Page 36 of Going for Two
The ding of my phone rang through the air before I could reply.
Olivia: Now that I’ve recovered from that party two nights ago … were you dancing with Nolan Hill?
“I’m most definitely ignoring her,” I told him after I slid my phone away and picked up the fork that Nolan had given me. There was no way I was going to give her all the details while I was sitting at Nolan Hill’s kitchen island and eating his pancakes.
My phone buzzed again, and I let out another sigh before I grabbed my phone and shot off a text to her.
Lottie: Don’t you have a World Series game today?
Olivia: Maggie and I were just killing time and talking about the party Friday night. It happened, didn’t it?!
I flipped my phone over before turning my attention back to Nolan. “Talk to me about the game.”
“I’d rather talk about when I get to see you next,” Nolan told me with that same lazy smile.
I placed the first piece of pancake in my mouth before I could formulate a response. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Nolan again—I would love to. But that would require the two of us discussing what was happening between us and I was worried it would burst this perfect little bubble we were in.
“Is that something you’d like to do? Because if you haven’t realized it yet, this could get complicated.” I kept my gaze on my plate of pancakes to try and avoid seeing Nolan’s answer on his face. “And just so you know I’m an overthinker, so if you don’t give me an answer, I’ll just come up with one of my own.”
“Lottie.” I felt Nolan gently place his hand on my thigh to try and draw my attention to his. After finally getting the courage to look at him, the look he was giving me nearly stole my breath away. “I don’t care how complicated this could get. If you think I haven’t already thought through every possible outcome, you’d be wrong. I have, and no matter all the different ways this could go, I want to see you again.”
I did my best to hide exactly how Nolan’s words made me feel. It had never occurred to me that I yearned so much for someone to actuallywantme after never being someone’s priority or first choice my entire life. But I was afraid that once I showed my cards to him, I’d lose the upper hand—if that even mattered in a situation like this.
“Maybe we can discuss that after the game,” I offered—if only to give myself more time to figure out if this was seriously something I wanted to pursue, despite everything inside of me screaming that I should ignore all the reasons why I shouldn’t.
I disregarded the way Nolan deflated at my dismissal and focused instead on the last few bites of pancake on my plate. “I should probably head back to my apartment so I can get ready for the game on time.”
“I’ll take you.” Nolan stood quickly and cleared our plates from the island.
“I can call for a ride,” I told him. “I know you like to get to the stadium early for home games.”
Nolan dropped both plates into the sink before turning to skewer me with a look. I recognized that determination. I’d seen it plenty of times on the football field. I wasn’t going to win any argument with him this morning.
“Lottie, I can give you some space and time when it comes to going on another date. But I am not going to let you avoid me now simply because we slept together.”
My mouth fell open. “That wasn’t—I wasn’t—”
“You’re right though, we should probably get going so I have time to get you to your apartment and get back.” With that, Nolan disappeared into his bedroom to change, that same guarded, hard exterior he gave me during those first few weeks suddenly making an appearance again.
He recognized that I was trying to protect myself and it seemed he was going to do the same.
Today’s game was set to be the coldest yet of the season. There were a few warnings of a snowstorm that the weather channels promised would come next week bringing nearly a foot of snow.
After Nolan dropped me back off at my apartment, I managed to beat him to the stadium to get the training room ready for everyone to show up. Surprisingly, Nolan wasn’t the first player through the doors, it was Derek.
“Morning, Lottie!”
“You’re rather chirpy this morning,” I noted as I grabbed a heat pack for him.
“We’re seven-and-one. What’s not to be happy about?” The Bobcats were playing the Detroit Mustangs today, who had alosing record so far this season. We were poised to move to eight wins and have the best record in our conference.
“How are you feeling today?” I asked him as I warmed my hands before putting some massage oil on them to work on Derek’s lower back.
“I’m feeling pretty good. I think the better question is, how doyoufeel?”
My hands froze mid massage as I tried to figure out what he was asking. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Derek’s soft chuckle vibrated under my hands and only grew when Nolan walked through the training room doors.