Page 18 of Going for Two
It was mid-afternoon and I hadn’t seen her yet today. She had given me the day off before we traveled to New York tonight for the game on Sunday against the Gladiators.
Today Lottie was wearing a tight white tank top that showed off toned, muscular arms and a black silk skirt that hugged the curve of her hips. A slit ran up the side of the skirt that revealed equally toned legs. Her hair was slicked back into a bun, and she had on more makeup than she normally wore to the facility. My eyes raked over her. My breathing grew shallow and my chest tightened.
What the hell is this woman doing to me?
I must have been staring because I watched a brilliant red spread up Lottie’s neck and into her cheeks. “I had a date today for lunch. You know, the whole bucket list thing? I came straight here and was going to change inside.”
“How’d it go?” I pushed the words out through a clenched jaw.
Lottie sighed as she took a few of the donut boxes from me. “No spark. I should have known better than to get my hopes up about men on a dating app.”
I grabbed the door for Lottie and tried to keep my eyes trained on her face.
“Maybe the next one?”
“Maybe.” Lottie shrugged her shoulders absently. “I’m not betting on it, but I did want to put myself back out there again. You’ve got to play the game, as they say these days.”
I didn’t think anyone like Charlotte Thompson should have to “play the game”. Men should be dying to get a chance to take her on a date.
“Anyone would be lucky to take you on a date,” I told her. I sucked my lips into my mouth, shocked I let something like that slip.
“Can you tell them that?” she asked me as she helped me drop the donuts off in the cafeteria for everyone to snack on. “I didn’t ask you, what’s up with these donuts?”
“I thought it would be nice for everyone to celebrate the first travel day.”
Lottie opened her mouth like she wanted to say something before she thought better of it. A small voice in my head wanted me to tell her the idea came to me because of her but I ignored it.
“I should go change. I’ll see you at practice.” She gave me a small smile before she gingerly grabbed a donut and disappeared toward her office. This time, I admired the long line of her legs as she walked away.
“Did you bring these in?” I heard Derek exclaim from behind me. I turned away from where Lottie had just been to see him holding a donut in each hand.
“Thought I’d start a tradition for travel days this year,” I told him.
“Did you fall and hit your head on the way here today?” Derek asked me between bites. “Because judging by these donuts andthe way you just unabashedly checked Lottie out, I would say you did.”
“I was not checking her out!” The way my voice cracked may have said otherwise.
“And you toldmeto keep it in my pants.” Derek wielded a donut at me.
“Everything is staying firmly in my pants.” I scowled at my best friend. “Matter of fact let’s not talk about anything in my pants when it comes to Lottie. We have a professional relationship.”
“For now …” Derek cocked an eyebrow at me before he headed back toward the locker room with his second donut.
“Absolutely not.” I grabbed a donut for myself and chased after my friend. “Don’t you dare tell Hawthorn I was checking Lottie out. You’re worse than a goddamn tabloid.”
Derek took off running toward the locker room with both donuts clutched in his hands, maniacal laughter bouncing off the walls after him.
That night we loaded onto the plane that would be taking us to New York. Tomorrow we would have a walk-through practice before our game on Sunday. We didn’t normally travel a day early, but New York was already significantly colder than Chicago and our coach wanted us to get acclimated.
Derek, Hawthorn, and I chose seats at the front of the plane and started to dig into the food that the team catered for us on flights. Lottie was one of the last to climb on and I watched her take in the plane as she tried to figure out where she was going to sit.
“I have an open seat next to me,” I told her before she could walk by us. I heard Derek snicker from across the aisle. I almost threw my dinner roll at his head.
“Thanks,” she whispered as she put her carry-on luggage in the compartment above us. I stood up and backed into the aisle to give her enough room to slide into the window seat.
One of the flight attendants handed her a bag of food once she sat down. She took the bag and stared at it for a moment.
“Not used to being wined and dined?” I teased. She looked at me with wide eyes.