But whether the man was Matthew or not, he never comes back by.
By the time Kane returns my call, I’ve convinced myself I’m being paranoid. Still, he makes me stay with Clarke until he can pick me up.CHAPTER 12KaneI have to park several blocks down from Coach Perron’s house because we’re late to the party. It’s a season kick-off party with a huge barbeque, live music, and free-flowing beer and liquor. A chance for us to let our hair down before the season starts next week, so the new players and their families have an opportunity to meet the veterans and theirs.
We’re late because Mollie and I spent over an hour at my place arguing about my concerns over her safety. It’s not like we haven’t bickered before, because we have. Best friends have disagreements, and we’ve had our share over the years. But now there’s an added element at play with me, and that’s namely a ridiculously deep feeling of proprietary concern for her safety and well-being I can’t seem to get control of, and Mollie can’t seem to accept.
I had picked her up at Clarke’s store after getting the disconcerting news she might have seen Matthew. Of course, by the time I’d made it over there after a full day of training camp and meetings, she’d talked herself out of believing she’d actually seen him.
Clarke was no help. She wasn’t sure one way or the other.
The minute we set foot back in my apartment late this afternoon, I had told her in no uncertain terms that she was not to leave this place without someone with her.
She immediately told me I was ridiculous, and she would not abide by that edict or any other I tried to lay down.
Which, of course, started the heated fight.
It involved yelling, pleading, one painful jab of her index finger into my chest as she was making a point, and then me grabbing her face to yell at her, but I ended up kissing her instead.
That led to angry sex on the kitchen floor with Samson lying at the edge watching us, which was way weird, but I did my best to ignore him.
We then had to get ready for the party, which I had previously been excited about. It involved separate showers and awkward silence as we left the apartment, then down the elevator to the garage. I was on hyper-alert, expecting Matthew to jump out at any moment.
“Are we just going to ignore each other all night?” Mollie grouses as I put the car in park and shut it off.
“I don’t know,” I answer slyly, shifting in my seat to smirk at her. “Willing to admit I’m right and you’re in danger?”
The mere fact Mollie snickers rather than glares tells me she’s mostly over her pique. But we still don’t have any resolution.
With a sigh, she shifts in her seat to face me. “I don’t know what I saw, Kane. There’s a good chance it was my imagination.”
“Equally good chance it was Matthew, too,” I reply.
“I can’t be a prisoner in your apartment,” she retorts. “I won’t do it. If that’s the way it’s going to be, then I’ll go home to my parents.”
“They’ll keep you prisoner, too, and you know it.”
Her expression tells me she knows I’m right. They’ll be super overprotective.
“I can’t live in hiding or fear.” She strives for a calm tone, but I can hear a level of hysteria under it. “Let’s figure out a way for me to be as safe as possible, but it can’t involve being locked up.”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. She’s right. That’s the easy answer that will keep me from worrying when I’m away, but it’s not the right one.
Reaching across the seat, I cup the nape of her neck and pull her toward me. “I know. We’ll figure something out, I promise.”
I touch my mouth to hers, a soft kiss to pledge I won’t be overly high-handed with her.
At least, I hope I won’t. This new relationship we’re in has stirred up so many confusing feelings, that I’m bound to fuck something up. The best I can hope for is that Mollie will be quick to forgive or, at least, slap me upside my head to make me a bit more rational.
“Come on,” I say, releasing my hold on her. “Let’s go have a fun night with the team. I have so many people to introduce you to.”
?
The party is in full swing, and my belly is full. I had spent the first part of the evening introducing Mollie to my teammates and their families. Word had gotten around about who and what she was to me—best friends to lovers—so it had made conversations reasonably easy. None of the obnoxious questions of how and when we met, or how I had progressed so quickly over the summer from confirmed bachelor to kept man.