Page 23 of My One & Goalie
I could love this man.
I nod, smiling. “Exactly.”
The food arrives—Oysters Rockefeller, jumbo shrimp with warm butter sauce, ceviche—and we dive in.
“Try this.” Xander lifts an oyster shell from the plate and brings the mollusk to my lips. “Open and suck.”
His husky command sends hot pulses straight to my core, wetness flooding my panties.
“Mmm, so good,” I murmur, holding his gaze. His pupils widen, darkening his crystal blue eyes. As we stare at each other across the table, my body hums with desire. I’m on edge and the night’s barely begun.
He places the empty shell back on the plate and I lick the salty brine from my lips with the tip of my tongue.
“And what will we be having for entrees tonight?” A waiter interrupts the moment and I cross my ankles beneath the table, trying to ease the ache between my legs.
Xander rattles off the order and I sit back, happy to have him take the lead. It’s nice letting someone else shoulder the responsibilities of life, even for a minute or two.
“Sound good, Rach?”
Rach.
The nickname rolls off his tongue like we’ve been together for years.
“Yes, sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
The waiter takes our menus while another server clears our plates and yet another sweeps crumbs from the table with a tiny bristle brush.
“I could get used to this,” I joke, taking a long sip of bubbly.
“It’s a great life, not gonna lie.” Xander leans back, but keeps hold of my hand across the table.
“You must go to some amazing restaurants.”
“We do. But life on the road can be lonely. It’s not all sunshine and roses twenty-four by seven.”
“Yes, I could see that. Are most of the players single?”
“About half. The other half’s wifed up, and most of those guys have kids, too.”
“Do the families travel with the team?”
Xander shrugs. “Sometimes. It kind of depends on the schedule. But we do have downtime, which is nice. Probably more than the average nine-to-five job.”
“Tell me about it. I get two weeks of paid vacation a year, but rarely take it because most of my days are used up on school holidays or times when Jett’s home sick.”
“That sucks. Must be hard on you.”
I shoot him a wan smile. “It is what it is.”
The sommelier reappears, refilling our flutes and then the food comes, a whole fish for Xander and lobster for me.
“Enjoy!” The server waves a black napkin through the air with a flourish before spinning and heading back to the kitchen.
“This is massive. I’ll never be able to eat all this!” I eye the red lobster tail steaming on my plate.
“It’s fine. Eat what you want. You can always take the rest home. Or not. Whatever you want.”
I appreciate Xander’s laidback attitude, his casual mannerisms, the ease with which he carries himself. Charles was stingy and uptight, barking at the wait staff and complaining about this, that, and the other. Nothing was ever good enough for him. Xander’s the complete opposite, totally calm, cool, and collected.