Delay of Game (The Baltimore Banners Book 6) (11 page)

The sound cut through the grayness, poking at the edge of consciousness. Persistent, annoying. Justin muttered and rolled to his side, his arm snaking around a pillow and tugging it over his head.

The noise stopped. Justin sighed, shifted, and drifted a little deeper into the grayness, searching for the darker edges of sleep.

There it was again. Chirping, the high pitched sound slightly muffled. Another sound quickly followed. Banging, far off somewhere.

Justin threw the pillow across the bed and rolled to his back, trying to force his eyes open, trying to shake off the sluggish grip of sleep. More chirping, followed by the banging.

His phone.

And someone at the door.

"Christ." Justin pushed himself to his elbows, blinking the sleep from his eyes. The only light in the room filtered in through the gap in the curtains, a watery gray light that could be early morning or early evening.

Shit. Did he oversleep? He was supposed to meet Val, had practice in the morning. Shit.

He groped for the phone, his hand closing over it as his thumb tapped the screen, answering it as he rolled from the bed and stumbled out of his room. "Yeah? Hello?"

He sounded groggy to his own ears, his voice hoarse and rusty, clogged with sleep. There was a pause from the other end, long enough that he made it to the living room, managing to trip over his own feet only once.

"Justin?" Val's voice, hesitant and uncertain. "Is everything okay?"

"Val. Shit. I'm sorry. I overslept. Let me get rid of whoever's banging down my door and I'll jump in the shower and head over there."

The sound of laughter came through the line, the sound light and musical and so different from his throaty rambling. Justin frowned and stared at the phone, wondering why Val was laughing. He could ask her, as soon as he got rid of whoever was banging on the door. "Hang on a sec."

Justin finally reached the door and yanked it open then stopped, frozen in place. He blinked, blinked again, certain he was seeing things. He pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at it, then looked back at Val and blinked once more.

"It's you. I mean, you're here." What a genius thing to say. Of course she was here, she was standing right in front of him. Unless he was still dreaming. Or seeing things.

Val laughed and stepped past him, her arm brushing against his chest. Too late he realized she was carrying several large plastic bags. He reached out to help her but she was already moving deeper into the condo, looking around as she walked through.

Justin closed the door then scrubbed both hands over his face, trying to brush away the remnants of sleep that still gripped him. Then he followed Val through the dining room and into the kitchen, where she was already pulling containers out of the bags and placing them on the counter. Rich smells immediately filled the room, warm and hearty, mouthwatering. Justin jammed his fist into his stomach to stop it from growling just as Val turned to look at him.

Damn, she was so freaking beautiful, even in a simple pair of curve-hugging jeans and plain cream-colored sweater. He wasn't used to seeing her in jeans and he was half-tempted to ask her to turn around, to model them for him so he could see just how they hugged every delicious curve.

"So I'm guessing you just woke up?"

"Hm?" Justin dragged his gaze from her legs to her face, surprised to see her eyes lit with laughter.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah. I think." Justin ran his hand down his face once more then rubbed at his chest. "I must have crashed hard. What time is it?"

"Just a little after five."

Yeah, he definitely crashed hard. Justin generally kept his naps to forty-five minutes. Maybe an hour, tops. But if it was already after five, that meant he'd slept more than two hours. No wonder he felt sluggish, like each move was being made through quicksand.

He grabbed a glass from the counter, filling it with water from the refrigerator dispenser. He drained it in several long gulps, refilled it, and drained it again. He was halfway through the third glass when he finally realized what was wrong.

He lowered the glass and looked over at Val, surprised to find her staring at him. "Wait. Aren't you supposed to be working? Shit, please don't tell me it's five in the morning."

Val laughed and shook her head, sending her hair swaying. "You really did crash, didn't you?" She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, her body warm and soft as she looked up at him. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth and she shook her head. "No, it's not morning. And I took off work so we could spend more time together. I know how insane your schedule's going to be."

Something shifted in Justin's chest. Something warm and hard at the same time, something that made his breath catch and his heart jump. He had been worried about the upcoming schedule, knowing he wouldn't have much time to see Val, worrying she might not understand. He knew lots of players whose wives and girlfriends didn't understand, couldn't handle the stress of the regular season let alone the playoffs. Hell, his ex-wife was one of them.

But not Val. Val was different. Of course she understood. Justin wasn't sure why that surprised him, knew it shouldn't.

He reached behind him and sat the glass on the counter, then wrapped his arms around Val, pulling her closer. Her head tilted back, her eyes warm and inviting, her full lips parted slightly. Justin leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers. Once, twice. Her tongue darted out and met with his and that quick, fire consumed him. Need, burning and intense. He slid his hand down her back and cupped her ass, so lovingly hugged by soft denim. Christ, he wanted her. Needed her. Right now.

Val broke the kiss with a breathy sigh and pulled away, stepping out of his arms. Justin groaned, the sound more of a growl, which only made her laugh. "The food will get cold if we keep that up."

"That's okay, I'm not hungry." But damn if his stomach didn't choose just then to issue a loud protest. He placed his hand against his stomach, willing it to silence even as Val laughed.

"Of course you're not." She started going through his cabinets, pulling out plates and silverware and placing them on the large counter island. Then she pulled lids off the containers, one by one, lining each up along the countertop. Deep rich smells filled the kitchen, causing his stomach to rumble again.

He moved closer and looked down, his mouth watering at the sight of the food. "Did you cook all this?"

Val glanced at him over her shoulder, her eyes flashing with amusement. "As much as I would love to take credit for it, I can't. Alyssa put all this together. You've got your proteins, your healthy carbs, probably a gazillion calories worth of approved playoff food. I have no idea how much you want of each, so dig in."

She grabbed both plates then handed one to him and stepped out of the way, motioning for him to start. Justin shook his head and tried to move out of the way. "No, it's ladies first."

Val rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll play clean-up. Besides, I won't feel bad pigging out after watching you load up. Compared to how much you eat, I'm a lightweight."

Justin wanted to contradict her but he couldn't. Now that he was out of his downward spiral, focusing on his game like he should, he was eating the way he should. Healthy, nutritious. No junk food.

No alcohol.

He reached into one of the drawers and grabbed a few serving spoons, then started piling food onto his plate. Val waited for him to finish, then scooped food onto her own plate. Real food, real amounts, like she was hungry and not about to hide it.

Like a real person.

"What's so funny?"

"What?"

"You look like you're getting ready to laugh. Why?"

"Oh. Sorry." Justin pressed his lips together and shook his head. Yeah, no way was he going to explain that one. Val cocked one brow at him and he had a feeling she knew anyway.

She tucked her foot under one of the stools and pulled it out, ready to sit down.

"We, uh, we could eat in the dining room." Justin motioned to the room with his head. The area was nothing more than an extension of the kitchen's open floor plan, and there was nothing in it to really make it stand out. In fact, the only thing in there was a chrome glass-topped table flanked by six chairs draped in black fabric, precisely arranged over a large geometrical area rug.

Val glanced over at the modern table then lowered herself onto the stool. "This is cozier."

Justin glanced over at the table then took a seat across from Val. He couldn't argue with her—the kitchen was cozier. Hell, he usually ate in the living room, generally right in front of the television.

Because he had such an exciting life.

Had. Past tense. That was changing now, thanks to the woman across from him. He just hoped to hell it kept going that way, that he didn't fuck this up, too.

No, he wasn't thinking like that anymore. It was time to put the past behind him, to move forward. He took a few bites, savoring the rich flavors, then put his fork down and cleared his throat. Val looked over at him, curiosity in her wide eyes. Justin tried to smile but could only manage half of one as he reached over and placed his hand over hers.

"I, uh, I just wanted to say thanks."

"For dinner? Don't be silly—"

"No. I mean, yes, but that's not what I meant." Justin ran a finger along the back of her hand, not quite able to meet her eyes. "I meant for everything else. For the last few weeks. For just…being you."

"Oh." There was something in her voice, something Justin couldn't quite understand, so he glanced up. Val was staring down at her plate, absently twirling her fork in the pasta. She finally looked over at him and shrugged. "I didn't really do anything."

"Yes, you did. I don't think—" He stopped and cleared his throat. "I think the last few weeks would have turned out a lot differently if not for you. So thank you."

Was it his imagination, or did Val suddenly look a little uncomfortable? She shifted on the stool, not quite meeting his eyes. Then she eased her hand from his and grabbed her napkin, making a show of wiping her mouth before taking a sip of water.

She finally looked over at him, a bright smile on her face. "Not a big deal. You don't have to thank me. Seriously. You should eat before it gets cold."

Maybe Val was the type of person who was uncomfortable with compliments. He hoped to hell that was the case, hoped he hadn't just made a fool of himself. But all he'd done was thank her, surely that wasn't enough to make her uncomfortable.

Justin almost asked her what was wrong, if he had said something he shouldn't have. But Val was concentrating on her food, not even looking at him anymore, and he decided against it.

Maybe he was just reading too much into things. That had to be it.

They ate the rest of their dinner in relative silence, making nothing more than casual small talk. Val tried helping with the cleanup but he was adamant against it, telling her to just get comfortable in the living room. He watched her move to the sofa, breathing a sigh of relief when she chose to sit there instead of the leather chair, where there would be no room for him.

Clean up took less than five minutes. One of the blessings of take-out containers and dishwashers. Justin refilled both water glasses then moved to the living room, taking a seat next to Val. Not too close. He didn't want her to feel crowded, not when he still thought that maybe he'd said something wrong earlier.

But she smiled up at him and moved closer when he sat down, curling her legs under her and resting her head on his shoulder. He draped his arm behind her, his fingers lightly caressing her neck.

She snuggled a little closer, her hand resting in the center of his chest. "This is nice."

She had no idea. But Justin was afraid to say too much, so he just dropped a kiss on the top of her head and tightened his arm around her a little more.

"Did you want to watch a movie or anything?"

"If you want. Or we could just sit here and snuggle."

"Snuggle is good." Yeah, snuggle was better than good. The discomfort that had been eating at him since he opened his mouth earlier faded away. Maybe he had just been reading too much into things. If Val wanted to snuggle, that had to mean everything was fine, right?

"I can still get tickets to tomorrow's game if you want me to."

Val shook her head, a few strands of her hair tickling his chin. He felt her small laugh instead of really hearing it, her breath warm through the thin cotton of his worn-out t-shirt. "No. I told you, the last time I went to one of the early games, the Banners got swept in the first round. I can go to game five, nothing sooner than that."

Justin wanted to argue with her, try to convince her to go. But he wasn't going to discount superstitions, especially not at playoff time. As much as he wanted to have her there, watching him play in person, he'd have to settle for knowing she was watching on television.

"Then you'll be at Game Five?"

"Mm-hm." She snuggled a little closer, her other arm sliding behind his back. Her touch was warm, steady. Reassuring. Justin smiled and slid his hand along her arm, amazed at the dewy softness of her skin. So much softer than his. Pale and delicate.