Angie was right. Marissa didn’t want our help, but then I stopped. I had never cared before, why now? Even when she went after Jesse or Eric, I had let both of them go without much of a fight. With Eric, there’d been no fight and now I was ready to rip into her because she cheated on him?
What was my life coming to? Why was I caring again?
“Hey.” Jesse’s arm tightened around my waist. He bent forward and asked in my ear, “You ready to go back? Justin can’t hear my directions so we’ll have to lead them out of here. The guys are ready to go too. We need our sleep for the game tomorrow.”
I jerked my head in a nod.
“Are you sleeping with me?”
I jerked my head in another nod. I sure as hell wasn’t staying with Marissa tonight.
After that, we left quickly. Most of the guys had already left. Camden had stayed behind, but he got some signal from Jesse, so we followed him. I could hear Angie whispering to Justin as he was behind us. He kept hushing her. In the back were Cord, Eric, and Marissa. He still had his arms around her waist and refused to let her go, even after I heard her shriek at him a few times. They waited for a different taxi, but I called out, “Cord, come with us.”
Marissa swung her head around. She glared at me before she narrowed her eyes, but she kept quiet. I stared back. I didn’t care. Eric was a good guy. He didn’t deserve to ride in the same taxi with the guy she was going to cheat on him with.
When we got back to the hotel, Jesse let go of me. He followed us as we went back to Angie’s room for my bag and then took my hand in his as we went to his room. When we got off the elevator, all the doors were shut, but we could hear the guys’ voices inside their rooms. And then, as Jesse was opening his door, his coach came out into the hallway. He ran a tired hand over his face and fought back a yawn. He pulled his robe tighter around him while his bare feet peeked out from the ends.
“Do I want to ask where you’ve been tonight, Hunt?”
Jesse’s hand curled around my waist and pushed me into the room. “No, you don’t, Coach.”
He grunted, but replied, “I met your dad tonight.”
Jesse stiffened.
“He’s an ass**le.”
“I know, Coach.”
“Alright. Well, good night. I expect all of the guys in tip-top shape tomorrow and since it’s eleven now, you’ve all made your curfew. Is that girl going to be a problem?”
I stiffened this time.
“No, Coach, she won’t.”
“You promise, Jesse? I’ve never seen you attached to a female. This one doesn’t bode well with me.”
“Coach, I believe you met her parents tonight as well. And they haven’t been the best ones to her.”
“Oh.” All the gruffness was gone from his tone. “Well, alright then. Good night to you both.”
“Night, Coach.”
“Night, girl.”
I stuck a hand out the door and waved. Jesse rolled his eyes, but his coach barked out a quiet laugh before I was pulled inside the room. Then, as the door closed behind us, Jesse turned and regarded me for a moment.
I held my breath. Everything changed now. We were alone. There were no friend dramatics, no other guys or teammates around us, and his coach had left us alone. It was only me and him. Jesse dropped his hands from the door and walked to me, quietly. A shiver went up my back as I watched him come. He moved with a gracefulness that was sensual and dangerous at the same time. His eyes had darkened. The same desire leapt inside of me. It burst into flame and I gasped when I felt his fingertips against my skin. They trailed around my neck and he turned my mouth to his. My heart was pounding. It wanted to burst out of me, but then everything went away. Jesse lifted me in his arms. My lips gasped against his; they were cemented to each other. I felt the bed sheets underneath me. All I wanted was him. All I needed was him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jesse was gone when I woke the next morning for the second time. He had slipped out of the bed earlier, but pressed a kiss to my forehead before he left. So when I woke again, it was to the annoying sound of the phone. Angie sounded bright and perky on the other end. Apparently my cell phone wasn’t doing the job, so she had asked around and found where the Golden Boy’s room was. I was supposed to be thankful she hadn’t come in person. I growled back. I wasn’t ready for her that morning. I wanted to curl back up in bed and never move. It smelled like Jesse. Everything did – the pillows, the bed sheets, even the towel he had left on the other bed.
But Angie was insistent, so an hour later I met her in the lobby for breakfast. She looked refreshed in a blue dress with her hair in braids on top of her head. Ugh. She looked gorgeous. I touched the ends of my hair and knew my messy ponytail would never look sexy on me, not when I stood next to her.
“Hey, my only best friend now. What are you hankering for?”
“Jesse,” I grunted.
She froze for a second. The bright smile slipped a bit, but she rolled her eyes. “Okay. I got that, you stupid girl-who’s-going-to-be-destroyed-later-by-him, but I was talking about food.”
I opened my mouth.
“And not in the way of what you want to taste right now, but actual food that we can sit down, order, digest, and take home in a doggy bag. That kind, you wanton woman, not anything that has to do with sex.”
I closed my mouth. I had another smartass comment on the tip of my tongue, but I sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m still pissed from last night, I think.”