Cole raises a forefinger. He’s barely standing, and there are red nails marks all over his neck. Someone had a night.
“Correction,” he says. “We didn’t make her. She wanted to do this.”
“Is that so?” I fold my arms.
Xan swats him. “Shut it.” He laughs, meeting my gaze. “Won’t happen again, Captain. Striker’s honour.”
“I know it won’t because every time you think about pulling such a stunt, you’ll think about the early swim you’re about to take.”
“But it’s fucking freezing outside,” Ronan wines.
I raise an eyebrow. “Exactly.”
“Captain.” Xander shows me his charming smile. “You can’t sacrifice me. I’m your ace striker.”
“That would be me.” Aiden’s bored voice drifts through. He leans against the counter, sipping from a black mug.
“Traitor,” Cole mutters.
Aiden lifts a shoulder. “I warned you. This is the ‘I told you so,’ moment.”
I knew I could count on Aiden’s itch for that girl. Now, he won’t dare to cross a line with me, because he knows full well that my threats aren’t empty ones.
“Outside. Ten laps each.” I point in the direction of the pool. It’s raining. Perfect.
“I hope you gathered enough money from the bets to admit us into a fucking hospital afterwards.” Cole nudges Xander.
“All bad ideas start with X.” Ronan slaps him on the shoulder. “Connard.”
“Oh, fuck off. You two wanted to see Captain’s reaction.”
“Glad to answer your wish,” I smirk. “There will be extra practice later, too.”
A collective groan fills the space as they start stripping.
“Can we at least have breakfast first?” Xan asks with a cautious tone.
I shake my head.
He grunts. “Worth the try.”
“What’s going on?” The voice coming from the entrance stops me in my tracks.
All eyes turn towards her. She’s wearing her shorts and one of my T-shirt that I leave at Ronan’s place.
A wave of possessiveness hits me at seeing her wearing my colours and my number. From now on, I want her to wear only that.
Her hair is still damp from the shower and falls on either side of her face. The bright green of her eyes fix on each of the guys and they stop stripping.
It’s Ronan who runs toward her first with his hands on his belt. “Astrid, my drinking buddy queen. Tell the tyrant captain to stop torturing us.”
“You’re doing an extra lap, Ronan.” I tell him.
“Torture?” Astrid asks, appearing lost.
Ronan and Xander fill her in and soon, the three arseholes surround her, pleading with her to save them.
“I wanted to do it, it was fun,” she tells me, chuckling. “Aren’t you being a little too hard on them?”
“He is!” Ronan high-fives her.
“Hey, fuckers. Hands off.” I step between them and Astrid. “Ten laps in the pool or something else. Your choice.”
They know the alternative will be a lot fucking worse.
They all run towards the pool, removing their clothes on the way. Astrid breaks down in laughter when Ronan and Cole push Xander into the water, shouting, “The Devil first!”
When she continues staring at them, smiling as they bitch about the cold. I regret not making them go in with their clothes on.
I don’t like that she watches them half-naked. I step into her line of vision, blocking them.
Aiden smirks from my peripheral vision, shaking his head.
I flip him off behind Astrid’s back and take her by the arm.
“Do you want breakfast?” I ask.
“I’ll make some if you get them out.”
I narrow my eyes. “No.”
She clutches my arm and tiptoes, brushing her lips along my cheek. “Please?”
Well, fuck. I can’t say no when she puts it that way.
I face Aiden. “Tell them they can come out.”
“After one more lap,” Aiden continues drinking his coffee leisurely, seeming to enjoy the show a bit too much.
I join Astrid behind the counter while she retrieves eggs and packs of bacon from the fridge.
My hands brush along her hips from behind and she sucks in a breath. There’s nothing I want to do more than to kidnap her upstairs and fuck her until she can’t walk anymore.
But she said she needs to know everything. I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready to put an end to this peace.
The three wankers come out after they shower and change into dry clothes. Astrid already has breakfast ready for them. Aiden and I helped. Correction. I made the little shit Aiden help.
It’s surreal when we all sit down for breakfast. I’m at the head of the table. Astrid is on my right and Aiden is at my left.
“Your parents are never here?” Astrid asks Ronan.
“They work a lot for the European Union and shit.” He finishes chewing on his bacon. “C’est merveilleux, my queen.”
“Stop calling her that,” I warn.
He rolls his eyes at the same time as Astrid.
“Are they okay with all the parties you throw?” She helps Xander to another serving of eggs.
Fortunately, she made extra because we eat like pigs in the morning.
“They have to be here to care.” Ronan scowls at me. “But I’m totally telling them what you did when I get bloody Ebola, Captain.”
Xan stops mid-chewing. “Isn’t that shit deadly?”
“Ebola isn’t from the cold,” Cole corrects them, but Ronan and Xander aren’t hearing him. They continue their overdramatic bitching, painting imaginary scenarios about dying of Ebola.
Astrid laughs and jests with them and although I hate seeing her laugh with anyone but me, I can’t help being mesmerised by her spontaneous energy.
She knows I won’t be her prince charming, but she still wants me anyway.
If anything, she wants me because I’m not.
I kick Ronan or Xander whenever they attempt to talk to her and grab her thigh under the table.
My hand snakes up her thigh under the shorts. She sucks in a breath, trying so hard to focus on the coffee.
When she meets my gaze with those huge fucking eyes, my breath catches somewhere out of reach.
Will she still look at me that way when she learns the truth?
46
Astrid
No matter how much you hide it, the darkest truths will always come out.
* * *
After breakfast with the guys, Levi shooed them away.
When that didn’t work, he kidnapped me to the room upstairs and showed me that I should be only looking at him, not his teammates.
I might get close to them just so he’ll show me all over again.
This part of Levi will always get me in a twist.
I try to move from my position splayed out on top of him. I must be heavy. He wraps his strong hands at the small of my back, forbidding me from moving.
He rolls us over so we’re lying facing each other. I want to let him sleep since I doubt he got any last night, but his lips find mine and I’m a goner.