by J. H. Croix
I sipped my hot chocolate, liberally doused with Irish cream liqueur, and opened my laptop. With a flick of the TV remote, I scrolled through the channels to find the best background for me while I worked, settling on a news show. A while later, I’d wandered off on a tangent and was scrolling through the website for the local animal shelter. This had occurred on the heels of a sharp pang of loneliness when my fingertips, which were plagued with a mind of their own, had clicked around online looking for news about Liam. I secretly did this even though I hated that I couldn’t seem to resist. I would stare at pictures of him and miss him so much, it was a visceral pain. I came across a photo of him after a game in Seattle, shortly before I’d met him at the clinic. He was standing on the sidelines, his black hair mussed with a streak of dirt on his leg, his body emanating strength and power even when he was doing nothing other than standing in one place. It felt as if he was looking right at me, his blue eyes piercing as he stared at the camera. A jolt of longing hit me, so hard I had to catch my breath.
Abruptly, I determined I’d find a pet to keep me company. Perhaps then I wouldn’t feel so lonely. I was presently reading the description of a cute cog with one ear that flopped down and another standing up. The dog in question was a male of indeterminate breed named Bentley. He was brown all over and on the small side. I’d never taken advantage of this benefit, however the clinic had an on-site doggy daycare for employees started years ago by one of the founders who loved to bring his dog to work. If it weren’t for that, I couldn’t even consider a dog because my work life didn’t fit the needs of a dog. Bentley’s sweet brown eyes called to me. I quickly fired off an email, selecting an appointment time from their website calendar. I’d be meeting Bentley tomorrow at noon.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table, indicating a text. I ignored it, reasoning I needed to get back to work. Seconds later, it buzzed and buzzed and buzzed. I finally grabbed it and saw Daisy had been texting. A call from her came through as I started to read her texts. I answered immediately.
“Good grief! What is it?” I asked.
“Channel 4!” Daisy practically yelled in my ear.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh my God. Go to channel 4 on the TV.”
“Why?”
“Just do it,” Daisy said, her exasperation evident.
I snagged the remote off the coffee table and switched to channel 4. Liam was on screen talking with an interviewer. His friend and fellow teammate, Alex, was a few chairs away, along with several other men I presumed to be players on the Seattle Stars. I couldn’t have changed the channel if my life depended on it, but I was almost angry Daisy made me see this. I didn’t need to dwell on Liam.
“Why are you making me watch this? I need to move on, not watch him on TV.”
“I’m hanging up. Listen and don’t you dare change the channel.”
The line went dead in my ear. I let the phone drop and tapped the button to turn up the volume. Despite part of me screaming for me to stop, I couldn’t. I had to hear Liam’s voice.
The interviewer was a woman with blonde hair, coiffed perfectly into a glossy bob that swung about her shoulders. Her eyes were locked onto Liam. “Well, Mr. Reed, as I’m sure you’re aware, Millie Morton will be on hand for the exhibition game next week. Are the rumors across the pond true?”
Liam shifted in his chair and rolled his shoulders. He wore a navy button down shirt and faded jeans. His eyes were bright under the lights of the set. Even though he was surrounded by several other sexy soccer players, my mind barely registered their presence.
Liam eyed the interviewer, his gaze slightly annoyed. The pause between her question and his answer began to stretch, and I wondered what he might say. He cleared his throat, a hint of nervousness rising in the back of his eyes. How I knew that I couldn’t say, yet I could feel it.
“Actually no. Those rumors are nothing more than that. I’ve never even been on a date with Ms. Morton, nor considered it. She chooses to create a different impression, one that’s entirely untrue,” he finally said.
The interviewer’s eyes widened and she leaned back in her chair, angling her head to the side as if this was a serious matter. Meanwhile, my heart was beating like a drum, and my breath had gone shallow. “Is that so? How come you never chose to clear this up before?”
Her question had a tone of disbelief as if Liam was trying to fool her. His eyes narrowed. “Because it wasn’t worth it, but now it is. I’ve never bothered to address the rumors about my personal life because I find it distasteful that anyone asks. But I won’t stand by and allow Ms. Morton to perpetuate the false narrative she allowed the gossip pages to create. I’ve never been involved with her and never will. My heart belongs to another now and always will.”
His words hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I almost dropped my hot chocolate. The interviewer’s eyes widened, and she leaned forward in her chair. “Is that so? I don’t suppose you’ll let our audience know who that may be? Is it someone you left behind in London?”
Liam shook his head and shifted in his chair again. Tears were hot against the back of my eyes. He looked right at the camera. “I’ll choose not to give her name because no one deserves to be hounded by the gossip rags. She’s not in London. She’s right here in Seattle, and I love her.”
My phone was buzzing again and again and again, Daisy’s name flashing on the screen. I ignored it and stared at Liam. I didn’t hear much of anything else that was said as the interviewer asked a few more questions of Liam and moved on to speaking with the others players. Liam’s eyes were locked to the camera, and mine were locked to the screen. I leapt up from the couch.
Chapter 31
Liam
I sat on that damn interview platform set up at the stadium with my heart pounding and nearly sweating through the bloody button down shirt I’d been forced to wear for this group interview. I’d always hated this part of being a footballer. I loved to play and loved to work toward bringing whatever team I was on to the pinnacle of their performance, yet the publicity drove me nearly mad. I hadn’t thought ahead about the interview and had distantly heard the guys joking about Millie in the locker room the other day. My mates from London, Alex, Ethan and Tristan, all knew I’d never had anything to do with her. Yet, the guys here in Seattle were still just getting to know us after we’d been traded to the Stars. I was so miserable over missing Olivia and trying to think of what to do to win her, to make her understand how much she meant to me that my usual annoyance about the bloody stupid machinations of Millie didn’t even rise. It never occurred to me the interviewer would bring her up.
Here I was now, on the heels of publicly announcing I was in love with someone, and I didn’t even know if Olivia had heard it. Brilliant planning on my part. That was the problem with me when it came to Olivia. I lost all ability to plan. I played the most strategic position in football as an attacking midfielder, better known as the playmaker. Everything I did in play revolved around me functioning essentially as the brain of the entire team, orchestrating our attack and distributing the ball accordingly. I had to think under pressure at all times and shift gears in a flash. When my mates didn’t know what to do with the ball, it landed with me. All of my natural skill with quick thinking went out the window when it came to Olivia. I could hardly think. I somehow got through the rest of that bloody interview. Alex’s eyes caught mine at one point when I apparently ignored a question. He stepped in and saved me by answering. Damn good thing because I’d entirely lost track of what was being said.
Finally, fucking finally, the interview ended, and we were escorted off the interview set and behind the cameras. Alex leaned close to me ear, his voice low. “Well, mate. That was big. Buckle up because you just set the gossips salivating.”
I glanced to him, my eyes wide. “Bloody hell.”
His eyes widened as we kept walking down the hall, being escorted quickly to the locker room. Coach had scheduled a meeting. I was tired f
rom a grueling practice this morning and now emotionally drained from my impromptu declaration during the interview.
“Uh, so you didn’t plan that back there?” Alex asked, his question nearly lost in the shuffle of footsteps echoing on the concrete floor of the hallway.
“Hell no. It just happened. I didn’t even think about what it might mean as far as the whole publicity thing. Fuck. Olivia isn’t going to like that. Not one bit.”
“You didn’t say her name, so that should keep them at bay for a bit, but it’ll be like hounds on a scent. You might want to call her,” Alex said.
There was a sudden pause in our walk down the hall. Our teammates in front of us parted like water giving way, angling to one side of the hallway. I was looking at the floor, obsessing over what to say to Olivia because I’d just gone and created a potential mess for her. She was a private person. I knew she wouldn’t want the manufactured drama. All I wanted was her, not the whirlwind of the entire sports media machine commenting on us. I also didn’t even know if us was an option yet.
Alex nudged me with his shoulder. I ignored it and kept walking, but he almost punched me next. “What the hell?” I asked, glancing over at him. Alex stopped and lifted his chin forward. I followed his gaze and saw Olivia standing in Coach’s office door. Coach stood beside her, his expression bemused. My feet stopped and I stood there staring at her, my heart pounding like mad. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was damp. I dimly recalled it had been raining when we came back to the stadium for the interview. She appeared to have forgotten her raincoat as her cream-colored blouse was plastered to her skin and there were damp streaks on her charcoal gray leggings. My eyes caught on the fact her blouse was buttoned crookedly, as if she dressed in a hurry. All in all, she looked like a drowned rat. She was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.
I didn’t realize I was frozen in place until Alex cleared his throat beside me. “Mate, you’d best move. Cameras are still rolling behind us.”
When he gave me another hard nudge, I started walking and realized the rest of the team had moved onto the locker room. The only people left in the hallway were me, Alex and Coach, along with the bloody camera crew from the local TV station…and Olivia. Coach stepped away from Olivia and met me a few feet away. “You coulda given me a heads up about what you were planning. It’s not a problem, but I’ve fielded calls from a few too many British reporters since you dropped your little news bomb. For now, I’ll fend them off. My office is yours,” he said in a low voice.
I caught his eyes. “Is she okay? I didn’t mean…”
Coach closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, they held a twinkle as he shook his head. “Aw hell, you didn’t plan this. Well, she started crying the minute she ended up in my office, so that’s a good sign. That she’s here says everything.” He turned to the side and gestured to the camera crew. “Nothing more to see here,” he called out. “Follow me.” He slid a palm across my shoulders and nearly shoved me into Olivia. As soon as she stepped back into his office, I followed and the door slammed shut behind us.
I felt as if I’d just played an entire game, running hard the whole time. My breath came in deep gusts and my heart was kicking hard. The sound of echoing voices and footsteps faded as I stared at Olivia, my heart in my throat. She was soaking wet and shivering. Her gaze was bright, her eyes moist. We stood there, only a few feet between us, as quiet fell around us. A tear rolled down her cheek, and I closed the distance. I didn’t know what she was feeling or thinking, but I couldn’t see her in pain. I wrapped her in my arms and sighed as she softened against me.
I didn’t know what the hell to say and was a bit relieved she didn’t start talking right away. It felt so good to hold her. I stroked a palm in slow passes down her back and dipped my head into the curve of her neck, closing my eyes and breathing her in. After a moment, I felt the subtle shivers running through her and lifted my head. “You’re cold.”
Brilliant start to the convo. You’ve just admitted to the world you’re in love and the woman in question is finally in your arms after far too many days apart and that’s what you say?
I ignored my internal critic because Olivia was clearly cold and she needed not to be. That and it helped for me to have something concrete to focus on. I glanced around Coach’s office for anything to help dry her off, my eyes landing on a stack of towels in the corner. “Let me get you a towel. Hang on.” I stepped away and quickly snagged a towel, sending the entire stack in a tumble to the floor. Ignoring the mess and not thinking much other than I needed to be right back beside Olivia, I spun around and returned to her.
I began drying her with the towel, at which point I couldn’t help but notice her nipples, taut under her damp shirt and the silk of her bra. My body tightened, lust cracking like a whip inside. As powerless as I was to control my instinctive response to her, now didn’t seem the time. My eyes whipped up and collided with hers—the air around us instantly electrified. I swallowed and tore my eyes away, focusing on swiftly rubbing the towel up and down her arms.
“Liam,” Olivia said softly.
My chest was tight, my heart was pounding like crazy, and I couldn’t seem to figure out what to say or do. I almost couldn’t meet her eyes because, well, I supposed I was a bit afraid. The day she’d said she was in too deep with me felt like eons ago at this point. There was nowhere left to fall, I was well and truly in love with her. Funny, but I’d never thought of myself as a man who lacked in courage, but then I’d never faced anything like love. I gathered every ounce of courage I had and lifted my eyes again. Her lovely green eyes were waiting. I could tell she’d been crying as Coach had mentioned. Her eyes were a tad puffy and glistening with the sheen of tears. Yet, they held warmth and understanding and a hint of the very uncertainty I was swimming in. I relaxed a bit inside and managed to take a breath.
“Yes, luv?” I finally asked, the endearment I’d only ever used seriously with her rolling out of habit.
We stood together in the center of Coach’s office with my hands on her arms, gripping the towel. She was damp and rumpled, her dark curls beginning to dry in their wild way. I was in my silly interview button down and still sweaty from announcing I was in love. Her shoulders rose and fell with a slow breath. “How are you?” she asked.
A pained laugh rumbled in my chest, and I shrugged. “I haven’t been so good. I’ve missed you terribly, and I didn’t know how to fix things. I, uh, don’t know if you heard what I just went and said…”
“Oh, I did. That’s why I’m here. I missed you too. I didn’t know, well…” The uncertainty in her gaze deepened and she swallowed. “I suppose I should clarify if you were speaking of me during that interview.”
My heart felt as if it was going to explode, but I managed to nod, and on the heels of a breath, to speak. “It could never be anyone but you.”
Her breath caught, and her eyes teared up. “Oh, okay. That’s good,” she offered with a small smile. “I’d feel more than silly running down here if it was someone else.”
I shook my head, starting to gain a bit of equilibrium inside. Olivia likely wouldn’t have run through the rain just now if she weren’t in love with me. I didn’t know how love worked because I’d never been in love. I knew it to be entirely impossible to fall out of love with her, but I didn’t know if the love she felt matched mine, or been mere infatuation that had dissolved in the weeks since we’d spoken. I surprised myself by managing to speak again. “Right then. Well, I’d feel quite silly announcing on the telly I was in love, only to find out it was all for naught.”
She stepped closer, shaking her head slightly. “It’s not all for naught. I’ve been falling in love with you since the day we met.” She lifted a hand to rest on my chest, the heat of it just above my heart, which was truly about to crack a rib at this rate.
“I don’t suppose you could tell me where you are in the falling bit,” I managed with a half-smile. Humor had always been my refuge and would
be now even when I was swamped in emotion.
Her lips quirked. “I fell all the way.”
The hollow feeling that had subsumed itself inside of my heart eased, and I could breathe for the first time in weeks. Olivia started fiddling with the buttons on my shirt, and I suddenly realized she seemed to be set on unbuttoning them. I let the towel go from her shoulders and caught her hand in mine. While my body was more than happy to have her strip me right here, I didn’t want her to think it was all about sex.
“What are you doing?” I asked gruffly, fighting the need rolling through me.
Her eyes held mine. “Taking your shirt off,” she said pointedly. She swatted my hand away and carried on.
“Olivia. I love you. I don’t want you to think it’s…”
“All about sex,” she finished for me. “I know it’s not, but I missed you and I’m cold and I want you. You proved your point: sex is never boring with you,” she said with a sly grin.
Then she shoved my shirt apart and ran her hands over my chest, and the thin thread of restraint I’d been hanging onto frayed and snapped. I laced a hand in her tangled hair and caught her lips, pouring weeks of longing into our kiss. We came together like a storm. She met me stroke for stroke, arching and flexing into me, her hands mapping my body roughly. I could feel the hard points of her nipples against my chest and tore my lips free. Our clothes came off, or rather half-off, in a blur. She was as greedy as me, yanking and tugging, her lips, teeth and tongue meandering about all the while.
With my shirt hanging apart and my jeans torn open, I found myself staring into her green gaze, dark with desire. Her legs were curled about my hips and her lush bottom gripped in my hands, barely propped on the edge of the desk. My cock rested at her entrance, its slick heat teasing me. I suddenly realized I didn’t have a condom with me. Seeing as I hadn’t planned any of this, that was one detail that wasn’t a surprise. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to pull back.
