I inhaled a deep breath, feeling like shit. “It wasn’t like Denise hit on me and I went for it—”
“But you would have—no offense.”
“Come on, I’m better than that.”
“I’m sure you would have broken up with Kat first, but yeah, you’d jump into bed with Denise.” When she saw the sadness on my face, she backed off. “Charlie, I’m not trying to make you feel bad. You aren’t a bad guy. But really attractive men are never in one place too long. When they get to their late thirties and realize their looks are fading, they commit. But until then, they’re always gonna jump around.”
I didn’t view the situation in that way, but Carson was right. I’d had a great thing with Kat. She was interesting, funny, beautiful, the sex was great, but I threw it away because Denise caught my attention. If I had been really committed and happy, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to Denise. “Maybe Kat wasn’t the right person for me.”
She turned back to me, her eyebrow raised again. “Charlie, I’m not judging you. You don’t need to explain yourself.”
“Would I have noticed Denise if I were entirely happy? It’s not like I always do that—”
“Kat is the only long-term relationship you’ve ever really had. And again, it doesn’t matter. I’m just saying, someone like Dax, a hot piece of ass who’s charming and witty…he’ll only be around for so long. He told me he’s with models and actresses.”
“He said that?” I asked in surprise.
“Well, not like that. I kinda dragged it out of him.”
“I still think you’re making a big assumption about him.”
“It’s not about him. It’s about men, in general.” She eyed the leftovers of my sandwich. “Are you going to eat that?”
I chuckled and pushed it toward her.
“Thanks. I didn’t eat breakfast…or lunch.” She picked it up and took a bite, not caring about the place where my mouth had been.
I was disappointed that Carson was still so scarred. It’d been a year. But everyone moved at their own pace, and she just needed some time.
We showed up at the gym and walked into the private room with the court.
Dax was there with a couple guys, their shirts off because they worked up a sweat while on the court.
Matt grinned. “I’m so happy right now.”
I chuckled then walked to the bleachers to put down my water bottle.
Carson was in shorts and a black tank top, her long hair slicked back into a ponytail. The second she was there, she attracted the attention of the guys, making them lose their focus on the ball.
Dax was in black shorts that were low on his hips, showing off his fit torso, his powerful shoulders shining under the fluorescent lights because of all the sweat. He had muscular legs too that were tight and lean but dissected by the different muscle groups. When he noticed the disrupted nature of the other men, he glanced at the benches. His expression immediately changed when he spotted Carson, his eyes turning warm, his lips softening into a subtle smile.
Carson was drinking from her water bottle and didn’t notice.
Dax called for a break and then joined us, his eyes still on Carson. He stepped closer to her, his hands on his hips, his chest coated with sweat.
She turned to him and looked him up and down. “Damn.”
He grinned and leaned down to kiss her.
“Whoa, buddy.” She pressed her hand into his chest. “Come on, we’re just friends.”
His eyes narrowed on her face, irritated by the rejection. Then he circled his arm around her waist and tugged her in anyway, forcing a kiss to her lips.
She didn’t fight it this time.
When he pulled away, a gleam of his sweat was around her mouth.
He turned to me next and extended his hand to shake mine. “Glad you guys could join us.”
I shook his hand. “Thanks for including us.”
Matt looked at the guys on the court. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Dax chuckled as he shook his hand. “We’re pretty competitive. Left with a bloody nose last week. But they’ll go easy on Carson.”
“I don’t need anyone to go easy on me.” Carson joined us, her arms crossed over her chest. “I can handle my own out there. Compared to Baghdad, this is a joke.”
“What happened with your article, by the way?” Dax asked.
“I turned it in but haven’t heard from my boss yet. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…”
“I’m sure it’s fine, sweetheart.” He turned back to the court. “We need two players. Who wants to sit out?”
“Oh, I will.” Matt took a seat. “I’m happy to be a spectator for this.”
“Let’s do this.” I moved onto the court.
Dax gave Carson’s ass a playful smack before he walked away. “I’m covering you.”
“Good luck keeping up with me.”
“I kept up with you pretty well last night.” He winked then jogged onto the court.
Carson and I were on the same team, so we relied on each other to get the ball across the court because we had a connection, while the rest of the guys were strangers.
Dax stayed on Carson like he said he would, covering her closely, towering over her and giving her a hard time when she tried to pass the ball. And he definitely invaded her space more than necessary, his hands moving to her hips, to her back, touching her and grinning as he did it.
The guys were definitely impressed by Carson’s skill. She couldn’t run as fast as the rest of the guys, but her shots were good and she had great instincts. She ran to the hoop like she was going to dunk it, making all the guys pause in surprise, but then she threw the ball back to me. I managed to sneak around and make a three-point shot.
At some point, the guards rotated, and some other guy was covering Carson.
“Tim, switch with me.” Dax left his guy open to take Carson.
“I got it.” Tim kept his arms up, so Carson had nowhere to go. All our teammates were covered, and he suffocated her, tried to get her to drop the ball, moved into her space unnecessarily.
When Carson attempted to take advantage of an open player, she tried to jump up and throw it, but Tim knocked her down.
“What the fuck did I say?” Dax went from calm and suave to psycho in a nanosecond.
“Guys, I’m fine.” Carson got up like nothing happened.
Dax glared into Tim’s face. “Go.”
Tim jogged to the other player.
I knew Dax wasn’t being possessive of Carson. He was just concerned she would get hurt, because once the guys realized she was a good player, they would forget she was a chick and treat her like a dude. The best way to ensure she didn’t was to guard her himself.
“You alright?” Dax’s hand went to her arm.
“I’m fine. Seriously, I’ve been through worse. He didn’t mean anything by it.”
Dax let it go, and we resumed the game.
When we finished, we wiped off with towels and prepared to leave.
“You guys want to get a beer or something?” Dax asked, wiping the towel over his bare torso to collect all the sweat.