Underneath It All (Storm Series) (14 page)

Snorting, Alaina answered, “Liar.”

Any further comments were waylaid by the doorbell ringing. Rob had never actually been “saved by the bell,” but he was grateful for it now.

The
daughter of the owners, Gia, had made the delivery and gasped when she saw the sling. “You’re hurt?”

“
I got hit during a game a couple of days ago,” he said as he reached for the pizza with his good hand. Giving an exasperated sigh from next to him, Alaina promptly grabbed the pie, and he barely suppressed an eye roll. “I had surgery on my shoulder today.”
But I’m pretty sure I’m still able to carry a pizza ten feet.

His
wallet was in his bedroom, but he’d brought out more than enough to cover the food, tip, and delivery fee. He handed the wad of cash to Gia. She, in turn, threw a reproachful look at him, like everyone else in the family did when he over-tipped them. Rob thanked her and closed the door before she could try to give the money back.

“This smells delicious. I’ll go get plates and stuff,” Alaina offered, and Rob sat
, since there was little chance Alaina would let him do anything himself. Returning, she asked, “What did you get?”

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got
half cheese and pepperoni and half sausage and mushroom. I figured those were all things you could pick off if you didn’t like them.”

“I like all of them. Good choices.”

They sat next to each other on the couch, him with a tray Alaina had found who-knew-where and her balancing her plate on her lap, talking and eating. Rob was surprised how much appetite he had. The doctor had warned he might not be hungry for a couple of days, and he’d been queasy earlier as the anesthesia wore off, but no such problem ailed him at the moment. Everything else on his body ailed him, with the exception of his stomach.

Rob couldn’t let himself go while he was injured, though. U
nless he was careful, he might well gain weight and body fat, both things he did not want to do. When he was overweight, he was sluggish, not playing with his usual verve.

A few years ago
, he’d gained weight on purpose to try to help with the physical side of his game. The opposite had happened, and Rob had trouble with even basic things like skating and balance. When they figured out what the culprit for his sudden dive in performance was, Colby had put him on a diet, which Rob still followed as often as possible. With that sobering thought, he put down his half-eaten third slice.

A moment later,
Alaina asked, “Are you finished?” At his nod she took the tray to the kitchen.

“You don’t have to wait on me, you know
,” Rob said when she returned.

“Yeah, but I don’t mind.
” She blushed and Rob wondered what had brought her embarrassment on. “I actually like it.”

“You like
doing every little thing for an invalid?”

Alaina raised an eyebrow. “Number one, you’re not an invalid. You’re injured. Big difference. Number two, yes, I
enjoy taking care of you. I haven’t had all that many guys in my life and it feels good to do things for you.”

“Like cook me enough food to last through a zombie invasion?
I wonder if zombies eat regular human food.”

She laughed. “
I have no idea.” Standing, she said, “Let me put the leftovers away—”

“If you can cram more into that fridge
, I’ll be damn impressed.”

“You’re talking to a master packer. No problem.”

Rob rose and followed her, unable to resist the temptation to watch her try. Sliding onto a stool, he sat back to take in the show. Alaina had the fridge door open and was frowning at the contents inside. Finally, she began taking stuff out, covering his counter with Tupperware, energy drinks, and condiments. Once she had space, she studied each area and started arranging things to her liking. Rob’s eyebrows felt like they were going to crawl into his hair by the time she finished putting the last container in before shoving the foil-covered pizza slices on top.

“I bow down
to the master. You’ve got serious packing skillz, babe. I never should’ve doubted you.”

“With room left over, you’ll notice,” she said.
“Just in case someone brings you more food.”

He groaned.
“I did notice that. But man, I hope not. I’m gonna be huge by the time I can start working out again. Hey, wanna organize my bedroom? Bathroom? Closets?”

Making a face, Alaina said,
“No thanks. That was quite enough organizational practice for now. Plus I’ve honed my skills with all the new things in my classroom, don’t forget.” She approached him with a feline grin, and he raised an eyebrow. “Have I kissed you today for that?”

He straightened. “You haven’t kissed me at all.
Somehow you keep forgetting to do that. I’m hurt.” Rob considered pouting, but figured he’d look pretty silly, and for some reason, he didn’t want to look foolish in front of Alaina.

Her hand landed over her heart as a mock gasp
left her lips. “How could I forget something like that?”

“
Apparently my kisses haven’t been memorable enough. It’s a cruel, cruel world.” Rob shook his head, trying to hold in a smile. “I might wither and die without kisses.”

“You are so full of shit,” Alaina said. “Good thing you’re hot.”

“And rich.”

“I don’t care that you’re rich.
I hope you realize that by now. I mean, I’m grateful for all those supplies, but I didn’t go out with you because you did that.” She stopped and chewed her lip briefly. “Did you think I had?”

“No, baby.” He reached out with his good arm and drew her close. “I was teasing.”

“Okay then. Good.” Alaina blew out a loud breath.

“Now can I get that kiss?”

“You can get more than one if you play your cards right.” She smiled and his own breath caught.

Rob swiveled until he could fit Alaina between his thighs.
Tightening his uninjured arm around her, he winked, and Alaina took the hint, placing one arm around his neck, while the one on his injured side caressed his waist. He met her halfway then groaned at her taste. With her so close to his groin, certain areas were taking an interest, but he wasn’t dumb enough to think he was up to any big-time fooling around, no matter how interested his third leg was.

Alaina kissed him back, pushing her tongue into his mouth
then exploring as he let her take control of the kiss. Too soon, though, she backed away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. You need your rest.” She patted him on the chest then moved back further. “We’ll have plenty of time to, um, have fun.”

“You can’t even say
the word?”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “I can.”

“Then say it.”

“To mess around, to make out, to have sex. Happy now?”

“I’m a big fan of all of those things, just to get that on record. I’m especially a fan of doing all those things for hours on end.” He smirked and she laughed, rolling her eyes. “Hey, my stamina as a professional athlete comes in handy sometimes.”

“I bet.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m gonna get out of your hair.
Do you need anything before I go?”

“I’m good. Will I be able to see you this weekend?”
Truth be told, he’d prefer her to stay but didn’t want to seem greedy or needy.

“Yeah. Let me go home, figure out what I need to do,
” she glanced down at her outfit, “besides laundry, and I’ll call you.”

“Okay. I imagine I’ll sleep a lot over the next few days
with those horse pills they gave me for the pain, but I definitely want to hang out.”

Leaning in, she brushed her lips over his. “Then
we will.”

He walked her to the door and yawned as soon as it closed behind her. Drowsiness seeped into his pores, and Rob got ready for bed then let sleep take him.

Sebastian called the next morning after practice. “Hey, bud. Did you sleep okay?
Were you able to get comfortable? That back thing last season was very hard to sleep with.”

“I
got some decent rest. What’s up?”

“Want to watch some movies?”

“Sure. Alaina’s gonna try to come over.” He yawned and trudged back to the coffee pot for a refill.

“Oh, do you want me to see if Sarah wants to come
also? She offered to let us have a boys’ day and get some things done here, but if Alaina will be there she might.”

“If
Sarah’s got stuff to do, I think Alaina would be fine with just us.” He put the phone on speaker so he could pour his coffee.

“Are you sure?”

“How about this.” Rob added cream and sugar to his cup. “I’ll ask Alaina and see what her plans are, and you do the same with Sarah. Then we’ll regroup and figure everything out.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Glad one of us is the brains around here.”

Sebastian
made a rude noise before hanging up, and Rob then dialed Alaina’s number. When she answered, he said, “Hi, it’s Rob.”

“
So the caller ID said. I was just thinking about you.”

“No doubt how dashing
and sexy my shoulder sling is.”

“Yes, exactly.
You caught me.” Her tone was as dry as the Sahara, and he grinned to himself.

“
Sebastian called and offered to bring over some movies. I mentioned we were talking about doing something, and he said you should hang out with us too. He’s going to ask Sarah if she wants to make a foursome.”

“I don’t want to intrude on you guys if you were planning just the two of you.
I could stay home, and you guys could do a boy thing.”

Rob laughed. “I’ve seen quite enough of Seb in my lifetime. You’re way prettier than he is.”

“I dunno, I think he’s very pretty, as do half the women in the Greater Buffalo area, I would imagine.”

“Be sure to tell him later
how pretty he is. He’ll just love that. I’d be offended, but pretty isn’t something I’ve ever tried to be.” He didn’t mention how popular he was with the ladies. Thankfully he and Alaina hadn’t run into any puck bunnies in the limited time they’d been together out of the house.

“Oh, come on. I’ve seen the hair products in your bathroom. You’re as vain as anybody else.”

“All right, all right, let’s not gang up on the injured guy.” She couldn’t see him, but he had an ear-to-ear grin. Alaina was far more fun to spar with than he’d originally thought.

“You plan to play that for all it’s worth, don’t you?”

“Damn right.” He beamed.

“Are you sure I wouldn’t be in the way?”

“Not at all. In fact, Sebastian said you should come regardless of whether or not Sarah does.”

“If you’re positive…”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll even tell Seb to stay home if you’d rather.”

There’s definite merit in that plan
, but I can’t really ask him to do that.

“Oh God no, don’t do that.
I’d feel awful.”

“He could stay home and annoy Sarah.”

“I don’t think having Sebastian home would be any kind of hardship for Sarah, but whatever. Anyway, I made brownies this morning for the kids. Should I bring some over?”

He groaned. “Man, I love brownies, but you’d better not. I should be able to do some light lower-body
lifting and cardio soon if all goes well, but if I let myself eat stuff that’s bad for me, I won’t be able to keep my body fat percentage where it should be.”

Alaina snorted.
“I’ll trust you on that, since I’ve never seen an ounce of fat on you. It’s as if fat wouldn’t dare to mar the perfection that is your physique. Plus I have no idea what a body fat percentage is, or how to tell if a percentage is bad or good.”

“
I don’t have a whole lot of fat right now. I run around six percent and work pretty hard to keep it that way. Every summer I train with this guy who’s in unbelievable shape. He’s about fifteen years older, too, but when your muscles are screaming and you want to quit, you look over at him still going strong and you keep pushing. Keeping up with him is pretty effective motivation.”

“
I can imagine. You make me feel like a sloth.”

“
Eh,” he wanted to reassure her that he thought she was perfect, “you’re not a professional athlete. I mean, yes, you should exercise regularly, but most people get by with some cardio a few times a week.”

“Cardio? Bite your tongue. That sounds tiring.
When should I be there?”

He laughed.
“How about an hour? And if you ever want some motivation to exercise, I know some
very
fun cardio activities.”

Alaina laughed.
“See you then.”

Rob hung up, still smiling. Sebastian called back
a little later to say he was coming alone and Rob told him Alaina would be present. Finally, all the plans were made and he eased himself onto the couch to relax until his guests arrived. He drifted off until he heard Sebastian unlocking his door.