Abby

 

Sitting beside Colin during the rest of the conference was painful, at best. His words kept echoing off the corners of my mind, and if I doubted where we stood before, I most certainly did not now. He wanted to spend time with me, and by the look in his eyes he wanted to spend intimate time with me. His voice caressed my ear over lunch and the way he just pulled my chair towards him, like an animal on the prowl, was single handedly the sexiest thing that had ever happened to me. Just thinking about it fluttered my heart in my chest. His command of the space around us sent electrical sensations down my fingertips. I could feel his body heat radiating against my arm, and when he shifted to lean towards me I almost whimpered.

I had to bite my tongue to keep my sounds from escaping.

The conference ended just shy of five o’clock and Colin escorted me back across the road. I quickly parted ways from him, meeting Maggie in the elevator as we ventured up. She kept rattling on about all these things Ted needed throughout the entire thing and how she was bored half to death through it, but the only thing on my mind was what I was going to change into. I tried to keep my attention on Maggie so she wouldn’t ask why I was so distracted, but it was hard.

And when the elevator dumped us off, I practically sprinted to my room.

“Sorry! Gotta pee!” I said.

“Girl, I feel you. Catch up with you later?”

“Sure!” I said. “Sounds good!”

I rushed around, ripping my clothes off as I dug through my suitcase. I didn’t come prepared to go on a date. I came prepared to work. I sat down at my laptop in nothing but a pair of slim-fitting jeans and my bra, and I started typing away at the article I needed to send my boss. I ripped out my notes and took pictures of them, attaching them with the formal document I was about to send her. I didn’t have time to edit it, but I knew my boss would do that on the other end. She didn’t want perfection, she wanted the spin.

The spin that kept Colin’s reputation positive in the eyes of the media.

I threw in a couple of quotes into the article just to give it some juice, then I shut my laptop down. I had no fucking clue what top I was going to wear, and that top would determine the makeup I put on. I wasn’t a makeup girl and I hardly ever fussed with it, but for some reason I felt the need to tonight.

But a knock came at my door before a familiar voice sounded from behind it.

“If you’re panicking about clothes, don’t. I have something for you.”

It was Colin, and I felt goosebumps rattle across my skin.

“Okay. Um—just give me a second.”

I grabbed my crimson coat and tossed it around my body, suddenly self-conscious about him seeing me without a top. When the hell did that happen? After all the times that man had seen me naked, why was I now so worried about it?

I chose to blame the conference, then opened the door and greeted him with a smile.

“Here you go,” he said. “For you.”

He was standing there in a pair of jeans and a Kansas State University shirt. In his hand was a polyester piece of clothing with the same colors Colin donned on his shirt. I took it from his hands and held it up, then grinned when I saw what it was.

He had brought me a Kansas State University jersey.

Which meant he had to purchase it for me.

“Where did you get this?” I asked. “And—when?”

“Do you really care?” he asked.

My eyes fluttered up to him as a blush tainted my cheeks. I didn’t care. I didn’t care where he got it or how he got it or if he was planning this the entire time. The only thing I did care about was the fact that Colin was standing at my door about to pick me up for a low-key date at a sports bar.

At least, I thought it was a date.

“Thank you,” I said. “Just give me a second to put it on.”

He nodded as I closed the door to my hotel room, then I ripped off my jacket and put it on.

I went and stood in the mirror and admired it on me. It wasn’t the most flattering piece of clothing on the planet, but I supposed that wasn’t the point of a sports jersey. I fluffed my hair out around my shoulders before I darted to the bathroom, then started touching up my makeup. A little bit of mascara, a dash of eyeliner, and some decent lip gloss gave me the toned down look I wanted.

The butterflies were in full swing as I grabbed my coat and threw it around my shoulders.

“Ready,” I said, as I opened the door.

I found Colin standing there, a smile on his face as he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets.

“It looks good on you,” he said.

“Thanks. For the compliment, and for getting it for me.”

“I figured since you didn’t know much about basketball, you wouldn’t know what team to cheer for.”

“Ah, so, you’re just looking out for me, right?” I asked.

“As long as you’re in my car, that’ll be my priority,” he said.

“And, you gave yourself away a bit there.”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t know that I didn’t know anything about basketball until lunch today. Which makes me wonder when you actually had time to get this thing between lunch and now,” I said.

“Don’t worry. With that brain of yours, you’ll have it figured out by the time the game’s over,” he said.

“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or a dig,” I said.

“Your mind is astounding. It’s definitely a compliment.”

I blushed at his words as we stepped into the elevator. We were the only two in the compartment and I could feel the walls closing in around us. Even with the ability to stand on the other side of the room from me, his body was close to mine. Positioned just behind me, with his hand trailing along the small of my back. My eyes fluttered closed, taking in the surge of electricity coursing through my veins. Even with a jersey and my coat separating us, I could feel the phantom sensations of his hands against my body.

Was he not the least bit afraid that someone could see us out together like this?

The elevator doors opened on the main floor and he immediately dropped his hand. I hated the fact that we had to conceal this, but I understood why. It could ruin his reputation and it sure as hell would ruin mine. It was probably why he hadn’t called between Christmas and now, but the least he could’ve done was talk to me about it instead of leaving me high and dry.

We walked down the road to the sports bar and it was packed with people. We managed to get a booth in the corner right in front of a massive television, and he scooted me all the way in. Instead of sitting across from me, he sat next to me. I could feel his hand rubbing against my thigh as the waitress set menus down in front of us, her jersey reflecting ours as she gave us a big smile.

“Got some fans in here, I see,” the waitress said.

“I am. She’s a newbie to the sport. But, we’re changing that tonight,” Colin said.

“Okay! Well, welcome to Rightland’s. My name is Tracy and I’ll be your waitress for tonight. We’ve got all kinds of drink specials for the KSU fans, so I hope y’all came thirsty.”

“I did,” I said. “I’ll have your signature drink for the night.”

“It’s called the KSU Huddle. It’s a shit ton of alcohol mixed with pineapple juice, blue curacao, and grenadine. Gives it a nice purple hue to match y’all’s shirts.”

“Well, that sounds fantastic. I’ll have one too,” I said.

“And I’ll have your most popular beer brew for the game,” Colin said.

“Bottle, sixteen ounce, or pitcher?” Tracy asked.

“Sixteen ounce,” Colin said.

“Y’all gonna eat? We got some awesome wings.”

“Yes! I would love some,” I said. “Do you have, like, a honey-based sauce?”

“We got honey barbeque, honey buffalo, and honey mustard,” Tracy said.

“Oh, honey buffalo sounds great. Ten of those for me, please,” I said.

“I’ll do ten as well in your tangy, hot buffalo sauce. And we’re gonna share a plate of your endless bacon cheese fries.”

“Hungry and thirsty! My kinda crowd. I’ll get these orders in and have your drinks right up,” Tracy said.

“Okay, so break down the basics for me before this game kicks off.”

“Tips off,” Colin said. “That’s your first basic. Kickoff is football, where they actually you know, kick off. In basketball, it’s a tip off, because they actually—”

“Tip off! Great. Okay. Second thing?” I asked.

“When they score a point, it’s called a basket,” he said, grinning.

“You’re a dick,” I said.

He chuckled and I nudged him with my shoulder just to see if I could get a little closer to him.

“Okay, so basketball isn’t hard. You’ve got two-point and three-point shots. You’ve got fouls, which is essentially unnecessary roughness on the court, and when someone is fouled, they get a chance at unimpeded shots from the two-point line. But, those shots only count for one point each.”

“I can remember that. Anything else?” I asked.

“This bar’s gonna get really loud once the game starts,” he said, smiling.

“I didn’t expect anything less from a bunch of beer guzzling sports fanatics.”

“Wonderful. I’ll answer questions you might have as the game progresses. For now, I want you to tell me how you broke your nose.”

“I’m still shocked you knew that,” I said.

“I’m shocked you thought I wouldn’t have noticed. We have spent a considerable amount of time together in close proximity.”

I flushed underneath his words as his hand began to caress my thigh. His touch was electrifying and I could feel the skin of my back heating up. If he was trying to lay it on thick, then it was working. I was putty in his hands as he stroked my leg, and I found myself relaxing into the booth as his eyes took in my every movement.

“I swam on a swim team when I was younger,” I said. “I begged my mother to let me do it even though I was a shit swimmer. My father thought it would help me get better and it was the only thing I wanted to do with my summer that year, so she relented. On my second practice, I dove into the shallow end after my coach told me not to, and I dove smack into the concrete floor of the pool.”

“Holy hell, I bet that hurt,” he said.

“It felt like I was dying. Yes. That’s why the hump in my nose is a little off.”

“I broke a bone once. I fell off the roof of my house when I was ten.”

“What were you doing on the roof of the house?” I asked.

“Retrieving a frisbee I threw too far over my mother’s head.”

“I bet that was a fun hospital trip for her.”

“Oh, she blamed me the entire way there. My mother is a parenting master. Nothing ever phased her. I could get past childproof locks and bottle tops and one day she found me in the medicine cabinet drinking that children’s grape Benadryl shit.”

“No, you didn’t,” I said.

“I did. I was four, and I sure as hell did. But instead of panicking, she took the bottle away from me, gave me a glass of water, and told me to chug it while she called my pediatrician. I slept for eighteen hours and to this day she tells me it was the best vacation she’s ever had.”

I threw my head back and laughed at his story as his hand cupped my knee.

“Your mother sounds like a tough old broad,” I said.

“Just don’t ever call her that to her face.”

“Dear fuck, have you done that?” I asked.

“Had I not ducked, she would’ve broken my nose, too.”

Our drinks were set in front of us and we took a few sips before the game started. It didn’t take long for the bar to erupt into cheers and boos, the food soon forgotten about as I watched the game. Colin talked me through the basis as I watched, my eyes taking in the sports team that matched the color of my shirt.

I stood to my feet whenever KSU scored, our drinks going everywhere as we laughed and clapped.

The bar was filled with an intoxicating energy. We devoured our wings and tanked through the bacon cheese fries in a hurry. Drink after drink was set in front of us and I soon lost count as to how many I’d had, and it wasn’t until I got up to cheer again and teetered that I’d decided I’d had enough.

“This is so much fun,” I said.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, though I think we should slow down on the drinks,” Colin said.

“No fucking joke. I haven’t teetered on my feet like this in years. I think I need to put a few more fries on my stomach.”

“Well, it’s a bottomless plate, so eat all you want,” he said.

I got to listen to more stories of Colin’s childhood in between the cheering and jeering going on in the bar. I learned that he had an obsession with fast cars growing up, but grew out of it when his mother got into a nasty car accident. I learned that he still had his collection of useless baseball cards stored in the attic of his home in L.A. I learned that he wanted to play sports desperately as a child, but was never good at them. I listened to his childhood memories and came back with a few of my own. The conversation flowed easily between the two of us, and soon we were no longer paying attention to the game.

We were only paying attention to each other.

We nursed our last drinks as the game slowly began to wind down. Kansas State University kicked Wichita University’s asses, but we were so caught up in one another that we missed the celebrations. Colin didn’t even think twice when he paid, even though he’d footed the entirety of this road trip getting us down here in the first place.

And all the while, I took in all I could about him.

“Thank you for bringing me here tonight,” I said. “I had a wonderful time.”

“I’m glad you did. Your company is always welcomed with me. I was happy I could coax you out,” he said.

“Always welcomed?” I asked.

His eyes slowly panned back towards mine and I could see the questions rolling behind his eyes.

“Despite my prior—decisions—yes. Always,” he said.

I nodded and let go of the breath I was holding, just as he took my hand underneath the table.

“Come back to my suite with me, Abby,” he said.

I started to shake my head to decline before he squeezed my hand.

“Please.”

His voice was low and commanding. Reminiscent of our adventure over lunch. I ran my thumb along his skin, feeling his hand beginning to tremble. There wasn’t an ounce of me that didn’t want him in that very moment, but a part of me was afraid. Afraid that when we both went back to our lives after this weekend, things we go back to normal. It would be as if he never existed and the only part of him I would have would be what I could conjure in my dreams.

But for once, I swallowed my fears and let go of my inhibitions, and I felt my head resistance quickly fade.

So he tugged me from the booth and settled his hand on the small on my back

In front of a massive crowd of people in a random bar in the middle of Kansas, he escorted me back to the hotel. His hand slid from my back as we entered the lobby, but the moment we stepped into the elevator he cornered me against the wall. His hands were planted alongside my head and his eyes were dancing along my face. I looked up at him, my chest heaving as my hands slowly rose up his torso. I could feel the ribbing of his beautifully toned muscles as the elevator whisked up to his floor, and I stood to my tip toes and pressed a kiss to his nose just as the doors opened.

Then he took my hand, dragged me down the hallway, and used my back to open his hotel suite door.