Igniting the Wild Sparks (13 page)

I yelp and drop my arms. “Damn it!”

“I’m going to blackmail you.” She taps her chin and looks to the ceiling. “Hmm. What do I want?”

Pushing her out and shutting the door, I loudly reply, “A bloody lip!”

After picking out low-heeled, silver espadrilles to go with my hooker special, we head back home. Morgan takes me back to her apartment so we both can drive our cars to the ball field.

Morgan takes a seat on a bench and I walk out on the field where everyone is playing catch
, making it only to the pitcher’s mound before I’m stopped. “There you are, Hadley. I was wondering why you were so late.”

I speedily pivot in the dirt. “Cara, hi. I had an appointment in Virginia Beach. I’m here now. Where do you need me?” She does have pretty
, blue eyes, unlike my dull, swamp green.

She nods, indicating behind me. “Your boyfriend is out there with Crick. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” I blink at her in
uncertainty and turn to the outfield.

Puzzled,
I look back at her. “Finn isn’t out there.”

She laughs. “Oh, I meant your
other
boyfriend. Rod?”

I shake my head and giggle at the thought.
“Rod?
Oh, no. He’s just my friend.”

Why does she look so doubtful?

“He is? I thought you two had something going on?”

I again shake my head
with another confused laugh. “No.”

She stiffly smiles.
“Oh. You two have mad chemistry.”
Rod
and me?

Squeezing my glove, I say, “We do get along great. He’s one of my best friends.” I suppose he is. Why didn’t I ever consider him that before?

She crosses her arms and stares at me strangely, making me feel super awkward. “Really? How do you think Finn feels about that?” What’s it any of her business?

“He’s fine with it. He knows Rod isn’t interested in me more than as a friend. We al
l hang out. It’s cool.” She’s kind of bitchier than I pictured her to be. Finn is friends with her?

“I think it bothers him more than he lets on.”
I suspiciously blink at her. Has he said something to her?

“What? He would’ve told me if it does.”
I hope
.

She glances over my shoulder and abstractly nods at me. “Okay. If you say so. Go ahead and practice for a few minutes. We’ll go to bat after that.”

I perplexedly stare at her, but she’s still eyeing whatever is rousing her interest behind me. Wanting to get away from the bizarre vibe she’s giving me, I walk over to Rod and Crick. “Hey, guys.”

Crick tersely nods and Rod throws his glove down and scoops me up
, wiggling me around like a fish, taking me by surprise. “Thank God you’re here! Crick is bending me over!”

“Put me down, Rod. He’s
what
?” He sets me back down and ruffles my hair before freezing.

His face falls when he realizes what he had said.
“Oh, shit. That came out totally wrong. Fuck me.” I glance over at Crick whose face is beet red.

Noticing as well,
Rod laughs and shrugs. “Sorry, Crunk.”

I apologetically smile at Crick and smack Rod on the arm. “Will you not call him that?”

Looking genuinely confounded, he asks, “What? He’s fine with it. He doesn’t care.”

“You’ve worked with him a week and you already are calling him names.”

He rolls his eyes and smacks me in return. “My name went from
Greg
to
Rod
in 3.2 seconds, so his can, too.”

I turn as to not have Crick overhear me
. Quietly, I say, “I’ve barely seen him all week.”

“That’s because you’ve been hiding for the past two days.”

“That probably would explain it.”

I notice Crick talking to Grant. Rod begins tossing the ball up in the air, catching it with his gloveless hands
and asking, “How’d dress shopping and beach hopping go?”

I step back so I don’t get conked in the head. “Good. I got a dress and shoes.”

After catching the ball, he sticks his bottom lip out in an overstated pout. “No bikini? Well, shit. What kind of wedding is this going to be?”

“Not
that
kind.” I edge close to him again and grab his arm before he can throw the ball up again. “Oh, FYI: we’re dating.”

He waves his finger between us. “You and me?”

I nod and laugh. “Yes. Cara thinks we’re having a covert affair.”

He raises his eyebrows
in genuine astonishment. “Really? Did she see us dance, too?”

“No. She said we have ‘mad chemistry.’”

“Oh. I failed chemistry. I couldn’t draw a straight line.” He suddenly snorts. “Did you tell her what a fantastic fuck I am?”

I roll my eyes. “No, but I did tell her about your purse and how it’s a mood killer.”

He scowls and stomps his foot, which makes me burst out laughing at how ridiculous Rod is. “It wasn’t a damn purse! It was a satchel and I carried it because I was bringing my extra clothes to work. Jesus!”

I
laugh even louder at the pained look on his face and wheeze, “You said it had to match your shoes!”

He swings his arm and hits his thigh. “So now it’s a crime for me to look good? I dress better than that other fucker you bang!”

“Maybe, but
he
doesn’t have to wear
any
clothes to look good.”

“Oh, snap, you bitch!” He shoves me and I snort, grabbing his arm so I don’t fall down laughing. Damn him! He laughs with me and
as I look up, I happen to see Cara near first base skeptically watching us.

I try to be stealth turning back to Rod. “Don’t look, but we have an audience.”

Letting go of his arm, I step back and he bends to pick his glove up off the ground, asking, “Who? Cara?”

“Yep.”

Keeping his back to Cara, he stares out at the rest of our coworkers still practicing. “Would she get suspicious if I Frenched you?”

“Probably just a smidge.”

He glances down at me. “I’ll even make it really sloppy and lick all over your lips. It’ll be a kiss that’ll make you forget about old whatshisname.”

“I’m about to puke into your satchel.”

“Score!”

I walk down the quiet hallway to my apartment. The only neighbor I ever see here on the top floor is the one directly across from me, Linda, a nurse who works various shifts at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center— the same one I used to work at. Linda and I share a drink now and then, and make sure each other’s packages are picked up when the other isn’t home. Rod is convinced she’s a serial killing vampire because she’s hardly ever seen during the day. Once when Rod and Morgan were visiting me, we saw Linda in the hall as we were leaving to go get dinner. She was wearing scrubs, so to support his outlandish theory, Rod instantly surmised she works in a hospital to both feed her “appetite” and to cover the many deaths she leaves in her hungry wake. Then he wondered aloud if she has access to the hospital’s blood bank for catered vampire events. That had earned him a nipple twist from Morgan.

After a take a shower, I put on a pair of black gaucho pants and a white, V-neck top. Nothing elaborate and no skirt or dress, since I was told that’s all I wear around my purported sex-starved boyfriend.

I leave my hair down and put on some makeup. I had told Sparks I’d meet him at his apartment so we can ride together, seeing as I’m staying with him tonight. I’d really rather just skip dinner. Even though it’s still not a good time for me, physically and emotionally, I want Finn so damn much. Though, I haven’t come to terms about my feelings yet, I don’t even care. I have a primal need for his hard body, the sharp urge hitting me after my shower. Inevitably, when I’m at my most repulsive is when I want sex with him the most. That’s so twisted. I think that’s why he doesn’t mind having sex during my period. My raging hormones certainly do work in his favor.

Walking up his front steps, I catch his neighbor Lily on the porch and she waves. I give her a small wave in return, feeling immediately humiliated
, thinking about her hearing Finn and me having sex. She has to think I’m a whore or something.

I hurriedly walk through the front door to his quiet apartment, relieved to be out of her scrutiny. I look around the kitchen and living room
, but he’s not here. Where’s he at? His car was out front. If he went to Mass, he should be back by now.

“Sparks?” Nothing. I
go through his living room to the hall leading to his bedroom. His door is halfway open. I slowly push the door open, tapping on it as I do, not wanting to scare the hell out of him.

His room is also empty. Hearing noise
in the bathroom, I step back into the hallway and now notice the door is closed. Wow. I missed that one. I lightly knock on the door. “Baby, I’m here.”

He answers with a garbled,
“I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay.” I go back out to the living room
, thinking it’s better to stay away from his bedroom, having learned that lesson from the morning of the kite festival. The only difference this time is we’ll never make it to dinner because
I’ll
rip his clothes off.

“Hey.”

I whirl around to see Sparks in just a towel. Well, look there. I don’t even have to rip his clothes off since it’s already done for me. Walking towards me, he runs his fingers through his wet hair, roughing it up. Fuck, I want to lick every single drop of water glistening on his skin. “I just got home. The dare ran over longer than I had expected.”

I back away from him. “That’s okay. Just go get dressed so we can go.”

He abruptly stops and frowns. “What’s wrong?”
What’s wrong?
Absolutely nothing if we didn’t have to be somewhere. Sparks’ hair is deliciously wet and his damp body is sending mine into a hypersexual fit. How can I resist him? I greatly want to strip that towel off him, not giving a fuck about my period
or
birth control.

Fretfully tucking hair behind my ears, I reply, “Nothing. We’re going to be late.”

Finn gives me a cross between a perplexed look and an annoyed one. “I can’t give you a kiss?”

I quickly inhale. “Um, sure.” I step over to him, get
ting on my tiptoes as he bends to meet me, giving him a quick peck before hastily escaping to the kitchen. I’m seriously struggling. I move behind a chair, grabbing onto it as both a shield, as well as a support to calm my shaky knees and resolve.

He watches me with uncertainty. “What did I do? I brushed my teeth. If you didn’t want to kiss me, you could’ve told me.” He sounds hurt
, but I can’t tell him what’s bothering me because he’ll only be too happy to keep us here.

“I did want to. We’re just running behind.”

Again, he runs his hand through his wet hair, flicking tiny drops of water around him. I look away and he sighs. “Okay. I’ll get dressed.”

He turns and walks down the hall. I glance up to see him looking over his shoulder at me before going into his room. I
finally release the breath I was holding in a whoosh.