“Your house is beautiful,” I tell him as I take it all in.
He walks over to the massive subzero refrigerator and opens one of the doors, pulling out a water bottle for each of us. “My parents remodeled it a couple of years ago. That last ditch effort to try and save the marriage by remaking everything in their life, I suppose.” He shrugs. “Didn’t work.”
Even though I think Eli can be kind of an ass, my heart hurts for him. I can tell his parents’ divorce bothers him. I know if mine were divorcing, I’d be devastated.
Angry.
“That sucks,” I finally say, lacking the right words to comfort him. But seriously, what’s happening with his parents right now totally does suck.
“I know.” He sidles up next to me, handing over the chilled bottle of water. “Want to go to my room?”
His voice has dropped about five octaves and when I glance up at him, I see his eyes are hooded, and his expression is very serious. Clearly, he’s trying to make a move on me.
“Not yet,” I chirp as I crack open my water and drain about half of it. Who knew I was so thirsty? “Did you guys win tonight?”
“Fuck yeah, we did,” he says without hesitation, that arrogant smile back on his face. “Blew them out of the water.”
“We won too.”
“I checked Max Preps. I saw.” That’s the website where stats are kept of all high schools’ sports teams. I had no idea our stats were updated that quickly. “Your team is looking strong this season.”
“That’s because we are strong.” It’s my turn to wear the cocky smile as I sit on a nearby barstool. “Be prepared for us to kick your ass during our homecoming.”
He makes a dismissive noise. “Good luck with that. We’ve been working on taking your team down for years. This is going to be the game where we finally make it happen.”
“You really believe that?” I raise a brow.
He rounds the kitchen island so he’s across from me, resting his elbows on the marble countertop before he leans in. His face comes closer and closer to mine, until he’s right there. Directly in front of me. “I believe in my team, just as strongly as you believe in yours.”
I realize our mouths are perfectly aligned. He’s definitely within kissing distance, and I remember what it was like. Kissing Eli. Touching Eli. Feeling his hands on me. My breaths become shorter and my heart thumps wildly. Maybe I should tell him to back off. Or maybe I should back away myself. But I don’t move.
Neither does he.
“It’s weird having you here in my kitchen on a Friday night.” He reaches out, tugging gently on the end of my ponytail. “Wearing your Badger gear.”
“Right.” I release a shuddery breath, hoping he doesn’t realize how much he’s affecting me. “Like I told you earlier, I need to change.”
“You can change in my room,” he offers, raising his brows.
“I’m not going to your room tonight Eli,” I tell him sternly. I have to have some sort of boundaries, or I won’t respect myself in the morning.
And neither will he.
“Want to go for a swim?” he asks, still not changing his position.
Still directly in my face.
“I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” I answer, my voice soft.
“That’s okay. We don’t need swimsuits.” His eyes are dancing, looking more than a little pleased with himself.
“I’m not skinny dipping with you.”
“That’s a damn shame. I was hoping I could catch a glimpse of naked Ava.”
Ha. He wishes. “In your dreams.”
“You are so right,” he says with a sigh. “You don’t even know.”
I don’t want to know.
Well, I sort of do. Not that I’d tell him that.
“I can wear my sports bra and briefs,” I tell him, and when he frowns, I continue, “To swim in.”
His frown disappears, replaced by a hopeful expression. “You’ll really swim with me?”
“Yeah. Sure. But you can’t get too handsy.” Now I lean in even closer, our mouths only inches apart. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
He chuckles, and the sound is warm, wrapping all around me. “You give as good as you get, don’t you?”
“Even better, if you’re lucky,” I say, breathing deeply as I slowly pull away from him. I don’t even know where I’m coming up with this stuff. Swear he brings it out of me. “But I don’t think you’re ever going to get lucky with me, Bennett.”
“You can’t challenge me like that. Game fucking on.” He holds his hand out for a bro shake and I take it, ready for him to do some elaborate handshake ritual, but he tricks me at the last minute.
Instead, he brings my hand to his mouth, his gaze never leaving mine, as he oh so slowly kisses my knuckles. “I’m going to make you mine someday, Ava. Watch me.”
Oh God.
I am in so much trouble.
Twelve
Ava
Somehow I missed the pool house that sits on the other side of the waterfall. Eli takes me back outside and into the tiny house, which is really just one room full of pool supplies, an old loveseat and a bathroom.
“You can change in there,” he says, waving toward the open bathroom door.
“What are you going to wear?” I ask him, as I set my backpack on the loveseat and unzip it, toeing off my shoes at the same time.
“My birthday suit,” he says nonchalantly.
I whirl on him with my mouth hanging open. “No. Way.”
His expression is one of pure innocence. The very last word I would use to describe him. “Oh. You have a problem with that? Me swimming with what God gave me and nothing else?”
“I told you no skinny dipping.”
“For you,” he stresses. “You never said that about me.”
Is it wrong that I might want to check him out naked?
Yes.
Yes, it’s wrong.
“I refuse to swim with you if you get in that pool with no clothes on,” I finally say.
He cracks up. “Jeez, I’m kidding. I wouldn’t dare scandalize you like that, Ava.”
Please. He so would.
“I have a pair of swim trunks in here.” He hesitates, glancing around the room. “Somewhere.”
Relief leaves me feeling grateful I won’t have to deal with a naked Eli. I’m tired. It’s bad enough that I’m here tonight. My parents have no clue where I’m at, and they’re not like my friends’ parents with the 360 Life protection app or whatever it’s called. Ellie gets a text from her mom if she’s in a car and they go above the speed limit.
Most of the time it’s not even Ellie driving when it happens. I would go nuts if my parents kept that strict of a leash on me.
My parents think I’m with Ellie, because that’s where I’m usually at on a Friday night. Spending the night at her house, giggling and texting boys and cooking ramen at one in the morning. That’s what we do. But tonight, Ellie has no clue where I’m at. I turned off my visibility on Snapchat, so no one would find me.
Worry starts to creep in as I peel off my socks and stuff them into my shoes, then shove them into my backpack. I’m tempted to slip them back on and run out of here. This was a mistake. My friends and family have no idea where I’m at, and being alone with Eli is a terrible idea. Plus, I feel guilty, lying to my parents. “Maybe I should go.”
“What? Are you serious?”
I glance up to find him watching me. There is disappointment written all over his handsome face. “This is probably not the best idea.”
Understatement. The last place I need to be is at Eli Bennett’s house this late in the evening. What was I thinking, coming over here after the game? Hanging out with my brother’s enemy, swimming with him in his pool when no one else is around. I’ve lost my mind. Seriously, all of my brain cells just up and left my head.
“If you want to go,” he says quietly, “then you should go.”
I contemplate his words. Contemplate my choice. I appreciate th
at he’s not trying to make me feel bad for leaving. Or blocking the door and refusing to let me leave. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like that, and it’s reassuring that he’s being so…
Respectful.
Words I would’ve never used to describe Eli before.
“I’d rather you stay, though,” he continues. Pauses for a moment before he says, “I can’t stop thinking about what happened between us at camp that night.”
Me either, I want to say.
But I don’t.
“When you broke into the cabin?” I challenge.
“That kiss. All of them,” he challenges back. “It was the best fucking night of my life, Ava. You felt it, right?”
His confession surprises me.
“Felt what?” I ask uneasily. I don’t want to talk about this. Not with Eli. But of course, I can’t talk about that night with anyone but Eli, since no one else knows what happened.
“The connection. Between us. We just—fit.” He smiles, and it has just a tinge of cocky to it. “You know you got off on that kiss.”
“I didn’t get off,” I retort, my cheeks going hot. He’s always got to take it to the sexual level, I swear. Such a guy.
“Well, I almost did. It was fucking hot.” He takes a step toward me. “Maybe because I snuck into your room.”
I cross my arms, feeling defensive as he draws closer.
“Or the fact that your mom and dad were right across the hall, sound asleep.” He takes another step.
I take one back.
“Then there’s how much your brother hates me. If he knew we were together like that. If he knew we were together right now…” His voice drifts and he shakes his head, a chuckle escaping him. “He’d lose it.”
“He’d kill you,” I tell him.
“You’d be worth dying for,” he says.
I roll my eyes. “Give me a break.”
“No, give me a break, Ava.” He is now standing directly in front of me, and I sort of want to run away.
And I also want to fling myself at him and see if he still kisses like he did when he snuck into my bed.
“Give me another chance,” he says. “That’s all I want. That’s what I told you last night, remember?”
I tilt my head back so I can meet his gaze. I’m not as short as Mom and Autumn, and Eli isn’t as tall as Jake and Dad, but he’s still around six foot I’d guess. I come to right about his shoulders. “Can I be honest with you right now?”
“Please,” he says immediately.
“You—scare me.” There.
I said it.
Though he doesn’t scare me. It’s more how I feel when he’s around me that scares me.
“I would never hurt you,” he says solemnly.
“You broke into my bedroom.”
“My greatest fault is I have no impulse control,” he says.
“Your greatest fault is your big mouth,” I remind him.
“The two go hand in hand.” He reaches out, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers barely touch my cheek, and I shiver. “You’re the most precious thing to me right now.”
“Eli…” He says this stuff and I don’t know why, but it’s so hard to believe him. He talks a good game. He knows all the right things to say.
But he’s probably full of shit. He has a reputation. Charming, ‘he’ll do anything to get in your pants’ Eli. I know this. He probably knows that I know this. I would be an absolute fool to believe what he tells me. If I continue down this path…
I’m going to get hurt.
He’s going to break my heart.
“This is getting way too serious, don’t you think?” He smiles, and all traces of sincere, ‘you’re my precious everything’ Eli are gone. Replaced by smug, ‘I’m going to try and feel you up’ Eli. “Let’s swim. I’m hot.”
I watch him. He watches me. I have nowhere to go tonight. I gave up Wyatt for this. Though I’m guessing if it doesn’t work out between us tonight, I can go back to Wyatt and make that happen. Terrible to keep Wyatt as my second choice but…
I am.
“Okay,” I say with a sigh. “Give me a minute and I’ll change.”
Before he can answer, I’m already darting into the bathroom with my backpack, shutting and locking the door behind me. I swear I hear him laugh.
Hurriedly I strip out of my uniform shell and skirt, folding them carefully before I slip them into my backpack. I tug the hair tie with my bow attached off and stash it into my backpack as well. Glancing around, I notice there’s a towel rack in the bathroom with a pair of black board shorts slung over it, and I figure they must be Eli’s.
My phone dings and I check it to find a text from my brother.
Nerves make my stomach churn as I read his message. He sent it a few minutes ago.
You’re at home, right?
Typing quickly, I send him my response.
I’m with my friends.
He responds fast.
Jake: Which friends? I’m looking at the entire cheer team right now, minus you.
Me: My actual REAL friends. I’m at Ellie’s house. Chill.
I feel terrible for lying, but luckily Jake doesn’t say anything else. Relief flooding me, I shove my phone into my backpack before I go to the door and flip the lock, calling out to Eli as I open it, “I think your board shorts are in here.”
I stop short when I realize he’s standing directly in front of me, and there he goes again, mapping me with his eyes, checking me out as I stand before him in my navy sports bra and booty shorts. It’s basically the equivalent of a swimsuit. It probably covers me more than any of the actual two-piece swimsuits I own.
So why do I feel so exposed in front of Eli right now?
He’s grinning at me. “I’d rather see you in a bikini, but what you’re wearing will work for spank bank material.”
God, he just doesn’t know when to quit.
“Eli.” I take a step forward and rest my fingers over his mouth, shutting him up when he was about to say something else. “Please never say that again.”
“Say what again?” he asks, his voice muffled behind my hand.
“Spank bank.” I make a face and I can feel him smile beneath my fingers. I’m sure he loves hearing me say that. “It’s horrible.”
His eyes widen. “You don’t like it?”
I slowly shake my head.
“So I shouldn’t tell you that you’re already a part of my spank bank?”
A shudder moves through me. “No. Not at all.”
“And that I fantasized about you giving me a blowie the other night?” he asks.
I grimace. “Um, no.”
I’m about to drop my hand but he grabs it, interlacing our fingers together. “What were you hollering at me about earlier?”
“Your swim trunks are in here,” I tell him. “Hanging on the towel rack.”
“Cool.” His gaze is steady on mine as he says with the utmost seriousness, “Want to help me change?”
“In your dreams.” I tug my hand out of his and escape the bathroom. “I’ll be at the pool. Waiting for you.”
“I only need a second,” he says eagerly, not even bothering to shut the door as he starts shedding his clothing.
I stand in front of the open bathroom doorway, watching him. He yanks his shirt over his head, tossing it on the counter and I can’t help but stare. He has a nice body. His chest and shoulders are broad, and he’s leanly muscled. Not too bulky, but not too skinny either.
Eli Bennett is just right.
“You want me to put on a show?” His voice knocks me out of my thoughts and I blink him back into focus, embarrassed he caught me staring. “I can strip for you if you want.” His hands are resting on the waistband of his shorts, like he’s ready to yank them off.
Without a word I walk away, embarrassment making me driving me out of there. Will I survive this night?
I’m starting to think no. No, I probably won’t. My instincts are
telling me I should leave. Just grab my stuff, hop in my car and get out of here.
But I won’t. I know I won’t. Because deep down…
I want to stay.
Minutes later and I’m sitting on the edge of the pool, my feet in the water when Eli approaches. He must’ve hit a button somewhere because the waterfall starts, the water spilling over the rocks and falling into the pool in a tinkling rhythm.
“Brought you this.” I glance over my shoulder to find him standing there, holding a thick black towel toward me. I give him a faint smile as I take it from him.
“Thank you.”
He plops down next to me, so close our bare shoulders and arms are touching, and I can feel the warmth of his skin seeping into mine. “You gonna jump in?”
“I’m more of a wader,” I admit.
“Aw, that’s the worst.” He shakes his head. “You gotta just go for it, you know what I mean? You can’t wade into the water. That’s for wimps. You need to jump.”
“I’m assuming you jump.”
He nods. “Cannonball is my favorite. Or a flip. I’m pretty good at those.”
“They’re dangerous,” I say, wrinkling my nose.
Eli makes a dismissive noise. “You sound like my mom.”
That is the last person I want to sound like. “Show me how you jump in.”
“You wanna watch?”
I nod. “Do a trick for me.”
Grinning, he leaps to his feet and goes to the opposite end of the pool, where the deep end is. He backs up a few steps, his gaze serious, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip like he’s concentrating. He takes forever. Like, f-o-r-e-v-e-r to make the jump, but finally he goes for it.
With a running start, he leaps off the edge of the pool, catching major air as he somehow manages to turn his body into a complete roll before plunging into the pool and creating a huge splash.
A squeal escapes me when I get hit. He glides under water, his head popping out right in front of me, droplets sparkling on his face thanks to the lights from the pool. “What did you think?”
“Pretty good,” I say with a nod.
He stands, the water hitting him just above his stomach. For the first time, I notice the necklace he’s wearing. A thin gold chain with a small #1 pendant. Of course, he wears that. Because of course, his jersey number is one. “That’s all I get?” he asks. “Pretty good?”
Addicted To Him Page 10
