Kick (Completion Series) (18 page)

Mike was in Joel’s face. “Save it for the fucking field. You can kill each other afterwards.”

Van walked up the bus steps as the guys calmed Joel down.
Thankfully, one of the players followed directly behind Van.

Van gave me an assessing look
without saying a word. He sat in the first seat, two seats up from me. Mike came on the bus next and smiled my way. Joel was next. I was worried he wouldn’t sit anywhere near me. The significance of Monday night had to register with him. We needed to talk, but it wouldn’t happen during a half-day bus ride. He sat down beside me without looking in my direction. His exposed arm muscles remained tight, the veins prominent. I didn’t think I could do this. We’d be sitting next to each other for hours. My head dropped and I stared down at my hands while other players entered the bus. It was happening again—my need to pull my arms and legs into my shell and hide.

The bus finally pulled
away. From the corner of my eye, I watched Joel shift his ball cap low over his face, put his seat back, and close his eyes. In desperation, I dug through my bag and found my old iPod and headphones. The iPod was a sixteenth birthday present from my parents. It had
Sweet Sixteen, love Mom and Dad
engraved on the back. I found the playlist I wanted and turned it on. My eyes closed as I tried to escape into the sound. A tear slipped down my cheek and I worried a major meltdown was seconds away. Joel’s warm fingers grasped mine.

He
pulled my earbud out and whispered, “Shh, we’ll talk later.” He gave my hand a brief squeeze and replaced the earbud.

I breathe
d deeply, grateful that he was at least speaking to me.

We stop
ped for lunch, giving everyone a chance to stretch their legs. The team had clearly eaten there before, because several people applauded when we walked into the diner. Joel led me over to the last two counter seats as other players grabbed booths. I didn’t see Van.

I order
ed a hamburger and fries, too depressed to eat a salad. If I gained twenty pounds maybe all my man trouble would go away. I almost laughed aloud. They say when you lose weight you lose it in your boobs first. So that means if I gain it there first I’ll need a cane to walk.

Joel
ordered a French dip sandwich and a hamburger. An older man sat down next to him and began a conversation about this year’s chances for the championship. It meant Joel could ignore me without trying. Besides his whispered words and small squeeze to my hand, he hadn’t touched me.

I finish
ed my burger and headed to the ladies’ room. I applied a little makeup, ran a small brush through my hair, and walked out. Van was waiting. Shit. I almost backed up and returned to the bathroom, but I needed to handle this and not allow my insecurities to push me down.

“Leave me alone
, Van,” I said in a normal voice unwilling to whisper.

His face
was tense; a muscle ticked in his jaw. “I asked you that first night after dinner what was up with you and my brother. You denied even knowing him. I wouldn’t have touched you if you’d been honest, but I guess you decided you wanted us both. Does my brother have any idea what a slut you are?”

I slapped him. Not the kind of slap you read about in romance books. The kind of slap that left my hand feeling like a thousand pins pushed through it at once. He grabbed m
e when I went to hit him again.

“Feel better?”
He moved closer so his face was inches from mine. “You’re a little firecracker and I don’t think my brother can handle you. When you figure that out, I’ll be waiting. Maybe after a few times, I can fuck you out of my system completely.”

He blocked my knee
, which was heading to his balls. I almost screamed out in frustration, but a large hand landed on Van’s shoulder. My breath left in a whoosh of relief when I realized it was Mike.

He was angry
, but he spoke softly looking straight at me. “Go find Joel while I have a talk with Van.” I didn’t wait around.

Joel
was outside talking to a few people, obviously fans. He inspected me from head to toe when I practically ran out of the restaurant. I think I could have carried it off, but his brother stormed out after me with Mike on his heels. So much for Mike’s talk. I headed to the bus, letting my anger take over. I was here to do a job and all I’d done was hide away in my seat like I’d done something wrong. Well I had. I slept with the wrong fucking brother, but to hell with it. Van couldn’t think any worse of me and what I really cared about was what Joel thought.

Joel
entered the bus a minute after me. I was in his seat pulling my recorder from my bag, which was lying on my seat.

“You okay?” H
e smoothed his hand over my back.

I looked at him over my shoulder. “I’m fine. I need to interview some of the guys
, so I’m going to move around a bit once the bus takes off.” My next words were totally unfair, but I was still pissed at Van. “Do you have a problem with that?”

His hand left my back and he gave me a long
probing look. “Do I need to kick my brother’s ass before he gets back on the bus?”

I stomped my foot,
acting like a complete dork. “Save your macho violence for the field. I can handle myself.”

Joel
backed up. “Then I’ll take the inside seat so you can move around.”

“Thank you.” And I meant it
.

Chapter Twenty-One

Moving
farther back in the bus, I questioned a few of the players. There was a distinct coolness that I should have expected. These guys were trying to win a championship and I was causing trouble between their two best players who happened to be brothers and the team’s owners. Mike gave the guy in front of him a dirty look after the player barely acknowledged me. Mike started answering my questions. Sadly, I needed other input because Mike was a key factor in my second article and I didn’t want to use him again. But at least he tried to make me feel comfortable.

Two ho
urs later, we arrived in Sexton, West Virginia, the home of the Timberwolves. For some reason I didn’t think of timber wolves when I thought of West Virginia, but when I Googled it, I discovered they were listed as one of two breeds of wolves in the region.

G
ray flags decorating stores and homes let us know whose territory we entered. Sexton was around the same size as Colt and a rugby town. We went straight to the hotel. Joel waited outside the bus and entered the lobby with me. We stood at the back of the pack waiting for everyone else to check in first. Two clerks opened up and we were able to check in and get our rooms at the same time.

“Let’s grab our bags and find our rooms,” Joel said after we both had our key cards. The bags were sitting by the baggage compartment watched by the
bus driver. I grabbed mine, giving Joel a dirty look when he tried to take it from me. For the first time that day he smiled and didn’t argue as I rolled it behind me.

I was on the eighth floor and didn’t
pay attention when he hit the number eight on the elevator. We both got off and I stopped. “How did you know my floor?”

“It’s the same as mine.”

“Okay, but how did you know?” I asked as I checked my room number and followed the arrows down the hallway until I came to the correct number. I stopped at my door, Joel hadn’t answered me. “What room are you in?”

He didn’t say anything. As I opened the door, the heat from his body shadowed me and I turned. H
is lips came roughly down on mine. The click of the door barely registered. Joel spun me around so my back hit the cool wood. Whereas, his previous kisses were wonderful, this one was more. No gentleness, no questioning tease. He took my mouth while molding his body to every inch of mine. His hands traveled under my top and his fingers grazed the skin beneath my breasts.

Suddenly
, he skimmed lower, wrapping his hands on my hips and lifting me. I could do nothing but circle my legs around his waist. I groaned into his mouth and he gave a low, answering growl back. This was not sweet Joel. Sweet Joel didn’t grind his erection against me. Sweet Joel didn’t move his hands lower cupping my ass, pulling me harder against him.

The sizzling heat running through me washed away all thought.
I was out of breath, desperate for skin on skin, and just as suddenly as it started, he stopped. He nudged my legs from around his waist with one hand. He held me steady as I found I could actually stand upright.

I look
ed into his furious eyes, forgetting to breathe. “I won’t apologize for that—ever.” For just a moment his gaze softened as he pulled a section of my hair aside so he could gaze directly at me. “I think it’s time you told me what happened with my brother either before or after I saw you Monday night.”

“Joel.” I reached up
, but he caught my hand and brought it to his chest. I flattened my fingers, feeling the rapid pace of his heartbeat.

“I need to know
, Cami.” His tender side showed even though anger flashed in his eyes. He kept his hand on mine.

I knew this wouldn’t go over well
, but Joel deserved honesty. “He came to my room after you left. I thought it was you, so I opened the door.” I didn’t really want to go on.

“And?”
His finger tightened fractionally on mine.

“He wanted to get me completely out of his system.”
It hurt just saying the words.

“Did he touch you?” Joel
waited, but I didn’t answer. “Cami, I’ll only think the worst if you don’t tell me.”

“He kissed me.” I couldn’t look at him as I said it. God only knows why I felt so ashamed.

He released my hand and my fingers slid from his chest. “Did you want him to kiss you?”

My head jerked up at the hurt in his voice. “No, no Joel. I didn’t want him to kiss me.”
He had to believe me.

He did. He pulled me against his chest wrapping his strong arms around me and just held on.
“My brother will never touch you again.” He kissed the top of my head, reached around me, and scooted past me to the door.

“Joel
, no, he’s not worth it. Please stay here with me,” I begged.

“If that’s what you truly want I will
… when I get back.” He walked out.

Fuck.
I couldn’t think straight. A split second later, I went through my bag, found my phone, and called Mike.

“Yeah
,” he answered.

I rushed the words
. “Van kissed me Monday night after I told him I wanted nothing to do with him and now Joel’s going after him.”

“Got it.” The phone clicked in my ear.

I sat on the end of the bed and placed my head in my hands, squishing my glasses into the bridge of my nose. I angrily flung them farther up the bed. How had I gotten to this point? It was unfair to Joel, and even though Van was an ass, it was unfair to him. I was the problem.

C
urling up on the bed, I gave into tears. These past two weeks I felt alive for the first time in years. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t understand why life was only safe if I hid from the world. It would be best if I went back to nothingness—a blob of flesh quivering at shadows.

I must have dozed off
, because I wasn’t sure I heard the knock on the door a while later. I reached around for my glasses so I could peer at the clock. Forty-five minutes passed since Joel left, though it felt like hours. I checked the peephole first. He stood in profile. I opened the door and threw myself into his arms.

“Shhh,” he whispered against my hair
. He walked me backward into the room, letting the door close behind us. He sat on the bed and brought me onto his lap.

“I’m so sorry,” I blubbered. “This is my fault. You shouldn’t be fighting with your brother. The two of you should be concentrating on the game. I feel so stupid. This is all my fault.” I
repeated as I cried harder.

Joel leaned back and rolled sideways so I
faced him. He pulled my hair aside so we could see each other clearly. I noticed his swollen lip first. Crap, Mike didn’t get there in time, and I wanted to hide under the bed. There was a small red smear at the corner of his bottom lip and I touched it. This was the damaged side of his face and it surprised me when he allowed my finger to wipe away the blood.

“No worries,
nothing can make that part of me any uglier.”

My heart squeezed painfully.
“Don’t say that. You’re beautiful.” I meant it. He was. A raw groan came from his throat when my fingers moved up from his lip and traced the scar for the first time. His eyelids partially lowered. I wanted to say so many things, but the words escaped me. “Stay with me tonight,” is what spilled out.

He kissed me. This was softer. Sweeter
... forgiving maybe. We gazed at each other throughout the gentle touch of lips. Earlier, he’d shown me his bad boy side. What I saw now was the good man.