“Just be patient with her. She didn’t say much, but I know that whole thing with Evan really bothered her.”
I hadn’t actually considered it because I’d been thinking about myself, about getting the woman I wanted.
“I don’t think she’s sad that he’s moved on, by any means. But…it’s pretty cold that he is already remarried when it’s been a relatively short amount of time. Just the fact that she never really meant anything to him…is a tough pill to swallow.”
My eyes shifted back to her on the court, watching her play with the guys with a focused look on her face, treating the sport competitively like it was being televised. “Yeah…”
“Just giving you a heads-up about the whole thing. I really want this to work.”
I gave a slight smile but didn’t feel it this time. “I can tell.”
He clapped me on the back then headed onto the court. “Good luck out there…even though we’re gonna kick your ass.”
Carson was playful on the court. Whenever she was blocking me, she would find any excuse to touch me, to run her palms down my sweaty chest instead of trying to steal the ball. When she came at me from behind, her hand felt my ass in my shorts. The woman was practically groping me.
I got the ball across the court to a teammate then grabbed her by the hips so she wouldn’t run off. I pulled her into me and kissed her while the game continued, tasting her sweat and my own, my hands moving to her ass in her shorts and giving her a good squeeze. When I pulled away, she was a bit paralyzed, so I took off, got the ball, and made a shot without being covered.
She gave me an impish glare then rejoined the game.
After the match was over, when my team won, we headed to the bleachers to cool off and get some water.
She sat beside Charlie, her legs crossed, the towel on her head. “My ass is so sore I can barely sit.”
“Want me to massage it for you?” I teased.
“No.” She gave me a lighthearted smack. “Well…maybe later.”
Charlie cringed before he took a drink from his bottle. “TMI.”
“You want to talk about TMI?” she countered. “What about—”
“Do not go there.” He silenced her with a look.
“Dirty secret, huh?” I asked.
“He’s got a few of them, actually,” Carson said. “Let’s just say he has sex really loud sometimes…”
He rolled his eyes. “Like you don’t…”
“Not with a fifty-year-old,” she countered.
“She didn’t look fifty,” Charlie snapped. “She was the fittest chick I’ve ever seen.”
“And the loudest.” She drank from her bottle.
I liked the way they teased each other, like they were really family. I never believed a straight woman and a straight man could be just friends. Sexual attraction and an emotional attachment were inevitable. But somehow, they beat the odds. I wasn’t the least bit intimidated by their relationship. Sometimes it felt like Charlie was actually her brother.
“What are we eating?” Matt asked.
“I’ll eat anything.” Carson pulled the towel off her head and patted her face with it.
“Me too,” Charlie said.
“Sandwiches?” I suggested.
“Let’s do it.” Matt got up first.
I checked in with the guys to see if they wanted to come, but they all had early mornings the next day, so it was just the four of us.
We left the gym and walked down the street together.
“Will William be joining us again?” Carson asked as she walked beside me.
“Maybe. But he’s pretty busy.” I didn’t expect him to join us every week, not when he had a practice to run and patients to see.
“I like him,” she said. “He’s a cool guy.”
“Yeah, I like him too.”
We reached the deli and gave our orders. This time, I let her pay for her meal, and I paid for mine—as two separate people. Trying to bind us together at the register was probably the kind of pressure she didn’t want.
We sat at the table with chips and sodas and waited for our food.
Carson sat across from me, going to town on her chips. “Your sister hates me…by the way.”
I’d never asked Renee how the interview went because I didn’t want to talk about Carson. But we also hadn’t spent much time together because we were swamped all week. We also worked on different floors, so we didn’t see each other unless we went out of our way to do so. “What?”
“That interview did not go well.” Her hand continued to dive into the chip bag. “Point-blank, she said she didn’t like me.”
That was shocking to me because I made such an effort with William. “I can’t see my sister behaving that way.”
“Then ask her.” She popped another chip into her mouth. “It was like a scene from Game of Thrones. I was Khaleesi, and she was Cersei.”
I knew Carson wouldn’t lie, but I also couldn’t believe my sister would decide to treat her that way.
“So, I don’t think she and I will be getting along…” She kept eating.
“No surprise there,” Charlie said. “No one likes journalists.”
“I didn’t ask her anything weird,” she countered. “She just came at me hard about Dax.”
I couldn’t believe Renee did that. Now I knew why she didn’t mention it, because she knew I’d be pissed.
Carson finished her bag of chips then eyed mine. “Are you gonna eat that or…?”
Just like that, I forgot I was mad. I tossed the bag to her, a smile on my lips. “All yours, sweetheart.”
“Gonna take half his sandwich next?” Charlie turned to me. “Anytime I come to the office with lunch, she takes half of whatever it is. I’m really glad she’ll be taking food from you instead of me from now on.”
Carson stuck out her tongue. “Maybe I should stop buying groceries for the both of us every week then, huh? Stop buying your damn toilet paper and condoms while I’m at it.”
“Ooh…” Matt looked at Charlie. “Don’t piss her off.”
Carson looked at me. “I just want my man to know I’m not some leech.”
My man. I liked that. “You can take all my food if you want. I want my woman to be full and happy.”
She stilled at what I said before digging her hand back into the bag and grabbing another chip.
Our sandwiches were brought out, and we ate next to the window.
“I could cry right now,” Matt said. “This is so good.”
“It’s plain turkey and cheese,” Charlie said. “It’s not even a full sandwich.”
Matt spoke with his mouth full. “Don’t care…fucking amazing.”
Carson had better manners when she ate, but she still inhaled her food like a man.
Charlie finished chewing his bite before he addressed her again. “When are you going to talk to Kat?”
Matt continued to eat, his eyes moving back and forth.
I wasn’t sure what Charlie meant exactly.
“You told Matt?” she asked incredulously.