Freeing Carter (29 page)

"
Okay
,
okay. I
'
m going. Don
'
t make us wreck.
"

The place is totally dark
,
I
'
m assuming because old people live here
,
and they go to bed early
,
right? There are a couple big
,
brown buildings that I
'
m assuming are packed with
...
well
,
senior citizens.
"
I give up. Why are we here?
"

"
Do you have a pencil or a pen in here? Oh
,
and what do you have in your bag for clothes?
"
Kira opens my glove-box and pulls out a pen. I can
'
t help but stare while she pulls her hair up. Does some crazy
,
twisty
,
turny
,
girl thing and suddenly her hair is held up in a ponytail with a pen. I
'
m man enough to admit I want
to ask how she did it
,
but I don
'
t.

"
Clothes? Um
,
I have a pair of basketball shorts and t-shirt that I use for practice. There
'
s also shorts in the cab that I keep there just in case.
"
She looks at me funny and I shrug.
"
Never know when I might want to stop somewhere and play ball.
"

She smiles widely
,
and for the first time
,
I notice a slight gap between her two front teeth. Nothing big
,
obviously since it took me this long to notice it
,
but for some reason
,
it
'
s so her.
"
Grab the clothes and be quiet. It
'
s time for a little breaking and entering.
"

***

Yeah
,
definitely not what I expected her to say. I
'
m jumping out of my truck and behind her in about two seconds flat.
"
What? Where are we breaking and entering? Grandma
'
s house?
"

"
Shh.
"
She slips her arm through mine
,
hugging herself close to me as we walk. I can
'
t believe it
,
but it almost makes me stumble. That little touch sends all sorts of firecrackers exploding through my body. I like touching her. I want to touch more of her.
"
Let
'
s not announce to everyone we
'
re here. Do you like hot tubs?
"
Kira whispers.

"
Yeah
,
who doesn
'
t?
"

"
Well
,
most of the time apartments have them. The gates usually close at night
,
but I bet we can sneak in and we
'
ll have the whole thing to ourselves. You in?
"

Hot tub. Gorgeous girl. Totally don
'
t have to ask me twice. It
'
s worth a B&E charge.
"
I
'
m in.
"

We sneak through the complex
,
on the hunt for the pool and Jacuzzi. Kira is still holding onto me as we follow the twists and turns of the sidewalk. When someone starts to open a door
,
I pull her with me
,
ducking behind a huge bush. She stumbles
,
her feet tying up in mine
,
and falls against me as I hit the side of the building.

"
Come on
,
George. I
'
m not getting any younger!
"
a
woman
'
s voice says from around the corner.

"
I
'
m coming. I
'
m coming. Keep your teeth in
,"
a guy replies.

A laugh tries to jump out of my mouth
,
but then Kira
'
s hand is covering it
,
her face buried in my chest as she laughs against me. When the old couple disappears and her shoulders stop shaking
,
Kira pulls away from my chest and looks up at me. We
'
re close. Almost as close as we were that night at the court. Or maybe closer. I don
'
t know. All I know is she
'
s all I feel or know or smell. The
explosions
start going off in me again and there
'
s a stirring of some action below the belt.

I take in her cheekbones of all things. They
'
re high and cut like a model
'
s. Not that I
'
ve ever noticed cheekbones before or knew they could be so perfect
,
but they are. I
'
m not sure if I
'
ll ever look at a girl
'
s cheekbones the same again. I have to bite my lip not to lean down and kiss her. God
,
I want to kiss her so bad
,
I
'
m dizzy
,
but instead I open my mouth and say
,
"
I wasn
'
t thinking of Mel. When we kissed
,
I mean. I was thinking of you. I wanted to kiss
you.
"

The Ladies Man of the Year award is so not going to me because she has me all upside down and backward
,
but I can
'
t find it in me to care.

"
That
'
s good to know
,
Coach.
"
Her breath is warm against my face. Warm and minty and even though I
'
ve never been a mint person
,
I
'
m totally craving it right now.

"
And earlier? She told me she wanted me back
,
but I don
'
t want her.
J
ust so you know.
"

This earns me another one of her smiles.
"
Good. Now come on
,
let
'
s go.
"

This time I don
'
t let her get away without being the one to grab her hand. As though she
'
s been here before
,
she
weaves
her way through the place again
,
pulling me along. I
'
m worried she might have been wrong and there
'
s not going to be a Jacuzzi here when we finally see a fence up ahead and to the left.

Okay
,
so I know I thought earlier that I had the worst luck
,
but now I
'
m thinking the opposite. It
'
s totally secluded
,
with tall bushes around most of the fence and pretty far into the complex. Now
,
if we can just get in the gate
,
I just might start to think I
'
m the luckiest guy in the world.

"
Over here
,"
I tell her as I head toward the far back of the fence. It
'
s brick back here.
"
Can you step in my hand and climb up if I lift you?
"

"
Absolutely. But what about you?
"

"
Don
'
t worry. Nothing is keeping me on
this
side of that wall.
"

There
'
s a lamp on the other side
,
but it gives me enough light to see her. Kira laughs and shakes her head
,
but I think for the first time
,
I see a hit of red in her light brown skin. Linking my hands together
,
I hold them out. Kira steps in
,
grabs the top of the wall
,
and pulls herself up. The ledge is wide enough that she
'
s sitting on it.

"
We totally scored. There
'
s a table on this side.
"

"
Nice.
"
I
hand
her the bags. Then I jump
,
grabbing the ledge of the wall and hoping like hell I
'
m strong enough to pull myself up. How lame would I look if I couldn
'
t do it?

But I can. I pull until I can throw my leg up on the ledge and straddle the wall like she is.
"
Let me get down first and I
'
ll help you.
"
Jumping down to the table
,
I hold my arms out for her and she lowers herself into them before standing on the table
with
me.

I almost go for it right there
,
not able to hold myself back from touching my lips to hers
,
but she
leaps to the ground
before I get the chance. She pulls her shoes off
,
then her socks.
"
Can I wear the shirt and shorts from your bag?
"

"
No
,"
l
eaps out of my mouth
,
but then I hand the bag to her.
"
I want it on record that I think skinny dipping is a much better idea.
"

"
I
'
m sure no one would doubt that
,
Coach
,
but who knows what the old people do in that water.
"

Good point.

Kira holds up her hand and draws a circle in the air with her finger.
"
Turn around.
"

This girl is going to be the death of me
,
but I
turn
around so she can change. Her jersey hits the table
,
then a shirt. Kira is in her bra behind me. Let me repeat that
,
Kira is in her bra behind me and there
'
s nothing in the world I want more than to turn around
to
see her. I hear more shuffling of clothes before her pants are on the table
,
too.

"
You can turn around now.
"

Yeah. Now that the show
'
s over. She
'
s already lowering a foot into the water when I take off my shirt. She has to hold my shorts up so they don
'
t fall off her. The t-shirt drowns her
,
but I
'
m pretty sure she
'
s still the hottest girl I
'
ve ever seen.

And I totally need to get my head together.

My pants come next and I pull on the other pair of shorts I had in my bag.
"
Care if I turn on the jets and stuff?
"
I ask her.
She shakes her head.
I open the little box on the wall and turn them on. It
'
s kind of loud
,
and I hope nobody will come out to check. A few seconds later
,
I lower
myself into the water with her.

Silence.

Kira leans her head backward
,
closes her eyes
,
obviously enjoying the quiet
,
but me? I
'
m not as good with it. I want to say something
,
but I
'
m not sure what. But then
,
Kira saves me
,
or ruins me. I
'
m not sure which.