Dolce (Love at Center Court #2) (24 page)

Maybe I could keep this whole project a secret until I was out of the business? I was stashing the money and planning to shift my focus to pure research soon, needing more anecdotal input to flesh out my data.

“Good.” Blane squeezed my thigh, bringing me back to the present and making my panties wet.

How was it that Ricky masturbated in front of me and I felt nothing, and this guy touched my leg and I was ready to go? All the way?

“Now tell me, have you been watching my games?” he asked and then finished his water.

I felt my smile reach my ears.

“I knew it!” Blane slapped his hand into the small table in front of us, causing a commotion.

“Shhh, I’ve already been delisted as a feminist. Now they’ll call me a ball baby!”

“Let’s see what’s happening on Twitter,” he suggested, and I slapped my forehead.

“Fuck.”

He cracked up and swiped his finger up the screen on his phone.

@Hafton101:

Looky here – @BallerSteele is out with the former #CuteCatie. Are they an item? (@SonnyB_KnocknBoots) What about the ’ship?

@SonnyB_KnocknBoots:

Hey, #CuteCatie, come back and see me - fill me in - I have this new intern who spends his day watching porn

@SexySarina:

Aw, look at the cute couple #steeleandcutecatie <3

Blane started typing away, and I peered over his shoulder.

@BallerSteele:

Working on it, @Hafton101 (On both the #ship and #CuteCatie)

“Looks like they’re already talking about you.” He ran his knuckles over my cheek, and I shivered.

“You cold?”

I shook my head.

“Here.” He picked off a piece of the scone and ran it along my lips. I opened willingly and let it fall on my tongue. “We could take a picture of our tattoos.” He swiped the hair off my shoulder and tugged at my sweatshirt.

“Oh God,” I grumbled. “That seems like a lifetime ago. But it wasn’t.”

“It definitely wasn’t, and it was fun.”

Blane ran his nose along my cheek before backing away. Then he winked and leaned close again. I was getting dizzy from all the back and forth, or maybe just from him. Who the hell knew?

He whispered near my ear, his warm breath stirring my hair. “Let’s do this again, Cute Cate.”

I smiled like a fool, swallowed, and nodded.

“I have to go; Coach wants us in for a team meeting. But I’m driving you home.”

“Okay.”

That’s how easily I gave in to him.

Ball baby
.

Blane

S
he wasn’t the same Cate when she first showed up on Saturday. Quiet, reserved, or whatever the fuck you call it. She wasn’t the foulmouthed sprite I knew her to be.

But it didn’t take long for her to warm up, the pulse in her neck to start fluttering, and a few four-letter words to come out of her mouth.
I had her at hello
, or whatever the movie said. I think my high school girlfriend made me watch it before she put out.

Monday morning, I arched my back in my seat on the bus and adjusted my earphones. A little old-school Guns and Roses blasted in my ears as I shut my eyes and concentrated on ball. And a little more Cate.

I’d have to invite her personally to the game on Friday, so I could know where she’d been hiding.

Okay, enough Cate
.

I visualized my crossover and my spin move. I actually saw it happening in slow motion against our upcoming opponent, and felt a rush of adrenaline.

Someone tapped on my shoulder, and I turned to find Mo behind me on the bus.

“Ready to ball out?” He slid the cans off my ears.

“Fucking A right,” I shouted.

“Listen, man, the baby’s due in April,” Mo said in a low voice. “I’m yours until then, but I got to have a plan. We need this ’ship.”

“I know, my brother. I know. You’re gonna do good and make your bro proud. And me.”

“You too, Steele.”

We both settled back with our music until we arrived and were hustled off to a practice.

My mom called just as I was heading to my hotel room for the night.

“Hey, Mom,” I answered, shutting the door behind me.

“Guess what? I got a bigger advance than I thought, and Gigi is coming to stay with the dogs so I can come up again in two weeks!”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I blew out a long breath. Of course she was. My dad was also scheduled to come in two weeks.

“I assume you know Dad is coming?”

“Yeah, I’m going to stay out of his way . . . okay, baby?”

As if.

“Of course. Listen, I have to get some rest. Big game tomorrow night.”

“You do that, honey.”

We hung up, and I texted Cate on the new number she’d given me, but I didn’t hear back.

The next morning, I woke up early and did a few rounds of pushups and sit-ups in my room. Ashton, who had come in sometime after me, was dead asleep in the other bed. I slapped his ass when I was done.

“Come on, we got a team breakfast and a light practice.”

“Shit, fuck,” he mumbled, but got up and walked to the bathroom with his dick in his hand.

“Dude, you have got to stop that,” I called out, but knew he wouldn’t.

I checked my phone after lunch and saw I had a text from Cate.

CATE
: Sorry. Was working on a project late last night. Good luck today! :)

I didn’t respond; Coach would have my hide if my mind wasn’t on winning this game, which it was. It was a nationally televised matchup, prime time on ESPN, and I was fucking ready to ball out.

Doing my usual thing at warmup, stretching my wingspan and my hammies, I heard a lot of boos. Part of being on the road. It didn’t matter; I took possession after the tip and didn’t let my foot off the gas.

“Push it,” Coach yelled from the sidelines, and I did.

We put on a show, the starting five. We were up by twenty-two at the half, and hit the locker room with chants and slaps.

Back at the new half, we all took turns getting rest on the bench. Conley rotated us like a pro, veins bulging in his neck as he screamed plays to two of the new guys rotating in and out, and then to us. I ended it with a quick pass to a newbie, Slick, and he dunked at the buzzer.

Another one in the bucket.

“Winner, winner, chicken dinner,” I yelled in the showers after the game.

“Dude, I need some chicken and some bird,” Alex yelled back.

“You’re sick,” I called back.

“No, that’s you, lover boy.”

He was sort of right.

Wednesday, I picked up Cate at her new place at five. She came running down the steps in jeans and a puffy coat, her hair tucked into a dark green Hafton knit cap. I smiled to myself at her repping the team.

“Hey,” she said.

“I could’ve come up to the door, but if you’re not ready for me to be in your place, I’m cool.” I winked as she buckled up.

“It’s just . . . never mind. Chalk it up to excitement.”

I wasn’t sure what it was going to take for her to come out of her repressed shell, and I certainly didn’t know why I wanted to try, but fuck it.

“Congrats on the game,” she breathed out, her words making little puffs of smoke in the car.

Reaching out to turn up the heat, I said, “Yeah, it felt good to give a beating that bad on the road. Speaking of which, you coming on Friday? I can get you a ticket with an actual seat.”

“I’m not sure yet. I want to, but I have to see if I can.”

What the fuck was that all about? I raised an eyebrow.

She focused on fastening her seatbelt, not meeting my eyes. “Seriously, I’m working on this project with a partner, and they only have certain times available.”

“I got you. I’m hurt, but I got you.”

“So, what are we doing?”

“It’s a surprise.”

I reached over the console and flicked on some music. “Sit back and enjoy the ride.”

She turned the dial, and whose voice came shooting through the truck? Yep, Sonny.

“Yo, Hafton, I’m single. Miranda and I had a bad breakup. Who wants to console me? Call me here. Now.”

Some awful
twerk it on the dance floor
vibe came on, and we both laughed.

“I can’t believe I quit,” she admitted.

“I don’t get why you let him push you around.”

Cate pushed her hair behind her ear, but kept her gaze focused on the road. “It was complicated. Basically, my sisters are different from me. They’re all girlie and like to woo the guys. Clara, the oldest, told me to soften my approach at work.”

“Doesn’t seem like you to give a fuck.” I caught a quick peek of her out of my peripheral vision. She was biting her lower lip and scrunching her face, deep in thought.

“I guess I was struggling with who I was before all this . . . getting kicked out of my major. I don’t really know.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re finding your way,” I said honestly. I thought about if I didn’t have ball. Who would I be?

Then Sonny interrupted my thoughts again.

“Sonny B. here, who’s this?”

A male caller said, “Dude, if you’re single again, you have to check out Ariel Stone. I’ll—”

I didn’t hear the rest because Cate grabbed the dial and switched the station.

“I can’t listen to him anymore.”

“That’s good, ’cause we’re here.” I stopped in front of a barn and put the truck in park.

“What’s this?”

“A barn.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “I can see that.”

“Another booster, they all love me. They’re banking on tickets wherever I settle. Come on.” I threw open my door.

Cate jumped out of her side of the truck, and I came around to grab her arm. Her head was even with my rib cage, and she was practically sinking into the wet grass as we walked toward the door. With a flick of my wrist, I slid open the large slatted door, and right there in the center of the barn was a picnic.

I might have asked Mo for help, who in turn might have asked his woman for some guidance.

“This is so beautiful.”

Cate stopped in her tracks and stared in front of her. Strings of tiny white lights hung from the ceiling, giving the barn a romantic light. A large, soft blanket lay on the floor, an invitation to sit down and relax if there ever was one. A bottle of wine chilled in a bucket, and a small spread of finger foods sat with a pair of wineglasses and small plates on one corner of the blanket. On the other corner was a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries, artfully arranged into a heart, sitting on top of another folded blanket. A small cooler waited beside the wine.

“I didn’t really do much,” I said with a shrug. “D’s sister Angela helped; you know, Mo’s lady. But I asked her to,” I quickly added.

“It’s really too beautiful,” she said haltingly. “For me.”

“Come on.” I took her hand and led her to the blanket. We sat down and I threw the second blanket over our legs. Thank fuck the barn was heated. These boosters were some rich mo-fo’s.

I poured some wine for Cate and snatched a beer from the cooler for myself. I’d already eaten a shit-ton with the guys after practice, which was good because this girlie food wasn’t going to cut it.

“Cheers.” I knocked my bottle into her glass and passed her a plate.