Jax and his unhealthy addiction to romantic comedies. It was the last thing I wanted to watch right now. I wanted horror or action. Crash and bash and blood would fit my mood perfectly.
While she cried on screen, I felt my own eyes fill with tears. Stupid girly hormones.
The knock at the door startled me, and I jumped.
“Sit your weepy arse down. It’s just dinner. I got it.”
Jax chuckled as he headed over and opened the door, letting the delicious scent of deep-fried food drift in. “Actually, Elise, it’s for you,” Jax said, looking at me with seriousness written across his face.
With a heavy sigh, I untucked my legs, adjusted my socks and headed towards the door. “I don’t know why you couldn’t just get it…” My words caught in my throat when he nudged the door open even further to reveal Luca standing there looking as delicious as ever with a plastic bag dangling from his finger.
“Hey,” he greeted, and I melted.
Chapter Twenty-One – Luca
I was sweating bullets. All throughout training, I’d been debating what to do. Did I write back? Show up at her door? Say nothing? Pretend it hadn’t happened? Put it down to a slip of the tongue? I wasn’t exactly sure how I ended up standing on Elise’s doorstep, holding her Chinese takeout order after bribing the delivery driver into parting with it, to be staring at Elise with no words.
From the shock on her face, I knew I was the last person she was expecting to see tonight. After I’d been hit in the head with the ball for the third time, Coach had suggested I call it a night and go sort out whatever it was that had me twisted up. “Hey,” I’d spluttered, not knowing what else to say while Elise stared at me, her mouth hanging open while Jax wore a knowing smirk.
Neither Elise nor I flinched. Thank God Jax was there, otherwise there was a very good chance we’d both grow old gawking at each other through the door.
“I don’t remember ordering dessert,” Jax said as he looked me up and down. I don’t know if I’d ever get used to Jax’s blatant and unashamed flirting.
Whack!
Elise backhanded him across the chest, shocking both of us. I couldn’t hold back the chuckle as Jax shot her a filthy look and rubbed the spot.
“Come in, Luca,” Jax invited before stepping back and giving me room.
As I entered Elise’s apartment, I handed Jax the bag of food that was making my stomach rumble and turned to face Elise. She wouldn’t meet my eye. I fucking hated it. This wasn’t a game I had any interest in playing. Reaching out, I grabbed her hip, holding her in place, and leant down and kissed her lips. It wasn’t the sort of kiss I wanted to give her, but I couldn’t exactly pin her to the wall and take what I wanted, not while we had an audience. I’d be patient. My cock already hated me, waiting a little longer wouldn’t kill me. At least I didn’t think it would.
Pulling back, I watched as Elise lifted her fingers to her swollen lips, touching them gently.
“Well, I’m going to leave you two to it,” Jax announced loudly.
I’d forgotten he was even there.
“You don’t have to…”
“Ah, yeah I do.” Elise moved away from me, and I let her go. She’d told me once that her and Jax were a package deal and anyone in her life would just have to learn to live with it. I wasn’t about to make her repeat it. “Dinner’s in the kitchen. But it can be reheated.” He wiggled his eyebrows, Elise groaned, and the sound went straight to my dick.
Reaching down, I adjusted myself, trying to be discreet, but obviously I didn’t do a very good job. Jax winked at me over Elise’s shoulder as he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her tight. Seeing him whisper in her ear, I would’ve paid good money to know what he said that had her blushing and shaking her head.
“Right then. I’m out. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Jax added, clapping me on the shoulder before darting out the door and leaving Elise and I standing there staring at each other like we were strangers.
“Is it too late to disown him?” Elise asked as she started fidgeting.
I couldn’t help but smile. The last thing Elise would ever do was disown Jax, no matter how much he bugged the crap out of her. “I hate to break it to you, but I think you’re stuck with him.”
“Well shit!” she replied. “So, you want some dinner?”
“Sure,” I agreed quickly. Even though I knew the Chinese would sit heavy in my stomach, I wasn’t about to turn it down. It smelt awesome.
“Great. Let me just grab some plates,” Elise babbled, heading for the kitchen.
I ducked into the bathroom and washed up, wishing I’d taken the time to shower after training, but I’d been in a hurry to get here.
By the time I got back out to the kitchen, Elise had the table buried under a heap of plastic containers. It was one of the worst and most awkward dinners I’d ever sat through. Well, it wasn’t the worst. That title was reserved for the family dinner where my sisters Izzy and Arianna compared labour stories. I could never unhear that.
After one too many helpings, I pushed my plate away and leant back in my chair, rubbing my belly. While I’d been stuffing my face, I’d watched Elise out the corner of my eye. For someone who’d ordered, she’d barely eaten anything.
“Elise, is everything okay?” I asked nervously.
“Fine,” she replied stiffly. “You finished?”
Elise was on her feet and clearing the mess before I’d even got my answer out. For a few minutes, I watched in silence as she fussed, washing plates and stacking the leftovers in the fridge; doing everything she could do to avoid me. Avoid looking at me. Avoid talking to me. At least, that’s what it looked like. When she appeared beside me with a bottle of disinfectant spray and a cloth and started polishing the table in front of me, I snapped. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with this bullshit. It was awkward as fuck, and I wasn’t prepared to lose her over something so stupid.
Reaching out, I snagged her wrist as she scrubbed, causing her to drop her cloth. Taking advantage of her confusion, I tugged her into my lap, ignoring her wiggling as she tried to break free from my hold.
“Elise, talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She squirmed again.
“Yeah, I’m calling bullshit on that. Wanna start by telling me why you’re avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding…”
“Again. Bullshit.”
Sig
hing heavily, Elise’s body went limp in my arms, and she dropped her head on my shoulder. Yawning, she snuggled closer.
“You comfy there?”
“Yeah, actually. You’re really warm.”
“Are you saying I’m hot?” I teased. I was going to drag it out of her inch by inch if I had to.
“Oh my god! Could you be any more full of yourself?”
“Play your cards right and you could be full of me too.”
Elise groaned and wriggled again, her arse rubbing against my cock that was getting harder by the second. The more she squirmed and teased, the more my dick sat up and paid attention.
“Stop! Oh my god! Please…just stop.” She giggled clutching at her stomach.
“I’ll stop on one condition,” I offered.
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“You tell me what’s got you running scared. What did I do wrong?”
“You? You did nothing. It was all me. One hundred and ten percent me.”
When she pulled away again, this time I let her go. If that’s what it took to keep her talking, it was a concession I was willing to make. For now anyway. Stuffing my hands into my pockets, mainly to stop myself from reaching out and grabbing her, I continued to push. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know you read my message.”
“Which message? We tend to send a few.” I smiled. I knew exactly what message had her twisted so tightly she was barely a breath away from unravelling.
“Don’t play dumb, Luca. Doesn’t suit you,” Elise snarked. Playing dumb might not suit me, but seeing her with a bug up her butt, watching her pace and pout and bite her lip did things to me that it really shouldn’t. Things I wasn’t about to admit to right now for fear of her cutting off my favourite appendage.
Standing up, I prowled towards her with slow, deliberate steps. The last thing I wanted to do was spook her and send her running. “Elise, stop thinking I read more into it than I did. I knew what you meant. Remember I grew up with three very nosy, very stubborn sisters. I understand teasing and banter more than you know.”
“Oh.”
“So, did I take your message seriously? No, of course not.”
“Oh.”
“Did I get what you were saying? Absolutely.”
“Y-you sure?” Elise stammered.
“Come here,” I instructed. She was tentative at first, but three steps later she was within my grasp. Reaching out, I dropped my hands on her shoulders before bending my knees so I was at her eye level. “Elise, I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?”
“Yeah,” she replied unconvincingly.
“I mean really listen.” Elise nodded. “When you tell me you love me, and you will one day, it won’t be in a text message or even over the phone. It won’t be when I’m balls-deep inside you or when you’re lying there in orgasmic bliss. It’s going to be when we’re both ready and the time is right. So, quit worrying about it. Quit thinking all those things you’re stressing about that are spinning your head.”
“I…I can’t.”
“You can and you will. Now stop worrying and kiss me.” Grabbing her by the scruff of the neck, I tugged her towards me and kissed the ever-loving fuck out of her. Right now, I didn’t want to hear her what ifs.
After a very heavy make-out session, one that left my balls heavy and aching, I managed to coax a promise from her that she’d be at Friday night’s game. I kissed her one last time and left her to get some sleep. It’d taken all my restraint to force myself to walk out the door rather than climb into bed beside her and fuck her into the middle of next week, but I was trying to prove a point. A point that had me taking another cold shower, but one I was determined to make. This was more than just a hook-up. This was the long game; one I was going to win. Elise was still learning the rules. She’d get there. I just needed to be patient.
After a quick shower, I pulled on my sleep pants and slid into bed before digging out my glasses from the bedside table. You knew you were getting old when you needed glasses to read. Picking up my iPad, I flicked through the emails, deleting the mountain of spam. I really needed to stay on top of these better, but I just couldn’t be bothered. Once the junk was gone, I focused on what was left.
Seeing a couple of emails from Elise was unexpected, especially since it was from a couple of days ago. She hadn’t mentioned it when we’d caught up, but there they were. Opening the first one, I realised what she was up to. It was picture after picture of unicorn-themed crap. There were piñatas, cakes, streamers, pin the horn on the unicorn, and so much more. I had no idea how long she’d spent looking up this shit, but her efforts were definitely impressive. Closing that one, I opened the next. This one was a link to a site that sold the stuff. Noticing the cart at the top was overflowing, I clicked on it. Elise had even pre-loaded the cart but left the final call to me. She was something else. Leaning over, I snagged my wallet, yanked out my credit card, and confirmed the order. I didn’t even look at the total. If this is what it took to make my two favourite girls happy, whatever the price, it was money well spent.
When I opened the third email from her, I was stunned. If I hadn’t thought Elise could be any more perfect, she’d just blown me out of the water. This one was a picture of a little girl with blonde pigtails tied up with sparkly streamers, wearing the most adorable unicorn costume. It was perfect and I knew a little girl who was going to look so freaking cute in it. I couldn’t help it. Quickly I clicked through to the site and placed the order. With a huge smile on my face, I replied to Elise’s email, telling her how awesome she was and how I knew she’d been the perfect person to save me with this.
Flicking through the other emails, I rushed through until I stumbled across one from Marianne, the club’s media guru. I wish I hadn’t opened it. It wasn’t her fault, and I wasn’t really surprised, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled either. This week we played in Sydney, but next week, for my second to last game, we were on the road to Melbourne. I’d been hoping the Saturday afternoon game meant we’d be home that night. But reading Marianne’s instructions, I realised I wasn’t going to be home until lunchtime Monday, at best. I had a sponsor event on the Sunday night. Tapping out an unenthusiastic reply, I confirmed I’d be there. It wasn’t like I had a choice.
Chapter Twenty-Two – Elise
The last thing I wanted to do tonight was go out. I just wanted to change into my pyjamas, crawl into bed and be miserable all on my own. I wasn’t a good sick person, and right now I felt like shit. I was freezing, and the three showers I’d had since I’d made it home hadn’t warmed me up either. My nose was red and wouldn’t stop running. My head felt like there was a gang of miners up there who were banging on my skull from the inside. But worse than that, every single bone in my body ached.
I’d tried to get out of it, but Dana wasn’t hearing it. Jax had bailed on me a couple of days ago, apparently he’d gotten a better offer, so I’d recruited Dana to be my wingwoman for the night. I hadn’t exactly had to twist her arm too hard, thankfully. I think it was the idea that there could possibly be more men like Luca out there that had her digging her winter woollies out from the bottom of the cupboard.
With the game about to start, we were sitting in the car praying for a break in the weather. It’d been a cold, cloudy overcast day, but the closer it got to the whistle, the heavier the rain fell. On top of being sick, I was now going to spend the next couple of hours trying to stay dry. My damn seats better be undercover.
“You ready?” Dana asked as she pulled on her pink beanie with a huge pom pom on the top.
“No,” I grumbled as I twisted my purple team scarf around my neck before putting on my gloves.
One look at me and you’d think I was about to go build a damn snowman. I had a pair of tights under my jeans and two pairs of socks on my feet before stuffing them into my knee-high boots. I had a singlet, long sleeve shirt, jumper, jersey and then a jacket. Add in my scarf, gloves and beanie, and I was waddling like t
he marshmallow man from Ghostbusters.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
Reluctantly, I climbed out of the car, stuffed my shit into my pockets, ducked my head, and half walked half jogged towards the gate. After passing through security and convincing him I wasn’t trying to smuggle contraband into the stadium, we headed for our seats, the tip of my nose already frozen.
Making our way to our seats, I noticed there weren’t as many bodies in the stands as there had been in previous games. Not that I could blame them. It was a wet and windy Friday night in western Sydney, I could think of a million places I’d rather be right now.
“You made it!” an excited voice screeched as I collapsed into my seat, hugging my jacket around me even tighter.
“Hey, Izzy,” I greeted her. “Dana, this is Isabella and Arianna, Luca’s sisters.”
“Oh hey!” Dana said, flashing them her widest smile. Sometimes I forgot just how much like Jax Dana really was. They’d both talk to anyone about anything anywhere. They were missing that embarrassment gene.
“Hey, Dana. I’m Izzy and this is Ari… Mum’s not here tonight so we can relax,” Izzy added.
“Your mum’s not here?”
“Not tonight.”
“I thought she wouldn’t miss it.”
“Apparently it’s too cold and wet, so she’s watching at home with Dad instead,” Ari explained.
Coughing, I nodded. “Can’t blame her.”
“Are you sick, Elise?” Ari asked, turning on her concerned motherly tone.
“Just a cold.” I sniffed as the whistle blew.
It was one of the most boring, uneventful and painful forty-five minutes of my life. And to think I still had the whole second half to sit through. No one had scored. They hadn’t even looked like coming close. All they did was kick it back and forth between each other, then to the other team where they repeated the same boring process.
Dana had volunteered to make a snack run while I sat and shivered. The wind was circling, and I couldn’t feel my cheeks. When she appeared with a giant chip on a stick and handed it to me, I almost turned it down. I was tired, cold, cranky and sick and the last thing I wanted to be doing was sitting here watching this shit.
Overtime (Playing The Field Book 1) Page 13