Lexington and 42nd (The Off Field Series #1) (28 page)

He sighed. “No smartass, there’s just a big spider on the wall that you probably don’t want to see.”

“Ohhh, a spidey.”

Will stood there scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, I should probably find something to kill it with.”

I skirted around him and back into the bathroom. “Where is the little guy?” Turning, I spotted it halfway up the wall above the basin. “Wow, he is big. What sort is he?”

I looked back over at Will who was standing just outside the doorway frowning at me. “Not sure.”

I stepped a little closer, taking in its fat, hairy body, so different from the ones back home.

“Em, just come out of there. I’ll get rid of it somehow.”

I looked over to him again, still standing just outside the line of sight of the eight-legged intruder.

“Will?”

He cocked an eyebrow in response.

“Are you afraid of spiders?”

“Pffft. No, why would I be afraid of spiders?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Are you sure?” I walked over to him, linking my hands around his neck. “Because you seem awfully uncomfortable with him being here.”

He huffed out a breath looking back down the hallway. “I’m not
scared
of them. I just wouldn’t choose to have them in the house is all.”

I grinned up at him. “You know what I think?” I ran my hands down his chest, for some reason thrilled by this new revelation. “It seems like my big tough quarterback is afraid of a tiny little spider, from where I’m standing.”

Will stiffened, narrowing his eyes at me. “Look at that fucker, he’s huge!”

I laughed. “He is quite fat, isn’t he?”

“How can you be so calm? I fucking hate spiders.”

“Need I remind you where I come from? Australia is full of all sorts of spiders and snakes and poisonous nasty things. They’re everywhere.”

Will looked at me in horror. “Everywhere?”

I nodded solemnly. “
Everywhere
.”

I marched past him, back toward the kitchen. “Where you going?”

“To find something to catch him in. Wait there.” I threw him a sly smile over my shoulder. “Why don’t you try talking to him? He might be friendly.”

I found what I needed and popped back upstairs to see Will still standing awkwardly in the corridor, his hands now fidgeting at his sides.

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’ll put him in here.” I held up the glass I’d found downstairs. “And take him out to the garden.”

Will huffed, shaking his head. “Well, you’re just full of surprises.”

“You wanna help?”

“Rather stick a fork in my eye.”

I went back into the bathroom and readied the glass in my right hand. Approaching the wall slowly, I lined it up with his body as best I could and took a deep breath. I might not have been scared of spiders, but I certainly didn’t relish the idea of having one crawl all over me—not that it hadn’t happened before. I had a flash of deja vu, remembering the time my oldest cousin dared me to let him put a huntsman on my head. It hadn’t ended well.

I moved my hand quickly, catching him under the glass before he had a chance to run.

“Shit, I can’t believe you just did that.” Will’s body edged inside the bathroom now that the spider was safely tucked away.

“Can you pass me that bit of paper?” I pointed to the sheet lying on the toilet lid.

Sliding the paper between the wall and the glass, I watched as the spider did a quick dash along the side when I pulled it away from the wall.

I glanced up at Will who looked both horrified and awed at the same time. “Eww, it’s like your hand is actually touching it.”

“You do see the glass that separates me from him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but still.” His whole body gave an involuntary shudder. “It’s so
gross
.”

I laughed, making my way back into the corridor. “You can start breathing again now. The rescue ordeal is nearly over.”

#

When I came back upstairs, Will was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at something on his phone.

“I told him to use the neighbour’s house if he needed the bathroom again.”

He smiled and pulled me to him, nuzzling his head against my stomach. “I can’t believe you just rescued me from a spider. So fucking embarrassing.”

“You feeling a little emasculated, Quarterback?”

He didn’t say anything, but held up his thumb and forefinger, leaving a little space in-between.

“We could wrestle and I’ll let you win if that would help.”

He puffed out a breath, spreading warmth across my stomach. “You wanna wrestle with me, Bambi?”

“I could be talked into—Ahhhhh!!”

My body was flipped and pinned under Will’s in two seconds flat, my arms clamped above my head. He smiled down at me, cheeky as sin and said, “I won.”

I couldn’t help the girly grin on my face. “Really? I kinda feel like I did.”

His gaze dropped to my body. “I really like this on you.”

I peered down at the jersey he’d insisted I wear on the drive here. “You like me wearing your number?”

“Yep, forty-two looks mighty fine on you. Makes sense really.” He wriggled his eyebrows and said playfully, “Miss Lexington.”

I giggled. “Are you seriously referencing us as street names?”

Will nodded. “Lexington and 42
^nd
, my new favourite intersection.”

“Never picked you as the sentimental type.”

“You’re right. Let’s get this off, it’ll look way better on the floor.”

And that’s exactly where it went.

#

I woke up to bright light streaming into the room, startling me until I realized where I was. Will lay on his stomach, his body angled along the edge of the king size bed. The mattress was so big I could extend my whole arm and still not touch him.

The sheet rested at the base of his back and I lay there marvelling at the way every part of his body seemed to contract and expand with each breath he took. God, even with his face squished into the pillow, he was hands down the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on. I wanted to reach out and touch him, to run my fingers along the broad expanse of his shoulders and down lower, but I pushed away the urge and forced myself out of bed instead. Lord knows I was already breaking enough unspoken club rules as it was by sleeping with him. I didn’t particularly want to be blamed for Will being off his game because I’d worn him out. If the man needed more sleep, then that’s what he’d get.

I grabbed my bag and tiptoed out of the room, heading for the bathroom to freshen up. I headed downstairs, giving a little squeal of glee that I’d remembered to pack my bikini’s when my eyes landed on the pool in the backyard. Will had forgotten to mention that little gem during his quest to get me down here.

I practically skipped outside, relishing the thought of a full day spent in the sun by the water. I lay down on one of the lounge chairs, putting my music on and settling in for some quality baking time.

#

A little while later a cloud passed over, waking me from my sun-induced slumber. I reached blindly for my phone to check the time, squinting to read the screen.

“Hey beautiful.”

Gasping, I lurched up at the sound of Will’s voice. “God, you scared me.”

He was panting, sweat dripping off him in spades. A huge grin split across his face as I took in the rise and fall of his chest, all glistening and broad and angular.

“Sorry.” He breathed, running a hand through his hair. “Didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine. I just…I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was but,” he shrugged. “Just needed a run.”

I smiled up at him, still a little speechless thanks to the hulking, sweaty male specimen in front of me. He reached a hand out, pulling me up off the lounge. “Come for a swim?”

“Love to.”

He kicked off his shoes, walking backwards with both my hands in his, his mouth tipped in a half smile. It was unnerving the way he stared at me, not once diverting his eyes from my face. I hated how he exuded cool and calm while I felt like a circus was performing in my stomach. It made me realize just how out of my depth I was while he was just playing his usual game of seduction.

“What’s that smile for?”

He kinked an eyebrow. “What smile?”

“The one you’re wearing now, like you’re hiding a secret.”

“No secrets here.”

I followed him down the pool steps, sinking into the cool water.

“I bet you’ve been a lady killer since your college days.” I couldn’t help my grin as I imagined all those love-struck teenage girls fawning over him.

Will laughed. “What makes you say that?”

I pushed off the pool surface, floating on my back. “You’re just so good at this. You must have been practicing for years.”

“What do you mean by
this
exactly?”

“This.” I gestured a hand between the two of us. “This little thing we have going on, whatever you want to call it.”

Will stroked lazily through the water, following behind my floating body like a shark waiting to pounce. “I thought we were just friends.” He grinned at me. “With benefits of course.”

Oh. Right…Of course.

I nodded. “I guess that’s one way of putting it.”

He shrugged, latching onto my ankles to pull me to him. “You got a better word for it?” He stared intently at me as he waited for a response.

I shook my head, thinking of all the other words I wanted to label us with that were so far away from friends. “No, friends with benefits sounds about right.”

I latched my arms around his neck in a bid to avoid his stare. I knew it was wrong for me to hope Will wanted more, especially when I knew I couldn’t give it to him. And if he did want more, would that change how I felt about putting my job and my club in jeopardy? I knew the answer was probably yes, and thinking about the lengths I might go to for Will was a whole other can of worms I wasn’t sure I wanted to explore.

Struggling to find a safer topic of conversation I asked, “Were you part of a frat in college?”

“Mhmm.” Will mumbled, nodding against my shoulder as his lips moved across my collarbone.

“Did you live in a frat house?”

“Yep.”

More kissing.

“Did you have massive frat parties with kegs and hundreds of college kids and people losing their virginity in the upstairs bedrooms?”

He chuckled into my ear. “I’m sure that happened on a few occasions.”

“What about girls, did you date the head cheerleader?”

“Something like that.”

“Really?” I squeaked.

“Yes, is that so hard to believe?”

“No, exactly the opposite. It’s so cliché, I love it. Your college years sound like my favorite teenage movies.” I wriggled with excitement and Will’s laugh reverberated against my chest.

“Getting a bit worked up there, Bambi?”

As I nodded, I felt the fabric loosen against my neck as Will untied my top, relaxing his hold on me as he tugged it out from the side. I went to press my body against his again but his hands held me back as he looked down. At my boobs.

“Are you a boobs man, Will?”

He continued staring. “Yes, and I really like your boobs.”

“I’m glad they pass your inspection,” I said with a smile.

He looked at me, a cheeky glint in his eyes. “Your boobs finish top of the class.”

I laughed. “Wow, that’s a fair compliment coming from you. All those boob exams you must have judged over the years.”

“Look at them, they’re floating and round and fit perfectly in my hands.” He rubbed a thumb over the tip of one. “I want to keep your nipples just as they are now.” I looked down, seeing as he did the way my breasts sat just below the surface, nipples erect from either the cool water or Will’s touch, I couldn’t be sure which.

“Do you need some time alone with my boobs, Will?”

He looked at me, then down at my boobs and back up again before shrugging. “You can stay if you want.”

I grinned, but turned back to my earlier interrogation. “What was your girlfriend’s name? The cheerleader?”

He shook his head against my skin. “Not going there.”

“Oh c’mon, let me guess. Was it Kirsten? Kristen?”

“No, and unless you want my dick to shrivel up and fall off, we should change the subject.”

“Oh…got it, sorry.”

His voice softened. “Why would I want to talk about any other woman when you’re here? Why would
you
?” Will stared at me pointedly.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just fascinated by that whole college experience. It’s so
American
.”

Will’s arms wrapped around my middle, pulling me to him until there was no space between us. “The only thing I’m fascinated with right now is how to fuck you without getting out of the pool.”

That did sound fascinating.

#

After Will figured our exactly how to take me in the pool, he collapsed against me, both of us shaking and panting and unable to speak from the intensity of it all. As I leaned my head back against the pool ledge, watching Will’s eyes roam my face, the perfect Hamptons beach house in the background, I let myself relax, happy to just be, to not worry about my job or my fragile little heart or the
what next
of whatever it was we were doing and let myself enjoy a little slice of heaven.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Do you like green salad?”

“Not as much as I like the view of your ass right now.”

“Will!” I threw a tea towel at him. “Be serious, I thought you said you were
so hungry
.”

He grinned, the one that still took my breath away. “I am being serious, and yes, I like green salad,” he said. “As a starter.”

“Thank you smartass. We’ll have steak as well, don’t worry. I won’t starve you.” I turned back to the sink to grab the chopping board.