Later that night, we’re getting our asses kicked just a little. The first period ended with a three to zero score and not in our favor. The second period? Well, it starts by a sleazy bastard scoring thirty seconds in. Savage’s expression is completely blank, almost stony. He reminds me a lot of Brayden right now.
It’s Serge and the Kessy twins who get us rolling shortly after Bruiser has a go with a player. Serge plants himself right in front of the goalie, who looks around him, expecting the shot to clearly come from Thing One or Thing Two. But Collin shoots wide, the puck bounces off the boards toward Serge, and he redirects it to the net. We all stand because the goalie tries, but fails to keep the puck out.
Throughout the rest of the game, we try. We’re relentless. We do our best to take advantage of their turnovers, of every time we have possession of the puck, of every shot, but their goalie shuts us down every fucking time. That’s the only goal we Rebels manage to score.
This game is almost like how my life is going with Raelynn. Things are happening, we’re both doing our best, but it’s not going quite as expected. Hopefully, things turn out better when it comes to my life and the slight issue of me wanting to be with my nanny.
“Go shower and get dressed.”
I frown at Elias. He’s been anxious all day and now, he’s giving me orders? “Why?”
“You have a date tonight.”
Jaw, meet floor. “What? No, I don’t.” I haven’t been on a date since high school! No way in hell am I going on a date today!
“Yes, you do. I set you up with a teammate.” Elias stands, takes my hand, and pulls me to stand as well. “Go upstairs, shower, and get ready. He’ll be here in an hour.”
My head shakes back and forth in protest. “No, Elias. No. No. No.” He glances at Bree in her pack ʻn play and Jackson, who watches TV, and then pulls me up the stairs since I won’t move. “No! I don’t want to go.” Yet, I follow along helplessly anyway. “Why would you do this?”
“Because I thought you could use some fun.”
“But my last date was with Henry!”
Elias pauses outside of my bedroom with concern finally filling his features. “I didn’t think about that. Look, it’s nothing serious, okay? Just two people going out for some fun. That’s it. You can do that, right?”
With one of his teammates who I don’t even know? “Why can’t you take me out for fun or I can go out for fun by myself?”
His eyes widen a little with surprise. “I’m watching Jackson for you and because we both know you wouldn’t go out by yourself.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “You’ll be okay, Raelynn. I wouldn’t put you in a bad situation.”
I nod. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go.” Like I have much of a choice! I move past him and to the bathroom. If I have to go out with anyone, I’d rather it be with Elias. His reassuring gesture just now reminds me of our hug the other night. He’s been a little handsy lately, but not in a weird or uncomfortable way. There just seems to be more touches between us and it’s blurring the line.
I should not want to go on a date with Elias.
Or think about his well-built body.
Or want to kiss him.
He pays me to take care of his daughter. He’s my friend. That’s it. That’s all there should be. I need this job and the money he pays me more than anything else. My greatest fear where Elias is concerned is losing this job. It’s the best job I’ve ever had, certainly pays the best, and Jackson and I need it too much for me to screw it up by acting on the fantasies I have about my boss.
Who knows? Maybe this date will work out better than we expect.
But my nerves continue to build through my shower, as I half-dress because I decide I don’t like my shirt choice, and finish getting ready in all other areas. I stand in front of my closet and flick through what few choices I have. Maybe I need to spend some of the money I’m making on new clothes for me. I wouldn’t have to go crazy, but I should at least have something to wear on a date!
A light knock sounds on the door. “Raelynn? He’s here.”
“Shit,” I curse under my breath.
“Can I come in?” Elias asks.
I glance down at my bra before quickly grabbing my towel and covering my chest. “Yeah.”
He steps inside. His eyes land on my chest before averting elsewhere.
“I don’t know what to wear,” I confess.
“I figured. You mind?” He points to my closet. I take a step back, my cheeks flushing with a bit of embarrassment because there seriously isn’t much in there. He fills the space with that big body of his immediately, distracting me. I really have to stop thinking about his body and how hot he is. For the most part, I’m able to ignore it, but damn, it’s hard sometimes. A moment later, Elias turns around with a shirt in hand. “This one.”
He rushes out of the room the moment I take the shirt from him. I quickly slip the purple V-neck over my head. The only thing left to do now is go downstairs to meet my date. With a deep breath, I leave the safety of my room.
EJ now holds Bree and talks to a guy about as tall as he is. The guy stands with his hands in his pockets, looking a little nervous. Maybe he doesn’t really want to be here either.
“Are you leaving, Momma?” Jackson’s worried question stops their conversation and alerts them to my presence.
“Only for a little while.”
“I’ll put my shoes on.” Jackson turns, but Elias’s voice stops him.
“J-man, you’re staying here with me.”
“But—”
“I’ll be back before you can miss me,” I interrupt him, crouching down. “Give me a hug.”
“But I always go where you go, Momma,” Jackson says with confusion as he hugs me.
“You can’t go with me today. Mr. EJ needs you to show him how to build a fort.” Hopefully, Elias won’t mind, but I know Jackson would look forward to doing that.
“I wanna go with you,” he whispers in my ear in this tiny voice that kills me. His arms tighten around my neck until I almost can’t breathe.
I glance at Elias and my date, who both look like they feel bad for Jackson. “Not this time, baby.” I kiss his cheek. “Build a fort with Mr. EJ and think about how many books you want to check out from the library tomorrow, okay?” He nods and finally pulls away. “I love you.”
“Love you.”
I stand and hold my hand out to my date. “Hey, I’m Raelynn.”
“Collin,” he replies as he shakes it. “Ready?”
Nope. Not at all. But I nod and we walk out the door. Once we’re in the car, the silence is super awkward.
“I’m sorry you’re here,” I blurt out. “I didn’t know Elias was doing this until about an hour ago.”
“It’s okay.”
Silence.
Heavy, awkward, uncomfortable silence again.
“What are we doing?” I ask.
Collin laughs. “No fucking clue. I didn’t realize EJ wanted me to do this today until a few hours ago.” He glances over at me before focusing back on the road, apparently driving nowhere in particular. “What do you want to do? EJ said he wanted me to make sure you had fun.”
I frown. “You’re only here because Elias basically made you take me somewhere, right? Not because you want to be on a date with some girl you don’t know?”
Collin winces. “Can I be honest?”
“Please.”
“EJ came to me and my brother, said he wanted one of us to take you out, make sure you had fun. My brother offered me up. I don’t really know what EJ wants out of this or why he couldn’t take you himself, but whatever. I don’t really think it’s a date, but I don’t know. You’re hot.” He shrugs. “It boils down to being whatever you want it to be and us doing whatever you want to do. I’m already here, so I’m down for whatever.”
“You’re one of the Kessy twins.” That’s what occurs to me first. Collin nods. “Jackson is a bit fascinated by the two of you. Not as much as he is with Elias, bu
t... Did he recognize you?”
“Yeah. He’s a cool kid.”
Everything sinks in. This doesn’t have to be a real date. That relaxes me a bit. “We can do whatever I want?”
“Anything as long as I don’t end up in jail.” As an afterthought, he adds, “Or you. EJ would kill me.”
I laugh. “Is there a game on tonight?”
“Most likely.”
“Take me to a sports bar.”
Collin doesn’t ask me why. He just switches directions. I’ve been meaning to learn a little more about the game since Jackson is obsessed, but Elias is always in a game when we’re watching one. Why not learn from a player while I’m being made to spend time with one?
Collin parks in a parking garage downtown and then we get out and walk. The place he brings me to doesn’t look appealing at all, but it’s full of people already. He finds us seats at the bar, makes the bartender change the TV to a game, and then looks at me.
“Now what?”
“Teach me the rules. Well, at least what stuff means when it happens. Jackson loves hockey, but I don’t know anything. He is always disappointed by my ignorance. He’ll be so impressed if I know what’s happening.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
We order food and drinks. I order alcohol for the first time in my life. It makes me nervous, but then, so does being on my first date since high school. Might as well add something else new to the list.
Collin laughs when I make a face after taking a sip of my Long Island iced tea.
“Don’t laugh. I’ve never had a drink before.”
His eyes widen. “You don’t need to start with me. EJ will kill me if I bring you home drunk.”
I roll my eyes. “You’ll be fine. I don’t plan to get drunk either, so relax.”
He doesn’t look like he believes me, but he lets it go. Collin focuses on the reason we’re here. He explains each position and the basic setup of the game. I switch to regular sweet tea after finishing my drink because while good, I really don’t want to drink more than I already have. During a commercial, I look at Collin.
“I’m never going to remember all of this, Collin,” I whine a little dramatically.
He laughs. “Yes, you will. It’s for Jackson.”
“Do you know what I’ve noticed?” I say as a picture of some hot hockey player is shown on the screen since it’s intermission and they’re talking about him.
“What?”
“There are a lot of hot hockey players. That guy, Elias,” I turn to look at him, “you.” Collin shakes his head with a slight smile. “Do you like playing with your brother? What’s that like?”
“Yeah, I like playing with him. I don’t know if I could do it without him.”
His seriousness makes me frown. “Why?”
He points to the TV. “It can be overwhelming. Cal helps ground me.” He shrugs. “Do you like being a nanny?”
I nod. “Bree’s sweet and Elias is the best.” I sigh. “He’s a really good guy.”
“Rae?”
My muscles lock and I swivel slowly to see Henry, who eyes Collin. “What are you doing here?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing. Where’s Jackson?”
“Is there a problem here?” Collin asks me.
I shake my head, though I want to say yes. “Go away, Henry. It’s bad enough I have to see you tomorrow.” When Jackson will officially meet him.
“Who is Jackson with while you’re here?” Henry pushes.
“He’s with Elias. Why does it matter?”
“He should be with you.”
I don’t know how it happens, but one minute my drink is in my hands, and the next, I throw it at Henry. How dare he tell me I have to be with Jackson twenty-four-seven. This is the first time since he was born that I’ve left him with someone else to go out.
“Okay.” Collin stands, takes my cup and places it on the bar, and then pulls me away from a shocked Henry. “We’re leaving.”
I go to the bathroom while he pays our bill. I don’t see Henry when I meet back up with him, which is good. There will likely be hell to pay for what I did.
“Can you take me home?” I ask Collin when we walk outside into the cold air.
“Not yet.”
He takes my hand and we walk another block or two before he pulls me into what looks like an arcade, but there’s a bar and it’s full of adults. Collin pulls me to the first empty game we come across. It’s one of those dance-off games.
“You’re supposed to have fun with me, Raelynn. If you can’t have fun here...” He lets the sentence trail off as he gets the game started.
“You’re going down.”
He grins. “We’ll see.”
We play a few rounds, all of which Collin wins, before stopping by the bar for a drink, sweet tea for me and water for Collin. I spy an air hockey table and that’s where I drag Collin off to next. We’re a bit more evenly matched in this one. Well, almost.
“Stop cheating!” I shout, making him laugh.
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are! You’re using your freakishly long arms to your advantage.” He reaches across the table and hits the little red disk just as it reaches the halfway point to cross over onto his side. Not even fair. I can’t reach like that.
“Okay, whiney baby. We’ll play by your rules.”
My rules help me win, too. After I win two in a row, I raise my arms in the air and then take a few bows.
“I’ve had fun. Can you take me home now?” I’m starting for feel guilty about being here.
Collin doesn’t argue me with this time. My mind wanders to Elias and if he built that fort with Jackson while I was gone as Collin drives me home.
“Are you going to tell EJ you had a good time?” Collin asks as we approach Elias’s house.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
He shrugs. “Are you going to tell him about that guy? Henry?”
I sigh. “Are you?” I don’t know that Elias really needs to know.
“Should I?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it? What is he doing?” I ask when he pulls into Elias’s driveway and we see him standing outside his front door with his arms folded over his chest.
“I don’t know.”
We get out and the moment we’re close enough, Elias goes off on Collin. “Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to take her out for like two hours tops. I already put Jackson in bed without her, and it nearly gave the kid a heart attack.”
I’m so confused. “Elias, why are you upset?” Granted, I feel horrible for not being here to tuck Jackson in and that he had to deal with that, but this whole thing was Elias’s idea.
Elias opens and closes his mouth a few times. “He wasn’t supposed to keep you out all night,” he finally sputters.
“It’s not that late,” I defend. He’s overreacting. I look at Collin, who seems amused by all of this. “Thanks, Collin. We’ll see you later.” He nods and waves goodbye as he retreats to his vehicle. I grab Elias’s hand. “Let’s go inside and unruffle those feathers.”
“You had fun?” he asks almost as if he’s hoping I’ll say no.
I smile when I see a blanket fort in the living room. I toe out of my shoes, drop my purse, and leave Elias to crawl under the blankets, held up by the couch and chairs. There are more blankets and pillows lying on the floor. Jackson taught him how to built a fort after all.
“Raelynn?” Elias calls as he crawls in after me and then lies next to me. “You had fun?”
I shrug. “We ran into Henry. I decided to drink alcohol for the first time. And Collin took me to this arcade place afterward so the night wasn’t completely ruined. We would’ve been back sooner if not for that.”
Elias frowns. “Are you going out with him again? What happened with Henry?”
I laugh. “This wasn’t even a real date, so no, there probably won’t be another one.” I close my eyes and lean my forehead against his shoulder. �
�Henry’s a jackass. That’s what happened. I don’t want to talk about it. I want to lay here in the fort.” Once I’ve had a moment of peace, I lean back a little to look at him. “Don’t send me on any more dates, especially if you’re going to get mad at them for doing what you asked.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
“Good.” My gaze drops to his lips, which rise into a smile, and I realize how close we are. I should probably move back some.
“You ever think about kissing me, Raelynn?”
My eyes snap up to Elias’s. “What?” My heart hammers in my chest, ready to break out and run far, far away.
Elias’s hand rests on my hip and he repeats, “Do you ever think about kissing me, Raelynn?” I can’t answer that! “Would you be upset if I kissed you?” Nope. Not at all. But that doesn’t mean we should. I don’t think it’s a good idea. All I can do is stare at him. His head inches closer to mine.
“I...we...” Where are the rest of my words to protest this fantastically bad idea?
“Should totally kiss?” Elias says with a grin. He’s so close now his nose touches mine. “Close your eyes.”
If I do it, he’ll kiss me.
If my eyelids close, I’m giving him permission and saying I want him to do this.
Against my better judgment, I close my eyes. The second I do, his lips press to mine, gentle, soft, and perfect. Our tongues slide against one another as the kiss deepens. Elias pulls my body on top of his while rolling onto his back. There’s nothing fast or frantic about this. But the sensuality and need in the kiss has my arms moving up to rest on either side of his head and my fingers curling into his hair.
Elias’s hands slip underneath my shirt. They glide up and up and up until he reaches my bra. Then, suddenly, he rolls us over so he can hover above me. It takes me a second to realize he’s stopped kissing me.
“Good?”
I nod.
And just like that, his mouth is on mine again. My skin flushes. My body comes alive with every kiss, every stroke of his hand down my side, and every push of his hips against mine. My nails scratch him as I grab his shirt, wanting to take it off.
“Raelynn?” Elias pulls back. His breath hits my mouth and I don’t want him to talk. I don’t want to think about what we’re doing. I don’t want to second-guess myself here. “Do you want to go upstairs?”
Worth the Risk Page 8
