Chapter Five

“I take it you’ve done this before?” We’d only been at the campsite for a half hour, and Chance had already started a fire and was almost done pitching the first tent.

“Every summer with my family. My dad took my sister and I camping every year in the Outback. Best memories of my life. It wasn’t fake camping like this, either.”

“Fake?”

“No numbered campsites, bathrooms and security. We did real camping. What about you? What soured you to camping?”

“Nothing. I’ve just never done it before.” Chance finished putting up the first tent and stepped back, admiring his handywork. “That tent’s huge.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that,” he snickered.

I shook my head. “Why did you buy such big tents?”

“Damn it!” Chance yelled as he swatted a mosquito from his face. The boisterous sudden rant scared poor Esmerelda Snowflake, and she froze in place and proceeded to tip over and faint. We got a good laugh over that one.

Chance threw some more wood on the fire and sat down. “What about the other tent?” I asked, looking over the fire at him. I really hoped he wasn’t expecting me to attempt to figure that one out myself.

“What other tent?”

“You only bought one tent?”

He pulled a Pixy stick out from his back pocket and tilted his head back, shaking some of the sugary powder into his mouth. “Tent has two rooms. There’s a divider. You and your son can sleep on one side. I’ll sleep on the other.”

I didn’t really have a right to complain, seeing as he was doing all the work and paid for all of the supplies. So I didn’t, for a change.

We munched on what would normally be a month’s supply of carbs for me and sat around the campfire. Chance peeled a stick with a pocketknife and popped a marshmallow on the end before offering it to me. He really was good at this stuff.

“So, I’ll be sharing a tent with you tonight, we adopted a pet together, and I don’t even know what you do for a living?”

“I guess you can say I’m retired.”

“Retired?” At what? Twenty-six, twenty-seven?”

“Twenty-eight,” he corrected.

“Oh. Well that makes it better.” It was dark, even with the light of the fire. I lifted my roasted marshmallow to check it. The color was browned nicely on one side, the other side was still white. “So what did you retire from?”

“Soccer.”

“You played professionally?”

“In Australia. Yes. Well, not for long.”

“What happened?”

“Torn ACL.”

“It couldn’t be repaired?”

“I had a few surgeries. But it tore again.”

“I’m sorry. How long did you get to play for?”

“One game.”

“One game? You mean you tore it in your first professional game?”

“I did. First and last professional game, both on the same day.”

“How long ago was that?”

“I stayed on the roster for my three-year contract. Had a few surgeries…never really could make it back to the level I needed to be at. Retired at twenty-four.”

“Wow. That sucks.”

He smiled.

“But what do you do now?”

“I still get royalties, so I don’t have to work a nine to five or anything. But I spend my days making junk art.”

“Junk art?”

“Some people call it recycled art.”

“I went to an exhibit like that at the Guggenheim. I loved it. I’d love to see your work sometime.”

He nodded. Very noncommittal.

“Can I be nosey?”

“You mean more nosey?”

“You’re the one who told me to get to know you. Before you made me crash into poor Esmerelda Snowflake, that is.”

“You didn’t even crash into that thing. And his name is not Esmerelda Snowflake.”

My marshmallow was on fire. I blew on it, then slipped it off the stick and took a bite. It was almost liquefied. “Mmmmm.”

I noticed Chance was watching me intently. “You want a bite?”

He shook his head slowly.

“Why not? You’re the sugar addict.”

“I get more enjoyment out of watching you eat it than I would eating it myself.” He swallowed. The sight of his throat working made me warm, and it had nothing to do with the fire.

“Anyway. How can you be living off royalties if your contract was only three years?”

He looked away. “Posters and stuff.”

“Posters? You mean of you?”

“Haven’t we talked about me enough? Harry’s been quiet today, hasn’t he?”

“Not a chance, Cocky. You blew me off once, and I let you off the hook.”

Turned out, I wasn’t the only one that thought Chance Bateman was ridiculously hot. Even years after retiring from professional sports, legions of women in Australia were still keeping his poster and jersey sales alive enough for him to live off of. There was something very endearing about him being a little embarrassed of the whole thing.

After a few more hours of sitting around the campfire, we decided to call it a night. Chance set up my sleeping bag for me and then zipped the divider of our two-room tent down. He left me with the lantern, so I could change first.

My clothes smelled like campfire, so I stripped everything off. There was something exciting about standing naked with only a flimsy piece of nylon between us. I might have lingered an extra minute before I put my bra and panties back on. When I was all done, I unzipped the corner of the tent and handed the lantern to Chance.

He gave me a sly grin and zipped the divider back into place. My side of the tent went dark, but as I climbed into my sleeping bag, I realized I could now see everything on his side. It was a shadow, but a very detailed shadow.

He was facing me, standing very still. I wasn’t certain, but it felt like he was looking right at me. It was impossible to actually see me through the vinyl divider, but I sensed his eyes on me nonetheless. He reached down to the hem of his shirt and slowly lifted it over his head. The shadow of his body was broad at the shoulders but tapered to a narrow waist. Even though I couldn’t see the detail, I imagined what I knew was there. The ridges of his muscular abs, the hard plains of that carved V. My mouth was suddenly dry.

He stood there again for a long moment and then began to strip out of his pants. The sound from the slow unzip of his jeans made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. His thighs were thick and muscular; his boxer briefs hugged his legs like a second skin. I held my breath when his thumbs hooked into the top of his boxers, and he began to peel them off of his body. He bent to slip them off and then stood.

Holy mother of all cocky bastards. He was hung. The thing was dangling more than halfway to his knees. I took a sharp breath in, realized it was audible, and quickly slapped my hand over my mouth. I kept it there until he was completely dressed, afraid a moan might slip out.

When he was finally done, I watched him climb into his sleeping bag. He rolled onto his side and faced my direction. It made me wonder if he was looking at me. Then he flicked off the light.

“Night, Aubrey.”

AH-BREE

Perhaps I could have been imagining it, but his voice sounded as thick and needy as I felt.

“Night, Chance.”

I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, attempting to regain my wits. Then it dawned on me for the first time…had he just watched me give him the same show and returned the favor?

Where am I? That was the first thought that came to mind as I woke up. After a few seconds, everything registered. Sunlight attempted to permeate the tent. I lightly patted my bedside before my hand tapping on the ground turned frantic.

Where was the goat?

I jumped up out of my sleeping bag. “Chance!”

“Hmm,” he moaned groggily from behind the divider.

“The goat! He’s gone.” A rush of panic tore through me. “He’s gone!”

I zipped the divider down without a second thought.

“Relax. He’s here with me.”

“Baa.” The goat let out that single sound as if to confirm that I had overreacted. My pulse immediately slowed down as I held my hand over my pounding heart. “Oh, thank God.”

Chance sat up and ran his hands through his messy hair. Blinking when he looked up, he seemed to freeze. “Jesus Christ. Are you trying to kill me?”

I looked down at myself and crossed my arms over my chest. I’d run over so fast that I hadn’t thought about the fact that I’d only slept in my bra and panties. “Shit. Sorry. I was so panicked. I wasn’t thinking straight and didn’t put anything on.”

Utterly embarrassed, I returned to my side and spoke through the closed divider as I started to get dressed. “So, how did he end up over there with you?”

“You were out like a light. He started rustling around, trying to break through to my side. The bugger wouldn’t calm down until I let him over here. Slept next to me the rest of the night. Worst fucking breath I’ve ever smelled in my life.”

I couldn’t help but crack up at that.

“You think that’s funny, eh, Princess?”

“I really do.” After throwing my last item of clothing on, I unzipped the barrier again.

Chance was standing before me half-naked only wearing his tight boxer briefs. He glared at me. “Privacy much? What if I’d just walked in on you like that a few seconds ago?”

He’d never looked so sexy, with his bed head and that almost angry look. My eyes unapologetically trailed down the length of his torso, down the thin line of hair leading into his underwear and stopped on his…massive erection.

Oh, God. Now, it made sense why he was suddenly modest.

Clearing my throat, I said, “You…you’re…”

“Hard.”

“Yes.”

“It’s called morning wood. I can’t be responsible for how I wake up…especially under these conditions.”

“Sleeping next to a goat. Did it turn you on?” I laughed.

“I was referring to your impromptu striptease a few seconds ago. And now, you barged over here again before I had a chance to calm the fuck down from it.”

“Oh.”

“I can only take so much.” Chance slipped his pants on.

His stare was burning into mine. He looked even sexier with his arousal straining through his jeans. As much as I’d felt awkward for putting him in this situation, I loved the idea of being the one responsible for his hard on. In fact, my ability to handle my attraction to him was dwindling pretty fast. With each second that passed, the muscles between my legs were tightening from just the way he was looking at me. These were times I was grateful to be a woman because at least my excitement could be hidden. Still, this wasn’t a good predicament. I needed to break the ice.

Clearing my throat, “What are the plans for today?”

He slipped a shirt on. “We need to eat.”

“So, we’ll get breakfast out?” I stupidly asked.

“Yes, breakfast. What else would I be eating out?”

Uh.

Choking over my words, I said, “No. Breakfast is good. I’m hungry. You?”

“Starving.” The look in his eyes implied that he wasn’t necessarily referring to food.

I was starving, too.

“Okay, then,” I said as I retreated to my side of the tent to cool off.

It took us about an hour to break down our campsite and pack everything back into my car.

We opted to stop for takeout breakfast at a fast food place that was just before the on ramp to the highway. Chance had gone inside to order our huevos rancheros breakfast burritos and coffee. I used the opportunity to take my phone out and typed into Google: Chance Bateman Australia.

There he was. A plethora of pictures popped up. There was one in particular where he was shirtless, wearing nothing but a white t-shirt draped around his neck, and you could see just a tease of the top of his juicy ass. The picture showcased his signature sexy smirk that made me squirm in my seat. That cocky smile. Goddammit, he was handsome. That same image seemed to be the one that came up the most. It was also the one that was being sold as a poster for a cool $19.99 plus shipping and handling. There was even a picture of some girl standing next to the poster on her wall pretending to bite his ass. I suspected there were other people out there playing their own twisted versions of pin the tail on the Chance.

Knowing he’d be back any minute, I was reading through old articles and message boards so fast that my eyes hurt. It was definitely evident that Chance was more well-known for his debut game injury and his looks than anything else. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride for how he’d turned lemons into lemonade, though. Scrolling down, I came across some pictures of him at various events with the same attractive blonde model. Piper Ramsey. A twinge—well, maybe a boatload—of jealousy developed in the pit of my stomach.

A knock on the window startled me. I tossed the phone aside, and it fell into the driver’s seat. Well, more like I threw it over there.

“Open up for your coffee,” I heard him say through the window. I took my cup from him as he walked around and got into the driver’s seat. “What were you looking at?”

“Um, nothing. I was just…”

Shit.

Before I had a chance to explain myself, he lifted the phone, scrolling through the pictures with his thumb. He then threw it down onto the center console. “Well, now you’ve seen it all, haven’t you?”

“Yes…and it’s…pretty amazing.”

He let out a single angry laugh. “Amazing, eh?”

“Yes!”

“And tell me, Aubrey, what exactly is so amazing about working practically your entire life for one single moment and seeing it all go up in flames on the very first try? What is so amazing about being more famous for your failure than your success? You know what was so nice about this trip with you up until now? You didn’t see me as that guy that everyone thinks they know, and now you do.”

Shit. I’d really upset him.

“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t thinking those things at all.”

“What were you thinking then?”

“I was thinking about how wonderful it was that you could stand up proudly in the face of adversity and still make a name for yourself on your image alone. I was also thinking about how striking you are, if you really want to know. And I was wondering who that girl Piper was. I was curious about everything, yes, but not in a bad way. Not once did I think anything negative.”

Chance let out a long, deep breath and muttered, “Let’s just go.”

I felt so horrible for upsetting him and even though the internet was public, it somehow felt like I had invaded his privacy. More than anything, I felt like I had hurt him, and that hurt me, because whether or not I wanted to admit it, there was an unwanted ache in my chest. I could feel myself falling for him, and that scared me.

An uncomfortable silence clouded the air for the better part of an hour. The only time he’d move his hands from the wheel was to feed Esmerelda Snowflake pieces of hash brown patty dipped in cock sauce. Even the goat liked cock sauce.

At one point, he finally looked over at me. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry that I made you uncomfortable.”

“I probably would have done the same thing if I were you. It’s just…all the stuff online, it’s all bullshit. That’s not the way to get to know me. If you want to know something, just ask me. Those people that post shit don’t really know me.”

“I do feel like I know the real you.”

“You probably know more than most people. I’ve been nothing but myself with you from the moment we met. Even though I give you shit, I feel comfortable around you, and that’s rare for me.”

There was that feeling in my chest again.

“I feel the same about you, and I don’t really understand it. I just know I’m really glad that we crossed paths.”

He tapped the bobblehead. “Just think…if you’d never picked up Mr. Obama here, who knows where we’d both be right now?” He pointed to the backseat. “Where would this beast be right now?”

“Probably passed out on the side of the road.”

Chance glanced back at the goat. “Instead, he’s eating our food and sleeping with both of us. No thanks to me. It was all you.” He flashed a sexy side glance and startled me when he put his hand on my knee, triggering a sudden rush of desire. “You’re sweet. You have a good heart. That prick, Harrison, is gonna be sorry someday.” When he took his hand away, I longed for its return. What he’d said also sent shivers throughout my body. An indescribable feeling overwhelmed me. I didn’t know how to respond, so I turned on the radio. Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys happened to be on.

Chance turned up the volume. “Look at that! They’re singing about you and your magic wand, Princess.”

I covered my mouth in laughter, and we both cracked up. We’d finally broken through the earlier tension, and that gave me a sense of relief.

After we stopped for lunch and had driven for several more hours, Chance turned to me. “Are you in a rush to get to Temecula by a certain time?”

“I don’t start my new position for another week, and the house I’m renting is fully furnished, so not really. Why?”

“Care to take a little detour before darkness falls?”

“Sure. I’d be up for that. What do you have in mind?”

“Somewhere rock hard and deep.” He winked.

Well, that piqued my curiosity.