Head Games (8 page)

“I agree, but right now we have to concentrate on making her believe we’re serious about her.”

“And just how the hell do you think we should go about that?”

“I’m not sure.” Leo blew out a loud breath. “Look, just go to practice and get on the road. While you guys are gone I won’t have anything better to do anyway, so I’ll hang around Kelly’s and slowly worm my way past her defenses.”

Scott slanted him a look. “As long as you don’t ‘worm your way’ into her pussy.”

“Not until you get back. Scout’s honor.”

His friend barked out a laugh. “You were
never
a Boy Scout.”

“Whatever. I’ll wear her down, and when you get back we can lay our cards on the table.”

“I can’t think of any better ideas,” Scott answered, sighing. “So yeah, go for it. Don’t let our girl get any farther away from us than she already is.”

Scott left, and Leo cooled his jets, waiting to be discharged. Finally he was given his walking papers late morning and took a cab to the apartment he shared with Scott. Immediately he headed for the shower and then took a nap. He hadn’t wanted to tell anyone, but he’d had a monster headache since getting hit, and taking a nap before he went to plead their case to Kelly was an absolute necessity. If she got any inkling that he was worse off than he was admitting, it certainly wouldn’t help their case.

Around six thirty the next night, he climbed in his Range Rover and drove down to Kelly’s. Thankfully he’d driven to the last game with Scott, as they usually did, or he’d be trying to figure out how to get his car from the arena parking lot when the rest of the team was out of town. The game was due to start in an hour, and he planned to have dinner and watch the game at the bistro.

When he walked in, one of the waitresses noticed him. He sat and nodded at her, and she immediately approached with a cup and the coffeepot. At his nod, she filled his cup. “Should I tell Kelly you’re here?”

“Nah. I can see she’s busy. Full house tonight, huh?”

The waitress smirked. “Yeah, you’re not usually in here on our busiest nights, are you?”

“No, not this early, anyway.”

The waitress departed, and Leo sipped his coffee, letting the caffeine work its way into every exhausted cell in his body. After a few moments, Kelly came out, her hair tucked into a bandanna and sweat running down her neck.

“Hey, darlin’.”

She seemed to be warring with herself about something before sighing and regarding him with a serious expression. “Hey. Can you entertain yourself for a while? I’m in the middle of the Saturday night dinner rush.”

“Of course I can. Go about your business. I’m just gonna hang out and watch the game.”

“Fine.” Pivoting, she returned to the kitchen and a wicked smile broke out on Leo’s face, remembering all the fun things they’d recently done to Kelly in that very room. His cock twitched and he willed it down. Leo wanted inside Kelly’s mouth, her pussy, her ass, whatever she was willing to let him do. But he’d promised Scott he wouldn’t fuck her in his absence, and he intended to hold himself to that promise. When all was said and done, no woman, not even one as amazing as Kelly, was worth betraying his best friend for.

He watched the pregame show with one eye and Kelly with the other. She never failed to amaze him. She seemed to have a constantly rotating list of about a million things in her head at any given time, but rarely did she ever get frazzled, and she never yelled at her staff. Leo chuckled. He wished Tom would take a page from her management handbook.

When the waitress came around to refill his coffee, he ordered the evening special of a fish fry. That was one of the things he loved about Buffalo—great food. His meal came out a few moments later, the fish so large it overflowed the plate. Sinking a fork into the crispy breading, he cut off a chunk and popped it into his mouth. He knew he shouldn’t be eating a huge piece of fried fish, but to his mind there were some things you just shouldn’t have to give up, and awesome food was one of them, along with great sex.

After demolishing the fish, he set to work on the German potato salad and coleslaw that came with the dinner. He knew Kelly made both herself. He’d seen her do it enough times in their late-night chats, but he’d never actually tried them before now. When he came in with Scott, his friend would allow him to order the fish fry but would guilt him into getting veggies on the side rather than the usual accompaniments.

The Intimidators were facing a tough test in Boston. Scott was in net with the goaltender from their minor league team backing him up. As he watched Scott get shelled, adrenaline coursed through his veins, and it was downright strange to be sitting in this little bistro while his team battled it out hundreds of miles away.

Leo jumped when Kelly put her hand on his shoulder. “You okay?” He looked down, realizing he had a death grip on the counter as he watched Scott dive all over the crease, making save after save. No wonder no one else was even looking his way. He looked like a lunatic.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just not used to watching the game like this. I feel so helpless.”

“I’m sure,” she replied, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze before releasing him. “Want some dessert?” She grinned at him. “I’ve got a lava cake tonight, and Scott isn’t here to bitch at you for eating it.”

Leo smiled back. “Bring it on.” She came back a moment with it, and he took a bite, closing his eyes as the rich, gooey dessert melted on his tongue. “Mmm, that’s good.” He opened his eyes to find Kelly smirking at him. “What?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone enjoy dessert that much.”

“Not having Scott around is wreaking havoc on my diet. Not that I’m complaining.” At that moment the other patrons groaned, and he looked up. Scott had given up the go-ahead goal in the waning moments of the game. “Shit.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t look good. Well, I’ll leave you to watch the game and enjoy your dessert. The kitchen is a total mess, so I’ll be in there cleaning up for a while.”

“Sounds good.” Leo ate his dessert and waited for the place to clear out before wandering back to the kitchen. He found Kelly bent over the big sink in the dish area, washing a pot. “Don’t you have staff to do that?”

“Yeah, but he worked hard tonight so I let him go.”

“Didn’t
you
work hard tonight?” He stepped up behind her and pushed her aside. “I’ll do that. Go do something else.”

“You’re injured!”

“My hands are perfectly fine and able to scrub out a pot for you.”

“All right,” she answered, moving aside and wiping her hands on a rag stuck into her apron strings. “I’ll go lock up the cooler and freezer.”

He pointed to the remaining few pots and pans. “I’ll be done with these by the time you’re ready to close up.”

“If you’re sure you don’t mind…I mean, I could leave them for tomorrow.”

Leo laughed. “And it would drive you nuts all night that you’ve got stuff in the sink here.”

“Guilty,” Kelly replied, sighing. She moved away and started her nightly ritual of locking and checking everything.

As Leo scoured each piece, he considered his plans for the night. He really wanted to get inside Kelly but had promised Scott he wouldn’t sleep with her by himself. He felt his cock stiffening at the thought of fucking Kelly, but forced himself away from that train of thought. It would be wrong to betray his friend like that.

Laying the last pan on the sideboard, he turned to look for Kelly. He found her straining to put something away on a high shelf, as the material of her T-shirt stretched taut over her tits. She turned toward him, and he noticed the faint outline of her nipples peeking through the top. Was she trying to kill him? One thing was for sure. His dick didn’t seem to be totally on board with this plan not to fuck her.

She turned back to him and he ran a hand through his hair. “You’re so fucking distracting. This is ridiculous. I can’t think straight. I’m supposed to be convincing you to give us another chance, not seducing you.”

“We do need to talk about that.”

“I know,” Leo answered, sighing. “We can make you happy, Kelly, we can. You have to believe that. Believe in us. We would do anything for you—I hope you know that.”

Kelly bit her lip. “I do. I think.”

“Don’t think, just…do it. Give us a chance.”

“I look at you, and I want you. I look at Scott, and I want him. And I still think that’s totally messed up.” Kelly bit her lip, and he nearly reached for her again but managed to restrain himself. “I shouldn’t want more than one man.”

“Like both Scott and I have said before, it’s no one’s business but ours how many men you want or how many men you’re with.”

“Easy for you to say. You guys are the golden boys of Buffalo. You could loot every store in town and people would still worship you.”

He couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “That’s hardly true. But we know what we want. We want you, and we’re willing to do what it takes.”

“What do you mean, exactly, when you say you want me?” Kelly asked, cocking her head to the side.

“We mean we want you to be with us. Forever.”

Kelly gasped. “No!”

“What do you mean no? You think we don’t know what would make us happy?”

“I think we’re all deluding ourselves if we think this could work long-term.”

Leo was tempted to punch the wall next to him but refrained, knowing it would scare the hell out of Kelly. Now was not the time to let his temper get the best of him. “Why are you so unwilling to believe we can do this? Why won’t you let yourself be happy?”

“What right do I have to be involved with two men?”

“What on Earth are you talking about, Kel?” Leo rubbed the bridge of his nose. What could he say when she just kept coming back to the same arguments over and over?

“I could hardly get a date before you guys came along. I’ve only slept with four men my entire life, including you two, and I’m pretty sure one was because he lost a bet. Men look at me and see the fat girl who loves food. So now what makes me so special that I deserve not just one, but two men?”

He grabbed her face in both of his hands so she couldn’t avoid eye contact. “You are the most special woman I’ve ever met. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Maybe you think so now—”

“Dammit, Kelly, why don’t you believe us? Don’t you understand?”

“I understand that you think you want me now.” He cut off the rest of her objection the only way he knew how—he kissed her again. Before she could pull away, he’d tightened his arms around her and pushed his tongue into her mouth to taste her again. He couldn’t get enough of her. She moaned, and his hands slid down to her ass, cradling her into his hard cock, wishing he could be inside her. He’d told Scott he wouldn’t take her, and he wouldn’t, but her taste was drugging and he found he couldn’t pull away from her kiss. When Kelly moaned again, he heard her unspoken plea and eased away.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he wasn’t betraying Scott if he didn’t get any pleasure, right? “Let me make you come.”

“Please,” she begged him, her eyes glazed with lust.

He made short work of her checkered chef’s pants and then her panties, leaving them pooled at her feet, and then parted her legs. Sinking to his haunches, he ran two fingers through her pussy and hummed when they came away soaked in her juices. “So wet for me.”

She whimpered, and he pushed his fingers inside of her. Kelly clamped down around him, and he fought for control. He was about two seconds from standing up and plunging his throbbing cock into her. Instead, he concentrated on her pleasure, moving his fingers in and out as she gasped and then grabbed for purchase with her hands on the wall behind her. Leaning forward, he opened the plump, pink lips of her pussy with his other hand and licked from where his fingers were fucking her up to her clit in steady, long licks. Kelly thrashed, banging her head on the wall behind her.