“Can you not?” Kai stopped him, rubbing his hands into his eyes, not remotely ready for the visual that popped into his head.
“Noble,” Wilson greeted, standing with his feet apart, as she approached. “You giving Wilkens the blues with how far you’re moving that ball through the uprights.”
“Oh?” she said, her smile wide. She turned back catching Wilkens as he followed Ricks off the field, the Coach’s hand on his back and Noble’s smile lowered. “Well, maybe he was tired or something.”
“Nah,” Kai said. “That asshole is getting old.”
The kicker turned to face him, moving her head up. “You’re Kai Pukui? I heard you were back in Hawaii.”
“Good to meet you,” he said, offering her his hand to shake. “I was. Had some family business to handle.” He pointed to his teammates. “These bastards take you to Lucy’s yet? Or, hell, Huck Finn’s? They have the best roast beef po’boys.”
She looked at Wilson, head shaking. “Roast beef po’boys? You’ve been holding out on me.”
“Nah. I told you where the good margaritas were.”
“Fuck the margaritas,” Kai said, closing his eyes, just imagining the taste of that gravy floating around that po’boy. “Huck Finn’s…”
“You’re always thinking with your gut…” Pérez said, laughing at Kai with his attention trained on Noble. “Now, if you want a real meal and drinks not made from water downed tequila, you should let me cook for you.”
“You…wanna cook for me?” she asked, pushing her hair behind her ear.
Kai caught Wilson’s eye and both men shook their heads. “Don’t do it, Noble,” Kenya said. “That motherfucker uses too many beans and Wilkens is already pissed that you’re showing him up. Give the man a break and don’t fill up on food that’s gonna make you fucking fart like a—”
“Like a what, Mr. Wilson?” Gia said, walking up the sidelines.
The players all went still, their smiles lowering as the woman moved closer. Kai swallowed, his throat closing. He hadn’t seen her since that night at Summerland’s. He’d spoken to her, had flirted with her mercilessly, but the last time he’d been more than a hundred feet from her, she’d been twisting that glorious round ass away from him with his mouth still swollen from how hard she’d kissed him.
Fuck me, he thought, his attention immediately shooting to her body and the gray skirt and jacket she wore. That suit had to be tailored for how perfectly it formed to her body. The black open-toe heals had to be four inches high, making her calves flex when she moved, but all Kai could focus on was the perfect shape of her feet and the shine on her manicured toenails.
He was in his gear, fresh from the gym and the exhausting laps his conditioning coaches had set him on. He was starving, mildly cranky after having to swallow his pride and ask Keeana to spot him for the ticket back to New Orleans, but all that shit seemed to fly out of his head when Gia stood across from him, her smile warm, but her expression holding a hell of a lot of attitude.
“Is someone…gassy?”
“Not…yet, Miss J,” Wilson said, clearing his throat. His attention went behind Gia and Kai laughed to himself, knowing that asshole was looking for the pretty assistant who was never too far behind the GM. He was out of luck today. “Just warning Noble to stay away from Pérez’s spicy cooking.”
“Not bad advice,” she said, nodding to Wilson, taking her time to look at each player before she focused on Reese. “If you have a second, I need a word.” Then, Gia glanced at Kai, keeping her composure, her stare lingering just a fraction longer on his face than it had on anyone else’s before she nodded and moved away. Stepping a few feet from them to wait for Noble.
“Good to meet you,” the kicker told Kai, shooting him a smile that he found genuine.
“Next time you get a chance,” he told her, “come with us to dinner. My treat. There’s no excuse for missing a good meal.”
“I will.” She glanced up at the bleachers then nodded back to them, turning to Gia.
Kai knew he should have kept his mouth shut. He knew that maintaining professionalism was more important than anything else, but hell, he found he couldn’t keep himself from saying something just to get Gia’s attention, even if his boys were around him.
He used the guise of their attention on her, on how each of them kept themselves distracted by