“I don’t know. You seem different. Not sure I like it. When did you get so serious?”
I shrug. “I guess since my knee got fucked up and I haven’t been able to play my game.”
“Right,” Luciano says. “So tell me about Thalia.”
Swallowing becomes hard all of a sudden. “Why?”
“Because I’m the captain of the team and she’s in charge of rehabbing one of our star players. I want to know if she’s doing a good job.”
“She’s doing a great job. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“No reason. I’ve just heard grumbles from Dr. Costa. He thinks you might need surgery. He doesn’t know if she’s doing a good job.”
“She’s doing a good job,” I tell him adamantly. “She’s an impressive woman. She knows everything there is about anatomy and she has healing hands.”
“I bet she does,” he says under his breath.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I snipe.
He pauses and slowly looks at me, forehead creased. “Whoa. Calm down there, Brother.”
“You were insinuating something that wasn’t true.”
“Okay. Okay,” he says, his voice high and searching for resolution. “I get it. I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would take offense on her behalf.”
“I’m not…” I trail off and finish my beer.
Luciano frowns. “I have to ask though, and maybe it’s none of my business. But…is there something going on between you two? I’ll keep it between us.”
“No,” I say quickly. With maybe too much emphasis. “There is nothing going on. Truthfully.”
“Okay.” He takes a swig of his beer.
“I mean I kissed her last night.”
He spits out his beer.
“What?” he cries out, wiping his mouth with his arm.
I give him a crooked smile. “Yeah. It wasn’t my best moment.”
“You kissed her?!” he whispers harshly. “Holy fuck, dude. Why?”
I raise my brows.
He nods frantically. “Okay, okay, I know why. I know why. She’s gorgeous. She could be a supermodel. She’s one hundred percent someone you would put on your wall as a kid. But…I mean, no offense, but you are kind of a kid, Alejo.”
I roll my eyes. “Twenty-fucking-three. I am an adult, imbécil.”
“Okay, you’re right. That’s not fair. You’re an adult. It’s just that she’s so much older.”
“Would it matter to you?”
“Maybe not,” he says, tilting his head in consideration. “Unless you’re planning on something more?”
I shake my head. “No. It was a mistake to kiss her.”
“What did she do? Kiss you back?”
I nod, the memory sliding down my spine, making me hot. “She kissed me back. And then I stopped it before she could stop it first.”
“I see,” he says. “You know she could get fired.”
“I know. That’s why I stopped it.”
“Good.”
“But fuck, man,” I look at him. “I want that to happen again.”
“Wanting and doing are two separate things. Maybe it would be easier if she passed you off to another therapist. You’ve been working together in such close proximity these last three weeks, I guess I’m not too surprised something would happen. I suspected as much.”
“You did?” My heart thuds in my chest, and I quickly grab another beer, popping off the top.
“Part of my job is to watch our team. I know you. And I’ve been watching you. And I’ve been watching her and the two of you together. I don’t think it’s obvious to anyone else, but it’s obvious to me that you like her. And she likes you.”
“Like,” I say with a dry laugh. “It sounds like when we were kids.”
“That’s how it starts for everyone. You like someone. It’s a good start. It doesn’t always evolve from there. I hope in your case it stays right where it is.”
I nod, even though I want to argue. It’s rising inside me like fire. “But would it be bad to evolve?”
“You’re ignoring the part where she could get fired for sleeping with you.”
“We haven’t slept together.”
She did grab my cock, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Right, but that is where things evolve to.” He exhales, and from the stern look in his eyes, I know a lecture is coming. Both Luciano and Mateo like to go into “I’m older than you” lecture mode, and they’re both so very good at it. “Listen,” he says.
Oh yes, here it comes.
“I may not know everything, but I know some things, and it’s so much easier to fall in love with someone who is necessary to you than someone you are necessary to.”
“I’m not in love with her,” I tell him. “Remember, we were just talking about liking each other.”