“She told me your place is a major fuck pad.”
I was about to drink from my water, but I laughed instead. “What?” That sounded exactly like something she would say.
“I guess your folks’ place is super nice or something,” Charlie said.
She should see my place in the Hamptons.
“Yeah, but it’s not really a fuck pad.” My penthouse was closer to that description. “It’s where I grew up, so there wasn’t a lot of fucking going on, at least not from me.” I’d moved out when I left for college, and my sex life hadn’t been incredible at the time. Maybe my parents got it on, but I didn’t.
“What are you going to do with the place?” Charlie asked.
“Why?” I teased. “You want to bring a date there.”
“I mean…I wouldn’t say no to that.”
William walked inside, in gym shorts and a t-shirt. His towel was over his shoulder.
I raised my hand. “Over here.”
William spotted me and walked over. “So, this is the crew, huh?” He took a seat and shook my hand.
“Charlie, this is my friend William,” I said. “He’s gonna play with us today.”
“What’s up?” Charlie shook his head. “This is my friend, Matt.”
“Hey.” Matt waved from his spot on the other side of Charlie.
“Glad you could make it,” I said.
“I’m excited. But this isn’t a scenario where I have to let you win, right?”
“No,” I said with a chuckle.
“Good. Because I’m not gonna throw a game for anyone.”
We left our stuff behind and warmed up on the court since we were waiting for Carson. She almost never took the bench because she was one of the best players. I introduced William to the rest of the guys, and we passed the ball around.
Carson walked in a moment later, in little shorts and a t-shirt. Her long legs were incredible, like always. Her hair was slicked back in that sexy ponytail that bobbed up and down when she ran across the court. With those beautiful green eyes and full lips, she was stunning, like always.
Fuck.
I walked over to greet her, wearing a smile I didn’t feel in my soul. “What took you so long?”
“I work for a living, asshole.” She gave me a gentle shove in my chest. “And if you’re important, people will wait.”
“You’re definitely important.”
“Because I’m the best player on my team.” She placed her hands on her hips as she came closer. “Who’s the new guy?”
“That’s my sister’s boyfriend.”
“Ooh…” She looked him up and down. “Good-looking, decent shot, tall…”
“Important qualities?”
“Yeah. If this guy might be the father of your nieces and nephews, you want him to be all those things.”
Never crossed my mind, but I was amused by her observations. “Including the decent shot?”
“Yeah. You don’t want those kids to be picked last in gym, right?” She caught the ball Charlie passed to her while barely looking at him. She dribbled the ball and backed up a bit before she lined herself up and made a shot from the half-court line.
William turned to her, an eyebrow raised. “Damn…”
She smiled and extended her hand. “Carson. I’m friends with Dax.”
He nodded. “Nice to meet you. I’d like to be on your team.”
I held up my arms. “What the hell, man?”
He turned to Dax. “I told you I wasn’t going to let you win.” He caught the ball then dribbled to the hoop.
Carson came back to me, her hands on her hips. She was short in her running shoes, so she always had to tilt her head back to look up at me. “I like this guy.”
I smiled as I looked into her face, loving her attitude, her playfulness. She was like one of the guys, but one of the sexiest chicks in the world. It was impossible not to fall under her spell…over and over.
After the game was over, we wiped the sweat off at the bleachers and prepared to get something to eat. The group decided on pizza and wings again, so we left the gym and walked up the street.
Carson walked up ahead with Charlie and Matt, while William and I stayed back a little bit, giving me a great view of her perky ass en route.
“You’re a pretty good ballplayer.” William uncapped his bottle and took a drink. “Play in college or anything?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Just high school and recreationally. But Carson played in college. She’s a Harvard alumnus.”
“Really?” he asked in surprise. “People who go to Harvard or Stanford usually make it obvious they went to Harvard or Stanford,” he said with a chuckle. “So, she seems pretty cool.”
“She is.” Despite her intelligence and her success, she never bragged, not once. She seemed to hide it rather than flaunt it, just the way I did. “She’s an investigative journalist for the New York Press.”
“No way, man. That’s sick.”
“Yeah. She’s writing an editorial piece about me, actually.”
“Oh, is that how you met?”
“No…we were friends already.” I didn’t want to share my personal bullshit with him. Seemed pointless since Carson and I were never getting back together. “So, were you at the office today?”
“I’m there Monday through Friday,” he said. “And most Saturdays.”
“Your practice is open on the weekend?” I asked in surprise.
“No. I just have to do a bunch of paperwork, you know, the business side of things.”
“So, you own this practice?”
“Yep.”
I liked that he didn’t brag about himself either. Information came out naturally in conversation, but he didn’t throw his accomplishments in your face. “So, you have to handle two things at once, a medical practice and a business?”
“Yeah…totally sucks.”
I chuckled. “You know, you could hire a bookkeeper to help you with that. Maybe an assistant or something.”
“I don’t know… I believe if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I just have a hard time trusting other people, especially when it comes to stuff so personal, like my finances. Besides, I don’t want to have a close relationship with an inferior in that regard, especially considering Renee.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
He grinned, like he was remembering something humorous. “My baby gets soooo jealous.”
“She does?” I asked in surprise. “I can’t see her being that way.”
“Like I said, she’s crazy about me.” He grinned, like he was the luckiest guy in the world. “She’d be livid if she knew I told you this story, but fuck it, I’m gonna say it anyway. So, I was out with my brother’s wife because we were planning his surprise party. She was at the same restaurant and spotted us together. Caused a huge scene, slapped me a couple times, stormed out…and then my sister-in-law explained the whole thing.”
“Geez, that doesn’t soud like her at all.”