Pressing a kiss to my forehead one more time, Alex releases me and trots down my porch steps. When he gets to the bottom, he shoots me a grin. “Yes, we do have a connection. And after tonight…it got even deeper.”

A feeling close to euphoria flutters through me over his proclamation and I can’t help but return his smile. “It did, didn’t it?”

“Yup. Call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

I just stand there staring at him, and he returns my gaze. Then he points at my door. “Inside. Now. Lock the doors.”

Rolling my eyes, I turn away from him and unlock my door. I give him a brief glance before shutting my door, but not before I see him give me a wink.

Then he’s gone.

Chapter 15

Alex

Twelve…thirteen…fourteen…fifteen.

I mentally count my reps, pushing out a harsh breath every time I complete one. I increased my weight today for the bench press and I strain mightily to get the last one finished.

Garrett’s face leans over into my field of vision and he gives me a toothy grin. “Nice job,” he says as he helps to guide the weighted bar up the last few inches and back onto the cradle.

Sitting up to straddle the bench, I reach down to the side and grab my towel and water bottle. “Thanks. That last one about killed me. Good thing you were standing there or I probably would have strangled myself.”

“Plenty of people would pay to see that,” he jokes, and I can’t help but snicker. Garrett’s new mission in life is to bust my chops over my bad attitude, telling me once that he just didn’t understand it. He found me to be as warm and fuzzy as a baby bunny.

Standing from the bench, I take a large swig of water and wipe my face. Today’s workout was brutally long, and what made it even worse was that all I could think about was the fact I was taking Sutton out to lunch today and I’d be seeing her in about two hours. A grown man, especially one as cynical as me, shouldn’t feel this giddy over a woman, but there you have it. I’m turning into a pu**y.

Garrett follows me back to the locker room. “What are your plans the rest of the day? Want to go grab a few beers and pick up some women?”

Arching an eyebrow at him, I say, “Don’t you ever do anything but party and chase women? It’s freaking only ten in the morning.”

“I’m a simple man,” Garrett says with a shrug of his shoulders. “It doesn’t take much to amuse me.”

I laugh, because he’s not joking. He is simple in his tastes and pursuits, and sometimes I envy the ease with which he confronts life. “Well, I have to pass. I’ve got lunch plans.”

“With?” he asks in a long-drawn-out sort of way.

I don’t answer but open my locker and pull out my shower gear.

“Man…you’re going out with Sutton again. Didn’t you just see her yesterday after the game?”

“Yup. Getting ready to see her again for lunch. Got a problem with it?”

Garrett knows about Sutton. He started pumping me for information after that practice session she came to, because he all too clearly noticed me noticing her. Much to my surprise, I’ve told him a little bit about her. He’s teased me about it relentlessly, mainly because he doesn’t understand the concept of developing a bond with someone.

Neither do I for that matter, and while I have no misconceptions that Garrett is going to provide me with sound advice—because let’s face it, he knows dick about relationships—it’s nice to at least give a voice to my feelings.

“No problem, dude,” Garrett says with a laugh as he pulls his own shower gear out of his locker. “She’s smokin’ hot. I’d try to tap that too. You are trying to tap that, right?”

“Fuck off,” I growl at him, which is basically admitting that yeah, I am so trying to tap that. Why in the hell I walked away from her last night is beyond me, and my perpetual case of blue balls has me questioning my sanity. And while I wanted nothing more than to take her up against the door last night, there was something about having her shiver in my arms just from grazing my lips along her jaw that had me backing off. It made me want to prolong the way this seduction is playing out.

It’s not just me seducing her, though. She’s completely seducing me, and she has no f**king clue she’s even doing it. Since this is the first time in my life I’ve ever experienced something like this, I want to savor the feeling. I want to commit it to memory, because I’m bound and determined to f**k it up somehow. This is all probably too good to be a long-term reality for someone like me.

Taking my iPhone out, I turn it on to do a quick check of my messages. I immediately see a text from Sutton and my heart sinks a little.

Have to cancel lunch. Emergency with one of my kids. OD. Have to go to hospital.

I stare at the message, contemplating how to respond. A terrible feeling of worry for Sutton rolls through me and I feel lost. I have no clue what to do, what to say. The way I’ve come to know Sutton over the last few weeks, I know that she is probably overwhelmed with concern for this kid and probably scared shitless.

And there’s probably not a damn thing I can do about it.

“Something wrong?” Garrett asks.

Turning to look at him, I say, “Sutton had to cancel. Looks like one of her kids overdosed so she has to go to the hospital.”

“Damn. That sucks. She has a tough job,” he commiserates over his shoulder as he heads into the nearest shower stall.