Long Shot (Hoops 1)

Reckless. Careless. I have to do better today. “Nope. Nothing to it.” I consider the table filled with games. “So are we playing games after August talks with them?”

“Oh, he’s with them now in the gym overseeing some drills,” Shelia says, looking at me slyly. “He’ll probably leave after that so looks like you got all dressed up for nothing.”

“I wouldn’t call this dressed up …” Her words sink in, and disappointment follows. I don’t even bother finishing my denial.

So I won’t see August today. It’s for the best.

I’m still convincing myself of that when the kids pour in, sweaty and laughing, from the gym. I put on a bright smile and serve the bagged lunches they’ll eat before the games start.

I’m passing out Gatorades when a deep rumble of laughter raises the hairs on my arms. I snap my head around, searching for the source. August sits on one of the tables, one foot on the bench and his injured leg stretched out in its cast. He laughs at something with the kids clustered around him and throws his head back. His hair is longer than I’ve ever seen it, and with those dark, caramel-kissed curls, his skin, bronze melded with gold, and his teeth flashing white in the strong planes of his face, I literally cannot take my eyes off him.

I’ll give myself three seconds to look at him.

One.

Two.

And then he looks up, and our eyes hold. I’d love to pretend this is casual. Friends with a dash of attraction. Slightly forbidden, but mostly harmless. There’s an undeniable truth, though, when my eyes connect with his. When our eyes meet, it isn’t casual. He and I together are mayhem. When he looks at me, I can’t pretend otherwise.

I turn away before Torrie and Shelia pay even closer attention, and walk over to the game table and pretend to arrange UNO and Monopoly and Taboo.

“You like board games?”

I jump at his question, dropping a deck of cards all over the floor and at August’s feet.

“Ugh.” I sink to my knees to gather them. “Such a klutz.”

He squats awkwardly, scooping up cards.

“August, no! Your leg.”

I grab his arm and carefully coax him upright, which brings our bodies almost flush. When he looks down at me, his stare mirrors the feelings, the desire pulsing through my body. That stare is hot and hungry and curious. It wonders how I taste. Asks how I’d feel crushed against him. It imagines a first kiss I’m not sure we’ll ever have.

“You look pretty today.” His words are polite enough, but the air between us is thick and carnal. One wrong word could slice right through it.

“Thank you. I …” I encounter Sylvia’s inquiring eyes just beyond his shoulder. I turn my head and collide glances with Torrie and Shelia. “Why is everyone watching us?”

August casts a discreet look from the corner of his eye, and the dark line of his brows falls.

“I think they see the same thing Caleb saw at the game that night.” He surreptitiously links our pinky fingers. “They see I can’t stay away from you. That I don’t want to.”

“August.” I reluctantly untangle our fingers, sweeping the room to see who might still be watching. Everyone seems to have found other things to occupy their attention, but we should separate. “I’m gonna go restock the drinks. I’ll see you later.”

He catches my elbow and bends to whisper in my ear, “Meet me on the basketball court once they start playing games.”

I shake my head and scoot away as quickly as I can because that’s the smart thing to do, but I already know I’ll find a way.

We’re cleaning up after lunch while the kids play games when Torrie broaches the subject I have no desire to discuss.

“So, you and August West,” she says, pulling a bag from the trash can. “You know each other?”

I don’t glance up from the sink of suds and the few dishes there were to wash.

“Not really.” I give her my most innocent smile. “I mean, the way everyone else knows him. That he’s a great player.”

“You two should get on the same page.” She laughs and shakes her head. “’Cause he’s not even trying to fake it, and you’re not very good at it.”

My hands go still over the steamy water.