I couldn’t stop staring at her long legs. Hannah sat on the opposite side of the fire pit from me in a red Adirondack chair. Those fucking legs scissored and each time the fabric of her skirt slipped, inching up her thighs. My fingers itched to touch her skin.
I forced myself to watch Luke and Brodie as they tossed the football, but my eyes drifted back to Hannah every time she laughed or spoke.
Hannah’s mother fanned her face as she eased up from the chair. “This weather is just too hot for me. I’m going inside to check on your father.”
“Okay, Mom,” Hannah said as she crossed her long legs . . . again.
Ryleigh stood grabbing the bottle of wine from the makeshift beer cooler, which was a shiny red wheelbarrow filled with ice. “Can I get you something, Wyatt?”
“No thanks, I’m still working on my water.”
She smiled and went back to the task of refilling her and Hannah’s glasses. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was still hanging around. Liar. I wanted some alone time with Hannah.
Alone. I’ve been alone for so long.
Sure, I tried dating a handful of times, but swiping left and right wasn’t for me. I’d had plenty of women hit on me over the last year. I’m not celibate, but I’m not one for man-whoring and turning into the guy who fucks every woman that rubs up on me.
There was one woman who I thought I might enjoy spending more time with, but I soon found out she was just a “cleat chaser.”
Ryleigh consulted with her phone and stood. “It looks like I have a fashion emergency. Duty calls. I’m going to take this inside. Then, I have a flight to catch.”
“I wish you could stay the night.”
“I’m sorry, next time.” She kissed her sister’s cheek before answering her phone. “Yeah, okay, calm down, Nicole. We’ll get this worked out.”
“What’s your sister’s job?”
Hannah adjusted her dress and took a sip of wine. “She’s a fashion stylist. A majority of her clients are famous.”
My brows rose. “Wow, that’s interesting. Does she live in New York?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking? Are you interested in my sister?”
Before I had a chance to reply, my eyes darted to Brodie as he ran towards the house. His mom, Rena shot me a confused look.
“Didn’t expect to see you here, Coach Hamilton.”
“Didn’t plan on being here,” I answered tersely. “Until Luke invited me to join the festivities this morning.”
“Would you care for a glass of wine, Rena?” Hannah asked.
Say no. Leave and take your son home.
Rena pinned her dark eyes on me. The look was somewhere between judgment and flirtation. It was hard to tell.
“Thank you, but we have to be going. The kids are spending the next few days with their dad.”
Rena and her husband divorced about a year ago which was rough on Brodie. One afternoon last spring he stopped by my office. We sat in silence for a good twenty minutes before he opened up. It was fine with me, I just listened.
“That reminds me, Luke, is your bag packed?”
“No,” he groaned.
“Well, go get it done.”
“Fine,” he replied tramping across the yard up to the house.
“Thanks, Miss Richman, I had a lot of fun,” Brodie said. “See ya, Coach.”
I nodded. As soon as they were out of sight I fished a beer out of the ice and popped the top. “Where’s Luke going?”
Hannah brushed the hair away from her face. “My parents are taking him back to their place, and then they’re going up to Big Sky. They have a cabin there. Luke and Dad go fishing and hiking.” She hiccupped through a laugh. “I was up at the cabin when Luke was supposed to turn in his money and form for your camp.”
A twinge of guilt twisted in my gut when I recalled the events of that day. Maybe I should have been more accommodating.
“For the record, I am not interested in your sister. I was just curious about a job that entails fashion emergencies over the phone.”
“You’d be surprised how many divas and reality stars have fashion emergencies. It’s a daily occurrence. No one wants to land on the worst dressed list. Sometimes the guys are worse with their formal wear, if you can believe that. ”
“I’m fine with wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I don’t remember the last time I wore a suit.”
“I bet you looked real good in it.” A laugh bubbled from her throat, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “I just meant that you have a nice physique. You clearly stay in shape.”
Surprise washed over me at her compliment. “I don’t mean to brag, but I did make the best dressed list at the ESPYs a few times.”
“Hmm.”
I tried not to watch the way her tongue slipped over her full bottom lip. Beautiful pink lips that I was tempted to kiss.
I tried not to watch as her fingers slipped through her wavy light brown strands. Hair, I desperately itched to wrap around my fist while fucking her from behind. Wow. So I went there.
And I really, really tried to avert my eyes when she propped her legs up on the ledge of the fire pit. Hannah was incredibly beautiful, it was damn near impossible not to stare at her.
I cleared my throat. “Listen, uh, I want to apologize for treating you the way I did at the diner. It was rude. I was a dick, and I’m sorry.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Well, the first step is admitting that you have a problem.”
“So I take it that you’re not convinced with my apology?”
“I think it’s a good place to start.”
We sat in the comfortable silence watching the sunlight dance over the ripples of the lake. I glanced at her, unable to form words. A strange combination of nerves and relief took a straight route making a pit stop in my stomach.
Finally, she spoke up. “You know, I had another son, Logan. Luke, he is . . . was a twin.” Her fingers splayed across her forehead.
My eyes closed. Fuck. I didn’t know that bit of information. On this day . . . I couldn’t begin to imagine how Hannah felt. One son here to celebrate, the other gone forever. And how was Luke? Where were his emotions?
I took a deep breath. “I knew that you had another son,” I admitted, recalling the meeting where she poured her heart out. “I didn’t know that he was Luke’s twin.”
She inclined her head to look at me. “I guess word gets around fast here.”
While that was true, being a small town and all, I wasn’t about to keep how I found out from her. “Actually, I was there, a few weeks ago in the group when you spoke about them.” I cleared my throat.
Her brows furrowed. “I didn’t see you.”
“I was sitting in the back row and then I ducked out at the break.”
“Had you shared your story, before I got there?” she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
Even though my story was public knowledge thanks to Wikipedia and the movie, Hannah’s question took me by surprise. “I’ve never shared,” I answered truthfully. “Everyone on the planet seems to know what happened to my wife and daughter. Present company included.”
“To be fair, I only know because I looked you up online after our first interaction.”
I took a swig of my beer. “So you were stalking me online?” I joked, trying to keep the mood light.
A smile pulled at her lips. “I prefer to call it information gathering.”
“Hey, Hannah,” her mom hollered from the deck. “We’re gonna be leaving soon.”
“That’s my cue to say goodbye.” Hannah blew out a breath and stood. “You’re welcome to stick around if you like.”
I glanced at my watch. It was five-thirty, no doubt Loki was hungry. “I appreciate the offer, but I should go home and let my dog out.”
“You have a dog?”
I laughed. “That surprises you?”
She lifted a shoulder. “You strike me as a cat person. They can be real assholes, which seems like a better fit for your personality.”
Sucking in a breath, I pressed my hand over my heart. “Ouch, that hurt.”
Hannah turned and then strode across the lawn towards the house. The breeze toyed with the golden waves of her hair and the hemline of her skirt. Damn those legs. They were enough to drive me crazy.
Spreading my arms wide I called out to her, “I thought we were past all that?”
“Just keeping that ego of yours in check, Coach!” Tossing me a wink over her shoulder, she raised her wine glass in the air. I downed the rest of my beer watching her as she trekked up the steps. Rays of sunlight bounced off her silver bangles as she wrapped her arms around Luke.
They were inside the house, sliding the glass door closed before I knew they had disappeared. No point in me sticking around and getting in the way of family stuff.
Walking up to the garage, I tossed the empty bottle into the recycling bin.
“Leaving so soon?” Ryleigh asked not bothering to look up from her phone.
“Gotta go let my dog out,” I replied. “Did you save that Nicole person from her fashion emergency?”
Ryleigh approached me slowly. “Yeah, Nicole is going to be fine. My sister on the other hand . . .”
I held up my hand. “Is this the part where you tell me to back the hell off Hannah or watch my step?”
She arched a brow. “So you do have an interest in Hannah—I knew it.”
“What can I say? I’m intrigued by your sister, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to act on those emotions.”
“Hannah hasn’t been with anyone since Carter died. I’m sure that she’ll tell you that, eventually. To be honest, I’m not sure that she knows how to be just Hannah—herself. Anyway, this conversation isn’t about me handing out cliché warnings.”
“Then what is it about?”
Her sultry laugh rang into the afternoon sky. “Blunt is kind of my specialty—so for the love of God, don’t handle her with care, screw her brains out. I’m talking a screen door in a hurricane type banging.”
My eyes popped wide. “Well, I did not see that coming,” I replied, shaking my head. “You’re forgetting one little detail. I’m Luke’s coach. Me and your sister hooking up would send tongues wagging. I’m not particularly fond of breaking the rules and I’d like to keep my job.”
“Fair enough.” She held up her hands. “But, sometimes rules are meant to be broken.”
I punched the button to unlock my car door. “Nice talking to you, Ryleigh. Have a safe flight back to Los Angeles.”
She nodded and I slid into the driver’s seat. As I backed out of the driveway, I thought about what Ryleigh said. Attempting something with Hannah, it was too risky. Lusting from afar was fine, but acting on those feelings was dangerous. Not to mention, there was Luke to think about. As a student of a new school, it would be incredibly selfish to go after his mom.
Fire, I was playing with fire. Fuck. I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. Hannah was sexy, tough and she fascinated the hell out of me. She had a mouth on her that amused me and at the same time made me hard. That day on the field, I’d be lying if I said that when she put me in my place, I didn’t want to put her in my bed. I wondered if her feisty mouth matched her bedroom skills.
She was so damn tempting today, just as she’d been the day I met her and the day at the diner. But the reality was that she was the mother of one of my athletes—dangerous and forbidden, which only increased the allure.
It was going to be a long fucking year.