LuckyBastard: A Cocky Hero World Novel

by Ryan, Kaylee

  Two hours later, I feel like I need to beat on my chest and fart or some shit just to prove my manhood. I’ll never admit it out loud, but the movie was good. PG, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I glance over at Emma to catch her yawning. Looking at the time, I see it’s after midnight, and even though I hate it, it’s time for me to go.

  “Thanks for dinner.” I stand and gather my phone. I washed my dish during commercial breaks.

  “You’re welcome. It was nice to have the company.” She smiles up at me.

  I want to kiss her.

  I can’t kiss her.

  “Date number three in the books,” I say to get my mind off her full, kissable lips, and because I know it’s going to get her sparring with me. I love that side of her. The side that doesn’t let my bullshit slide.

  She rolls those big green eyes, but a smile plays on her lips. “You’re something else, Number Eighteen.” She stands and walks with me to the door. “Drive safe.”

  Unable to help myself, I wrap my arms around her in a hug, and I admit that I hold on a little longer than I should. Pulling back, I drop a quick kiss to her temple. “Always.” With that, I force my feet to carry me out the door and to my SUV. As soon as I start my car, the porch light goes off, and just like that, I’m back to being an outsider. Just a man who craves being able to share a small piece of her world with her. I don’t know exactly what this all means, but I know that one thing’s for sure.

  I’m in trouble.

  I’m in so much trouble.

  Chapter 9

  Emma

  I spent all day yesterday shopping. My ankle is tender but feels much better. I couldn’t sit in my house a minute longer. Not when it’s surrounded by Landon. I can still smell him. Is that normal? I think not. I Febreezed my couch, but it didn’t work. Maybe it’s not in the fabric, and it’s just me. I remember his scent. I remember him. All of him. He was obviously turned on, and I get it—he’s a man, he had a woman laying on him. I don’t blame him. Well, in a way, I do. He wasn’t the only one worked up. However, neither one of us acted on that attraction that pulsed between us.

  I ruined that.

  It had to be that way. We’re better off not crossing that bridge. Hell, I don’t want to go near it. After all, I am afraid of heights.

  “Good morning.” Aubrey’s chipper voice greets me. “How was your weekend?”

  “Good. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “Oh, really? How about we try that again, little miss too quick to blow me off? How was your weekend?”

  I exhale loudly and then blurt it out. “Landon came over for dinner.”

  “Landon, huh?” She grins. “What prompted the lucky bastard coming over for a visit?”

  “He asked me to dinner, I told him I already had dinner made, and he said he would be over in an hour. He showed up. We ate.”

  “Uh-huh. What else did you do?”

  “Nothing. Watched a couple of movies and then he went home.”

  “Em,” she says, her tone warning.

  “Aubs,” I fire back.

  “Spill it.”

  “Fine. We might have cuddled a little on the couch and fell asleep. Nothing happened. I told him I want more. I’m not looking for any kind of benefits that don’t come with a relationship. That’s just not me. He didn’t confirm or deny that he’s not willing to give it to me. We watched another movie on separate ends of the couch and then he went home.”

  “Goodnight kiss?”

  “Does a hug and a kiss to my temple count?”

  She nods vigorously. “That definitely counts.”

  Yeah, I agree with her. They both count, but I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m already missing him, and that’s bad, so terribly bad. Landon Barker is a heartbreaker, and I need to remember that. He’s never been serious with anyone. Why would that change with me?

  “Enough about me. What’s on the agenda for today?” I ask, getting back into work mode. I need to push my impromptu weekend with the sexy quarterback out of my mind.

  “We have a full line-up of volunteers today, so I’m thinking a deep scrub of the cages and kennels while we have the help.”

  “Sounds good to me. I’m going to go out and start working on Buckwheat’s stall.”

  “I’ll send help when it arrives.” She waves as I push open the door and walk outside into the warm California sun.

  I’m just getting Buckwheat turned loose in the round pen, so that I can muck his stall, when my phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see Number 18, and I don’t even read the message before swiping the screen. I’m that eager to hear from him. I refuse to think about what that means.

  Number 18: Morning, freckles. Need my help today?

  Me: Nope. We have a full roster of volunteers today.

  Number 18: Maybe I should stop by just to make sure.

  Me: What, you don’t trust me now?

  Number 18: What? I can’t stop to check on you?

  Me: You don’t need to check on me.

  Number 18: Practice is getting ready to start. I’ll text you later, if I don’t stop by.

  His message is followed by another with a winking emoji. It fits him perfectly. Sliding my phone back in my pocket, I get to work on Buckwheat’s stall. Instead of clearing my mind, his messages bring him to the surface, and all I can think about is Saturday and what it all means. Does he really want me to give into him so bad that he’s willing to play nice and hang out at my place on Saturday night? He’s the freaking starting quarterback for the Hermosa Beach Trojans. He could have had his pick of women for the night and a guaranteed happy ending to the evening. What’s his game?

  “Emma,” Aubrey calls out to me. I stop and turn to face her. There’s a man with her, a very handsome man. “This is Tony. He’s volunteering today. I’m putting him with you.”

  “Hi.” I hold my hand out to him. “I’m Emma.”

  “Tony.” He nods toward Aubrey. “But you already know that.” He laughs and claps his hands together. His very large hands.

  I take a minute to take him in. He’s tall. If I had to guess, about six feet, so shorter than Landon. He has blond hair and his eyes are a dark brown. He’s Landon’s complete opposite, but still sexy in his own surfer kind of way. Gah! I need to stop comparing him to Landon. Maybe, Tony is the exact distraction I need today.

  “Where do you want me?” He smiles and runs his fingers through his curly blond locks.

  “Grab a pitchfork. You can help me with the stall.” I point to the wall where two more pitchforks are hanging.

  “How about I take this one?” He tugs the pitchfork from my hand. “You can start on what you need to do next.”

  “All right, I’ll be outside if you need me. Once this is done, we need to spray it out and then I can bring him back in.”

  “Him?” He raises his eyebrows.

  “Oh.” I laugh. “Buckwheat the horse.” I point over my shoulder toward the outside round pen.

  “Got ya. I’ll come find you when I’m ready.”

  “Thanks, Tony.”

  “Anytime.” He winks.

  I make my way outside and busy myself with brushing Buckwheat. It’s not really a necessity, but it’s a luxury he doesn’t get often as we’re usually short on staff. I’m going to take some time today to pamper him, just like his previous owner would if she was able to still care for him.

  About fifteen minutes later, Tony appears beside me. His shirt is off and tucked into his back pocket and his chest is glistening with sweat. I make a mental note to thank Aubrey for giving me the hottie for the day. “What’s next, boss?” he asks.

  I can’t hide my amusement. “Well, we can leave this guy outside a little longer and let him enjoy the sunshine. Let’s go see what the others are working on.”

  “Sounds good,” he says, falling in step beside me. “You worked here long?” he asks.

  “A little over two years.”

  “Cool.”

  “If y
ou don’t mind me asking, what brings you in to volunteer today?”

  “Do you want the honest answer or the one I practiced?” He grins.

  “Honest. Always honest.”

  He shrugs. “I was hoping to get to meet Chance Bateman. I’m a huge soccer fan.”

  “You do know Chance is a coach for the Trojans now, right?”

  “Yeah, but I also know his wife runs the place. So I was hoping to run into him.”

  “Huh. Well, he’s at practice today. Sometimes he drops in after. I guess you’re just going to have to stick around to find out.”

  “Now that I’m here, I might have another motive.”

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?” I ask, not bothering to turn to look at him.

  “A date.”

  I stop and turn to face him. “A date?”

  He nods. “I didn’t expect my boss, or mentor or advisor or whatever I’m supposed to call you, would be hot. Maybe I can get a date and an autograph.”

  I throw my head back and laugh. “Come on, Casanova, let’s see what’s next.” I don’t bother to reply. He’s not my type and I’m hoping he drops it. That’s all I need is to add another man into my life to drive me insane. How is it that my dating life has been null and void the last few months and now all of a sudden, I’m the popular girl?

  I tell Tony to wait for me in the lobby while I go in search of Aubrey. I find her in our office. “Hey, we’re done with the barn. Where should we go next? Cats or dogs?”

  “Dogs. I have the two teenage girls in with the cats. Not to mention, the dogs are more work. You can use his muscles.”

  “He told me he was volunteering with the hopes to meet Chance.” I leave out the part about the date. No need to get that seed planted in her head.

  “Aw, I’ll text him and have him stop by after practice.” Her fingers are already flying across her screen. “They have an early day today so it should be around lunchtime.”

  “Great. We’re going to get started.” My stomach does a little flip that I could see Landon soon, but then I remember I told him I didn’t need any help. Damn man has got me all over the place with my emotions. “Okay, looks like you and I are going to tackle the dog room as we call it. We have kennels to clean, so we’ll start taking the dogs outside to the outdoor kennel so we can hose it all down.”

  “I’m your man.” He winks.

  He reminds me a little of Landon, but he’s most definitely not him. He’s too short, his hair way too light, and his eyes, they’re not the ocean blue I’ve come accustomed to. He’s confident though; I’ll give him that.

  Two by two, we move the dogs to the outdoor kennel. I don’t rush the process as we play with them, giving them treats. This is yet another luxury we don’t always have. An hour later we’re in the dog room, and Tony is spraying everything down with the water hose while I start behind him with a brush on a long stick and a bucket of soapy water.

  “Let me do that,” he says, trying to hand me the hose.

  “I’m good. This is something I do on a regular basis.”

  “Exactly why you should let me do it.” He tries to take the broom, and I move quickly out of his reach, but lose my footing. He reaches out to catch me, and we both end up falling to the floor. He lands on top of me, but is quick to lift himself, holding his weight on his arms as he stares down at me as the soapy water seeps into my clothes. “Oops.” He grins and I can’t help but smile back at him.

  “What’s going on here?” a deep, booming voice asks.

  I know that voice.

  I push up and Tony takes his sweet time, removing his body from where he was suspended over the top of me. I start to climb to my feet only to slip again, on the wet floor. Tony is there to catch me this time, and his strong arms lift me to my feet and make sure I’m steady before he lets go.

  “Emma?” Landon asks.

  “Hey, we were just cleaning and the buckets spilled and well… you see the outcome.” I laugh nervously. Why am I nervous? Oh, yeah, because Landon and his baby blues are assessing me, and I know this looks bad. Even though I’ve done nothing wrong and he has no claim to me, I still feel a little bit guilty.

  Landon’s eyes go to Tony’s hand that’s still holding onto my arm. “You can let go,” he tells him.

  “Holy shit. You’re… you’re Landon Barker,” Tony says, his hand still holding my arm.

  Landon nods. “I am.” His voice is not his friendly banter that I’m used to.

  “Dude, I was hoping to meet Chance, I never dreamed I’d get to meet a Trojan, let alone Landon Barker. Can I have your autograph?” he asks, sounding like an excited little boy that I think lives inside all men.

  “Sure, as soon as you get your hand off my girl.” Landon’s eyes are laser-focused as he stares Tony down.

  “Landon,” I start, but he ignores me.

  “Shit,” Tony mumbles. “I didn’t know she was yours.” He turns his accusing eyes to mine. “You didn’t tell me when I mentioned a date that you were with Landon freaking Barker.” He drops his hand as if he’s been burned.

  “I’m not with him.”

  Landon nods now that Tony’s no longer touching me. “Let’s go find something I can write on.” He turns on his heel and disappears out of the room.

  He’s pissed, but now so am I. How dare he come in here telling the volunteers I’m his girl. I’m not his girl. I’m not his anything. We’re acquaintances at best. Okay, maybe a little more than that, but I’m not his. I’m mine, and he has no right to come in here demanding things of anyone. I’m fuming mad. I want to march out there and tell him to leave, but I don’t. Instead, I put my anger into cleaning up the mess Tony and I made, wet clothes and all. I’m on a mission and it takes me no time to get the cages cleaned, and the room sparkling. I put away the cleaning supplies and head to my office to grab a change of clothes. Aubrey and I both keep spare clothes here because things like this happen when you work at an animal shelter. It’s not the first time. Although usually it’s a rambunctious animal, not two grown men acting like toddlers.

  Closing the office door, I strip out of my wet clothes. I slide into my clean, dry shorts, and am just getting ready to pull my new shirt over my head when the door opens. I glance up expecting to see Aubrey, but it’s not her. It’s Landon.

  “Shit.” I rush to hold the shirt to my chest.

  His eyes are heated as they rake over my body. “Em.”

  “Turn around, Landon!” I screech. He does as I ask and I pull my shirt over my head as fast as I can.

  Chapter 10

  Landon

  I’m turned around facing the door, and my heart feels as though it’s about to beat out of my chest. Emma and all the creamy skin. My cock throbs in my shorts, and I suck in a deep breath. She’s fucking gorgeous. This I already knew, but now… how will I ever get that image out of my head?

  “You can turn around.”

  Slowly, I turn to face her. “Em,” I whisper, and reach a hand out to her.

  “Don’t.” Her words are final.

  My hand drops to my side. “Are you okay? Your ankle?” I ask.

  “I’m fine, Landon.”

  I’m suddenly in new territory. I’ve never cared enough to step in or get… jealous. It’s not an emotion I’m used to feeling, but I’m a smart man. I know that’s what it was. When I saw him hovering over top of her, the way they were laughing and she was peering up at him. I hated it. Every single second of their connection. It took everything in me to not rip him off her. Lucky for him, he seemed more interested in me than he did her. That is until he mentioned the date.

  She can’t date that guy.

  “I’m not your girl, Landon. We’re barely even what I would call friends, more like two strangers who have shared a couple of meals. You can’t just go around spouting off that kind of shit.” She’s seething and her green eyes are lit with fire, my cock doesn’t understand that she’s mad at us as he begs for her attention.

  I shift on my feet, to
alleviate what she’s doing to me. “I’m sorry.” Two words I don’t say often, but I can admit when I’m wrong. “I saw the two of you, and I just… I’m sorry.” Those two words are easier to say than the truth. That I’m falling for her. I don’t know what to do with that.

  “Okay.”

  That’s it?

  “You can’t do that. I’m not your concern, and what are you even doing here? I told you that we had plenty of help today.”

  “Practice was shorter than normal. I brought you lunch.” I point to the bag on her desk that I’m sure she missed in her haste to change her clothes. Maybe she missed it due to her anger at me. Either way, it’s there in front of her. “Turkey club and chips,” I tell her. “It’s not much, but….” I shrug. I don’t know what to say.

  “Thank you.” She looks over to her desk where the bag filled with our lunch sits. “That’s very nice of you.” She pauses to turn and look to me. “Are you hungry?”

  “Yeah, I… uh… got some for you, me, Aubrey, and Chance. I wasn’t sure if he’d be here.” I shrug.

  “Have a seat. Let me go tell Aubrey and grab us a couple of waters.”

  She moves to walk past me and I hold my arm out stopping her. My arm hits at her waist and I pull her into me, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. “I’m sorry, Em.”

  “I know. It’s fine.” She pulls out of my hold and moves around me to grab Aubrey’s and our drinks.

  It can’t be that easy? Is she really not going to make a big deal out of this? Is she not going to make me grovel?

  “Here you go.” She hands me a bottle of water a few moments later. “Aubrey said Chance is on his way. He went to pick CJ up at daycare. We can go ahead and eat without them.” I pull two sandwiches and two bags of chips out of the deli bag and hand her one of each. “Thanks. You can grab Aubrey’s chair or sit at her desk,” she says, taking a seat in her chair.