Hooking - Kristine Allen Page 0,37
was one of disbelief. “I can’t be your good luck charm. It’s not like I could go to your away games. There’s no guarantee I’d be able to go to watch every game either. Some games I’ll have to work for the foundation.”
“I understand, but knowing you’re there when you can be means a lot.” I’d never had a girl want to be at my games simply to watch me play. They usually either wanted to fuck me or spend my money. Sydney hadn’t asked me to buy her shit. Sure, she wanted to fuck me, but I certainly wasn’t complaining about that, and it had been far from her throwing herself at me. I’d had to work for it.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she repeated, and I decided to take it. “I need to hurry, though, so I can get to work.”
“Since we’re going to the same place, I can give you a ride. If you want,” I offered hopefully. Then I paused. It had me wondering where the fuck the needy bastard I’d turned into came from.
“Thank you, but that’s a colossally bad idea.”
I pouted. She rolled her eyes and we finished up in the shower.
After putting her clothes from last night on, she ran out to her car to grab her “emergency kit” as she called it while I got dressed.
Watching her get ready in my bathroom was the oddest thing I’d ever witnessed. Chicks didn’t do that with me. Hell, they were lucky if they made it home with me. Usually it was their place so I could dip when we were done. This whole overnight sleepover thing Sydney and I had going on was new.
And a little terrifying.
“Fucking Victor,” I said as I returned to the bathroom to brush my teeth. He was sitting on the counter watching her put on some lip gloss. When I said his name, he gave me a side eye like he couldn’t believe I was daring to bother him.
She paused and looked at me with a smirk as I brushed my teeth and rinsed. “He was giving me pointers on my eyeliner.”
A chuckle escaped me before I sobered. “You know you don’t need all that on your face, right?”
She gave me a questioning tip of her gorgeous lips.
“You’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen without makeup.” Stepping behind her, I pushed her hair to one side and kissed her neck. “I mean that.”
“Thanks,” she said softly. “This is actually minimal, since it’s what I had in my purse.” Then she gathered all her stuff up and put it back in her bag. The sight of her packing her shit up didn’t sit well. It made my chest ache and my stomach cramp. It made me imagine crazy shit—like her stuff in my bathroom permanently.
“You could leave all that here. Stay the night again,” I offered, trying to sound nonchalant as I grabbed my wallet and car keys out of the tray on the counter. Glancing at the time, I saw I needed to get moving if I was going to make practice on time. Traffic would be picking up soon.
“Alex,” she started. The hesitation in her tone rubbed me the wrong way. Jesus fucking Christ, I was turning into a straight-up pussy—or at least a dude drowning in it. “One night I can cover up by saying I left for work early. Another night would raise questions if I’m not at home.”
My hackles rose. “Who would know or complain? You’re a grown woman,” I argued, trying to find out more about her living situation.
Her face turned a rosy red, and she bit her lip as she looked off to the side. My hotheaded side started to come out when she didn’t answer right away. My mind made up all sorts of shitty scenarios. The one she gave me wasn’t what I expected.
“I still live at home.” It was said in a soft, embarrassed whisper. “With my parents,” she clarified.
My heart stuttered for a second. “Uh, how old are you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Fuck you, Alex Kosinski. Not all of us have paychecks bigger than the national debt.”
Though I tried to hold a straight face, I wasn’t successful. “I wish I made that much. Granted, it’s nothing to snub your nose at, but I’m not that loaded. I didn’t mean it like that, anyway. I was only double checking that you were legal.”
“Really?” she asked as she shot me a droll look. “We met in a bar.”
“Hey,