Chapter Nineteen
It didn’t take Jade long to realize there hadn’t been any reason to feel nervous about coming to the barbeque.
Hunter’s parents, Wayne and Beverly Sparks, were two of the most down-to-earth people she’d ever met. She visited with them while Hunter and Finn grilled the burgers and hot dogs. They asked about her family—not much to tell there—and her former life in DC. Hunter’s mom seemed particularly interested in her time as a baker. They even shared a few recipes.
“You’re a very brave woman,” Mrs. Sparks said to her out of nowhere, startling her. “To change jobs, open your own business, and move to a town where you have no ties or connections.” Hunter’s mom smiled warmly at her. “That’s a courageous thing to do. I can see why he likes you.”
No one had ever called Jade courageous before. Or brave.
Though, being those things was one of her biggest aspirations. Along with being self-sufficient. She was still working on that one, too.
She bit her lip, wondering if it was appropriate to grill a mother about her son’s feelings. But she certainly didn’t want to give the woman ideas, because Jade had no intention of being in a relationship with Hunter. She was determined to protect her heart from that kind of pain again. She couldn’t do it. No matter how wonderful the day was turning out to be, nor how much she enjoyed his family’s company.
They weren’t dating. They weren’t involved. And wouldn’t be.
At least, not emotionally. Physically…maybe.
Oh, who are you kidding?
She decided to play it safe by keeping her responses vague. “I like Hunter, too, ma’am. He’s been a good…friend.”
Friend?
They’d been strangers, then lovers, then enemies…sort of…but what were they now? Fuck buddies?
She could feel a blush cover her entire face at that thought.
“I know it’s probably not my place, but I think my son sees you as more than a friend.” Mrs. Sparks chuckled at Jade’s expression. “A mother can always tell these things. I’ve never seen him so smitten with a woman.”
Ho, boy.
Despite the lecture she’d just been giving herself, she didn’t want to hurt his mom’s feelings. So she felt compelled to be honest. “I’m pretty smitten with him, too,” she said softly.
His mother’s face brightened. “I thought as much.”
Jade laughed and took a sip from her lemonade to cool herself down.
“I don’t know what he’s told you,” Mrs. Sparks continued, “but if it seems like he’s moving a bit slow in the relationship department, be patient. His former girlfriend was a little tramp—excuse my language—and that’s made him…cautious about getting involved.”
Jade felt panic course through her veins at the mention of a relationship. Had Hunter been telling his mother they were dating? Is that what he thought?
“Maggie and Mia filled me in on the basics of what went down between him and Rebecca,” Jade said. “Trust me, I have no problem with slow. I hadn’t exactly planned on getting involved with anyone right after moving to town.”
Although she and Hunter had certainly jumped right into bed together… Before even knowing each other’s names.
Probably best not to tell Momma Sparks that.
She’ll be calling you the tramp.
“Probably wise,” his mom said, hunkering down in her beach chair. “Still, I can see a lot of similarities between you and my son. I think you would make a darn good couple.”
Bewildered, Jade was about to state that she and Hunter were complete opposites when Finn appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her wrist, and hauled her out of her chair. “Football time, newbie! You’re on my team!”
She tried to dig her feet in the sand to protest, but Finn easily pulled her along.
“I don’t know how to play,” she objected. “Plus, I’m terrible at sports. You’re going to lose with me on your team, Finn.”
Plus, she needed to go grab her cover-up because there was no way she was going to run and bounce around in just her bikini. Talk about a Janet Jackson moment waiting to happen.
He didn’t even spare her a glance, though, and just kept pulling her along. “Nonsense. Not only am I a fantastic player, I’m also an amazing coach. I can turn anyone into a winner. I’ll have you throwing spirals and running patterns in no time.”
Sure, maybe in an alternate universe.
She was more realistic about how severely she was about to humiliate herself.
Finn finally met her eyes and must have seen the terror lurking in them. “Look, I’ll only throw it to Mia, and you can just run the ball. Hunter will take it easy on you.” He glanced across the field marked out in the sand at the opposing team consisting of Hunter, Maggie, and Mr. Sparks, and sighed. “Maggie, however, is another story.”
As if she hadn’t already felt exposed around Hunter’s family, with all of their questions and curiosity about her life. Now, she felt almost…on display. Not just because of her minimal coverage. It was as if they were testing her, seeing how she’d handle their family activities.
But even though she didn’t have a clue what the hell she was doing, it also occurred to her that she could use this opportunity to her advantage. Hunter’s eyes had been following her around all afternoon, rarely leaving her body. He had shoved his own muscles in her face countless times, taunting her. Almost poking at her obvious attraction to him. Needling her.
Maybe this was her turn.
Maybe it was time to give him a little taste of his own medicine.
Steeling herself, she followed Finn, adding a confident sway to her hips. When she knew she had Hunter’s attention, she made an extra show of adjusting the ties of her suit. Grabbing certain areas she knew would…jiggle. He suddenly coughed and she smiled, though she didn’t look at him.
Although when she reached up and gathered her hair into a ponytail, she chanced a glance his way. His eyes were glued her chest, his lips parted. She stretched her back even more, pushing her breasts out. His eyes flew up to hers.
She grinned deviously.
He glared. And slowly shook his head in warning.
If he thought that was going to stop her, he had another thing coming.
Game on.
Finn and Mia tried to explain the rules to Jade, but all she really got out of it was that it was two-hand touch, and they had to run past the big red cooler on the other end of the field to score points. Never having watched a single football game in her entire life, she didn’t understand a word Finn said as he called plays. Wisely, he ran the ball down the field himself on the first play and scored.
This might be easier than she thought.
She could just stand there the whole time and let Finn do all the work.
“All day, Hunter!” Finn smacked his best friend on the shoulder as he ran back down to Jade and Mia. “You can’t touch this All-Conference running back!”
“College was over eight years ago, dude,” Hunter shot back.
“And you stiff-armed me, Caldwell!” This from Maggie.
The game went back and forth, each team taking turns holding the lead. Thankfully, Finn and Mia mostly caught and threw the ball to each other the whole time. He’d passed it off to Jade once, but she’d only gotten about a step and a half before Maggie tagged her. After that, Jade was content doing what Finn generously called “blocking” for him and Mia when they had the ball.
But despite Jade’s complete ignorance of the sport, she was having a lot of fun. Plus, Hunter was shirtless.
Shirtless. Sweaty. And smoldering hot.
And he kept sending her sly grins and winking at her every chance he got. Because the two of them were playing a whole other kind of game. The way his eyes trailed down her body…she was burning up. Despite being half naked in her bikini. The blistering sun had nothing on his sexy smirks.
But dammit, he was not going to win this round.
She had no idea how long they’d been out there playing, but Mr. Sparks suddenly announced that both teams had one last play. The teams were tied up, so whoever scored would win. She did her duty and tried to guard Maggie—or whatever it was called—though she didn’t think she was doing much good. When Hunter’s team couldn’t “convert the downs,” it was her team’s turn to run their last play.
Finn gathered them into a huddle. “Okay, Mia, I want you to run a slant route.” Mia nodded.
Holy hell, did she actually know what that meant?
“Jade, you’re going to run the ball. I’ll block for you.”
Wait. What?
Jade adamantly shook her head. He’d obviously lost his mind. “No way. Why can’t you just throw Mia the ball?”
“Because they aren’t expecting us to give it to you,” he said. “Maggie’s backed off of you. I promise, they’ll be looking at me or Mia. They’ll never expect you to bring it home.”
Mia squeezed her arm, smiling reassuringly. “You can do it. Hunter’s got a bad knee, so juke to the right if he comes after you.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Jade protested, starting to panic.
Mia calmly placed her hands on Jade’s shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. She had a real knack for putting someone at ease. “Just dodge to his right. Sidestep him. You’ve got this.”
Finn bumped her shoulder. “I’ve got a week’s worth of free drinks at the bar for Mags on the line here, so…we’re all counting on you.” Mia smacked him on the back of the head and he laughed. “Hey, I’m kidding. You’ll do fine.”
Jade glared at him. “Not the best pep talk, coach.”
They stepped up to the line, her heart beating out of control. She was so going to lose this game for them.
No, you’re not. You can do this.
“Down, set, hut!” Finn shouted. He immediately turned to Jade and tossed her the ball.
She caught it and took off.
She sensed the other team’s momentary shock at her having the ball before they gathered their wits. Hunter headed in her direction, his moves quick and agile. His big, hulking figure was stampeding straight toward her when Mia’s words popped into her head.
Bad right knee. Go to his right.
Repeating those words over in her mind, she stared him down and pushed her legs faster. There was a confident smirk on his face, as if he knew he was about to have her wrapped up in his arms. She was inches away from his outstretched hands, and…
She lunged to the left—his right.
Thrown off balance, he stumbled, and couldn’t turn his body around fast enough. She sprinted the rest of the way down the field, holding off Maggie and Mr. Sparks long enough to pass the red cooler.
It didn’t actually hit her until she heard Finn’s and Mia’s raucous cheers.
She’d scored!
They’d won!
Aside from academic awards in high school, she had never won anything in her life. And as silly as it was to get all excited about something so trivial, she was super proud of herself. Especially when Finn and Mia practically tackled her to the sand, then made her join them in a victory lap around the field.
“Losers eat dessert last!” Finn yelled, and pointed at Maggie. “Suck it, Breedlove!”
Jade was vaguely aware of Maggie’s shouted response back at him—complete with expletives—as Hunter slowly made his way toward her. Or rather, stalked his way toward her. The man looked like he had all sorts of ideas spinning around in that dirty little mind of his.
God, she was turned on. Had been all afternoon.
“Congratulations, Red,” he told her, smiling.
A thrill spun through her. “Thanks.”
He leaned in and murmured, “That was cheating, by the way. Playing in your bikini like that. Distracting me on purpose.”
She gave him a coy, sideways glance. “One must use the assets one has.”
“Not into playing fair, huh?” he asked, hands on his hips.
She waved down at his half-naked body. “Like you’re any better.”
He tossed her a wry grin. “I never said I play fair. Those were some nice moves at the end. How’d you know to go to my right?”
“Mia gave me some tips.” Feeling emboldened, riding her high, she stepped into him, close enough their chests were touching. “She said you just can’t handle quick little redheads who are trying to score.”
He choked out a heavy breath, as if she’d punched his gut. “Oh, sweetheart. I’ll let you into my end zone any day.”
She tipped her head back and laughed. “If I wanted cheese, I would have moved to Wisconsin.”
“She’s got jokes now, does she? Well, we’ll see about that.” A look came over his face that forced her to back up a step. His grin widened.
She stuck a hand out, attempting to hold him back. “Hunter, don’t you dare.”
He leaned forward and whispered, “It’s not nice to make a guy’s dick hard in front of his parents, you know. I’m supposed to look like a gentleman around my momma.”
“You are no gentleman,” Jade murmured, her body going crazy.
His expression turned lecherous. “Exactly.”
Crap.
She took off at a sprint.
About four seconds later, he easily caught her and threw her over his shoulder. Her bikini top shifted in her struggle, and she had to do some quick maneuvering before there was a full-on topless situation. Though, when her nipple grazed his bare skin, she had the sudden urge to just rip the whole thing off and let their slick bodies rub against each other.
“Guess you’re not so quick now, are you?” He headed straight for the water.
“Don’t you do it, Hunter!”
“What? I thought you liked getting wet.”
“Damn you! I swear, I’ll—”
Fifteen minutes later, she was eating her dessert soaking wet from head to toe, balancing her plate of food on her lap, and towel-drying her hair.
“Hunter Sparks,” his mom scolded him. “I can’t believe you almost drowned that poor girl.”
“My own fault,” Jade said with a pout and glared at Hunter when he winked at her. “I provoked him.”
She may have been pouting on the outside. But on the inside, she was positively glowing.
It was amazing how creative the man could get with his hands underwater, while appearing perfectly respectable above the waves.
Gentleman, her ass.