End Game (Bellevue Bullies 4)

I turn slowly, and I realize Amelia was right when she said her brother didn’t normally dress like he had at the meet yesterday. Today, he is wearing athletic pants that are rolled at the bottom with some black Chucks. His shirt is teal and tight against his chest, the Bullies emblem on the front. He is wearing those very sexy and very naughty Clark Kent glasses, and his hair is in a ruffled mess on his head.

He is drop-dead sexy, and everything inside of me catches on fire.

Oh shit.

His eyes slowly land on me, blazing blue, and the air rushes out of me within seconds.

Holy crap.

Amelia is either ignoring her brother’s blatant gawking at me or she’s trying to save me, because she says, “What? I did nothing wrong—”

Before Amelia can finish, Ryan closes the gap between them, his hands coming to her shoulders after, like, two strides. He’s huge! “Are you hurt? Why are you crying?”

Oh hell, and he loves his sister.

Heart, be still, you stupid bastard!

She waves him off, the bag he is holding smacking against her arm. “I’m frustrated. That stupid beam.”

He shakes his head, his eyes intent on her. “Amelia, really?”

“No, really, Ry, it’s that damn beam. It’s gonna be the death of me.”

He eyes her, and the way he looks at her, so caring, so desperate to make sure she is okay, blows me away. It’s as if he doesn’t even know I’m in the room, when two seconds ago, I was all he saw.

That shouldn’t turn me on.

But it rattles me from within.

“It’s a four-inch-wide jerk. Make it your bitch.”

She grins, and I can’t fight back my own grin. That was a really nice thing to say. “Thanks, Coach.”

He squeezes her arms. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I am, promise.”

“Okay,” he says slowly, and she waves him off.

“Honestly. I am.”

He sighs. “I brought you some lunch—both of you, actually, since I’m sure you guys are hungry, and you didn’t answer my calls to tell me no.”

“Sorry. I fell asleep. We were whipped last night.”

“Understandable. You guys did fantastic,” he says, and then he looks at me. Everything around me goes still as my body tingles with jolts of crazy emotions I’ve never felt in my life.

Who the hell is this guy?

“You missed one hell of a party.”

“Yeah, I know, but eh. We wanted to get in here and work a bit, but I think the beam worked me.”

He nods, and then out of nowhere, those intense blue eyes fall on me once more. This close, I can see that he’s a giant beside me. My head goes almost all the way back to look up at him, and man, what a sight he is. I can see the dimples in his cheeks, the stubble along his jaw, and shit, the way his hair is tickling the top of his ears is sexy. I want to move his hair back, whisper things in his ear. What? Who knows why, but I want to.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen good-looking men. I don’t live under a rock, but there is something about this guy that has my gut in a knot and my heart racing.

And I don’t like that at all.

He turns to face me, and I have never felt such an irrational need to touch someone. I am a very in-control person, but staring into his blue depths, I don’t know that I can control myself.

Which is another thing I do not like.

At all.

“So,” he draws out, but I’m tongue-tied.

Why am I tongue-tied?

What is wrong with me?

He looks back to Amelia, and she sets him with a look. “I’m your so-called sister, remember?”

He rolls his eyes before looking back to me, those eyes so blue, so friendly and inviting. Problem is, the things he probably wants to invite me to, I know I can’t do. “Hey, so, yeah, sorry. My sister sucks sometimes. I’m Ryan Justice. You’re Sophie, right?”

He holds out his hand, and it’s so big, so thick, and I want to touch it. But I just look at it. He said my name wrong, but I can’t correct him. It would mean that I want him to call me by my name. That I’ll see him again. And I can’t. Looking back to him, I sense my heart in my throat, and my body is tingling. I feel as if I might combust if I touch him.

Yeah, nope.

My mom didn’t raise me to be rude, so I say, “Hey.” But that’s it before I look to Amelia. “I’m gonna go warm up.”

And then I walk away.

Before I do something I’ll regret.