“If I know him well enough to fu–” Wyatt cuts me off mid profanity. “I said no.” The heat I hear in his voice takes me by surprise. It also makes my stomach swoop. I can only imagine how good that commanding voice would sound when he’s telling me to—whoa. Stop that right there.
I put the pretzels back in the pantry, using the three seconds I’m not facing him to let a wave of confusion roll through me at the seriousness in his voice. What was that about? I dabbled in dating during college, though nothing ever got serious. I was too busy with school and volleyball to have a boyfriend. By the time I realized my feelings for him, we were firmly in friend territory, destined to go our separate ways. Same for Italy; though, I may have sampled the local specialty on occasion when the mood struck. Nothing ever got close to serious though, because none of them were Wyatt.
“Okay, geez. I hear you loud and clear.” I dust the salt off my hands and move to fill a cup with water. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m jet-lagged and gross. I want to get settled in before we do anything else today.”
And before I do something crazy like kiss you. Just like we did the night before I left for Rome.
Whatever came over him a second ago is gone now. In its wake, he looks a little bashful and unsure. When I walk pasthim to head up the stairs, I put my hand on his shoulder. I’m going to poke the bear. “Your teammates don’t count as strangers, right?” His scowl comes back, brows pinched together, and I duck as he tries to wrap his arms around me.
“You little–”
I squeak as I bound up the stairs, just escaping his grasp. I run all the way to my room. It isn’t until I shut the door behind me and lean against it that I realize I left all of my stuff downstairs.
“Shit.”
In all of about three seconds of our tenure as roommates, I’ve already put my foot in my mouth several times. Why the hell would I ask about bringing a man home? Not only am I not looking for that, but I’m going to be way too busy making this league work to waste time fooling around with a guy…
Unless, of course, Wyatt is amenable.
Chapter Three
NASH
It’s been a while since I was able to give back to my community like this, so I’m thrilled to be here today with the Moons serving food to the unhoused and their animals.
My new team and I gather around a short-haired woman in jeans and a H-Town t-shirt as she explains how the day will work and who the organization is. “Ladies, thank you for being here today. Houston Fights Hunger was established in 2008 and we feed about a thousand people a week between all of our partner groups. Our goal is to meet the citizens of Houston where they are, and oftentimes that’s unsheltered throughout the city. How this works is…”
As I listen to her instructions on riding in cars and handing out food and supplies, I glance at the women around me in disbelief. I recognize Daly, our middle blocker. She’s six-foot-four and from Puerto Rico. Danica, our setter is an eight-year pro originally from Serbia. Lauren is our opposite hitter and a decorated Olympic medalist. Others on the team are NCAA champions, All-Americans, and National League champions. I may have been looking them up as the team was announced.My nose tingles at the thoughts of all these athletes on my team. I’m beyond proud to be here with them. I fought for my right to stand among them.
I’m home. In Houston. Playing volleyball. No more ten-hour flights, no more time changes, no more tiny Italian apartment balcony overlooking the cobblestone streets. Playing internationally after college wasn’t even a question. There were no other options. My choices were to find a desk job, or leave the country.
Until now.
We are all assigned a car to ride in with a member of the charity. Danica, Lauren, and I are put in the same group and we clamber into our group leader’s car. The trunk has been filled with premade meals and gallon bags full of supplies. There’s even bags of dog food if they have a furry friend.
“They’ve thought of everything,” I say to Danica in the back seat.
“I know, right. It’s super-efficient. I kind of love that.”
“I think it’s a good way to start off on the right foot as a team.” We buckle our seatbelts as our group leader, Ashley, gets the car started.
“Is anyone from here,” she asks.
I nod in response. “I am, but I’ve been gone a long time. I went to college in Wisconsin and then I played international volleyball in Italy.”
She laughs as she pulls away from the curb. “I can tell you’re all volleyball players.”
Lauren snorts when she laughs. “That obvious, huh?”
Danica and Lauren introduce themselves to Ashley as we drive to our first spot. Danica’s been all over in her eight years in pro volleyball. Lauren has an Olympic silver medal and is from Colorado, but went to school at UCLA.
As much as I would have liked to hang out with my one other teammate I’ve played with previously, Temi, I’m kind of glad I’m being forced to get to know the other girls better. I think both Temi and I will be better off this way instead of being able to stay in our comfort zones, which is with each other.
When we finally pull up to the first stop—an underpass somewhere along I-10 West. There’s a group of people already waiting. The other players and I kind of take a back seat and let Ashley lead the way. She gets out first, greeting people by name, and the rest of us follow. She gestures at us, “This is Nash, Danica, and Lauren. They’re part of the new Houston volleyball team and they’re helping out today.”
Smiles break out among most of the people, some even say hello back. We gather at the trunk of the car and follow the instructions we were given earlier.
A man with gray hair comes up to me, I hand him a Styrofoam box with spaghetti, bread, and salad. “What drink would you like? We have water, soda, and Gatorade.” Wow, I immediately feel myself falling back into my waitressing persona I had when I worked at a Texas Roadhouse in high school.