“I’m not going to insult either of us by pretending it’ll be easy,” he said.
My stomach flipped. When I looked up again, Hunter was watching me with an expression so open and conflicted that I had to remind myself not to move closer.
“Okay,” I said. “We try.”
He nodded once. “Good.”
“Good.”
Neither of us moved. The word sat there, completely useless. Because nothing about this felt good or resolved or safe. It felt like standing at the edge of deep water and agreeing not to jump while both of us stared at the surface, wondering how cold it would feel if we fell in anyway. Finally, I picked up my towel from the bench and draped it around my neck. “I should go.”
His eyes stayed on mine. “Okay.” His voice came out rough.
I took a step back, forcing my voice to stay light. “I’ll see you around.”
His jaw flexed. “Yeah, Catherine.”
My name in his voice followed me all the way to the door and into my parents’ condo. Hunter was right. We both had too much riding on the line. I had worked too hard to get where I was, and I wasn’t going to hurt my family. Neither was he. So we would have to do the adult thing and show restraint.
CHAPTER 6
Hunter
I was avoiding Catherine Davis. Like a coward. For two days, I had become a damn professional at it. I ran outside instead of using the building gym. I took the stairs if I heard the elevator ding. I grabbed coffee two blocks over instead of downstairs.
After that night in the gym, I had told myself that seeing her naked in the shower getting herself off was a one-and-done situation. We were going to forget it happened and move on like mature adults who understood consequences. That was the plan. At least it would have been the plan if I could stop thinking about her. My brain was a traitor, and it kept taking me right back to that pool house. The way she’d frozen, not because she was horrified, but because she was turned on by me. That was the part that messed with me.
If she had screamed, thrown shampoo at my head, and told me to get out, I could have shoved the whole thing into a mental box labeled horrible accident and moved on, but she kept those fingers buried between her thighs. Her green eyes were so lust-filled, and her breathing was fast. Shit. I was getting hard againjust thinking about it. And to make matters worse, I didn’t even have to close my eyes to remember the way she looked at me in the gym when she said, I’m twenty-four years old, Hunter. I’m a woman now. As if I didn’t know. As if that wasn’t the problem.
My phone rang on the kitchen counter, dragging me out of the same thought spiral I’d been stuck in since my morning run. Max. His timing was impeccable. I needed a distraction so I wouldn’t head to the shower to get myself off while I was thinking of licking Catherine’s tits. Shit. I was a monster. Her dad was my coach. My friend.
I hit answer and put him on speaker. “What?”
“Good morning to you too, sunshine.”
“I just ran six miles in Dallas heat.”
“Come get breakfast.”
“No.”
“No?” Max sounded personally offended. “That’s it? Just no?”
“I can’t. I’m heading to the arena.”
“For what?”
“Leo Karlsson is coming in today.”
There was a pause. “Baby Karlsson signed?” Max asked.
“He did,” I confirmed.
“Damn. That’s sick. I’m coming over. We can drive over together,” Max offered.
“You weren’t invited,” I said grumpily.
He laughed. “You really need to get laid, bro. Isla is at camp. Take advantage of this time to get your dick wet.”