Ryan Hunter (12 page)

“Until Sunday. But I can come to the training.”

“At least there’s that.”
I would have hated not to see her there when she was at long last on my team. But I wanted to train with her now, too. There must be a way to get her out of this room without her parents finding out. Scanning the garden, the tree, and the shed, I had an idea. “What time do you usually get up in the morning?”

She narrowed her eyes.
“I don’t know. Eight, nine, sometimes later.”

“So we have at least three hours until someo
ne will expect you downstairs.” That was enough time to get her out, do some running, and get her in again. And I wouldn’t waste one minute of that precious time with her. With a flick of my head, I motioned for her to get moving. “Come out.”

“What?”
she gasped.

“Get dressed and climb to the roof of the shed. I’ll help you down.”

“You’re crazy.”

I smirked.
“
You
are a coward.”

“I’m not!”

“Prove it.” If I judged her right, she wouldn’t let this pass and turn tail. She bit her bottom lip, looking a bit wary, but needed a little push. “So?” I prompted.

“Fine.
Give me a minute.”

Hell, yeah! I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, keeping a leash on my delight. While Liza disappeared into her room again, I leaned against the tree and spied through the window glass, trying to see what was going on up there. Unfortunately, I saw nothing but a shadow.

I stepped closer to the shed when she reappeared and started climbing out the window. She looked scared and clumsy, definitely not a fan of acrobatic moves. After a minute, she’d made it down to the roof of the shed.

“Good,
” I encouraged her. “Now hang onto that branch, and I’ll get you down.”

Liza turned wide eyes to me, all but calling me insane for even suggesting it.
“I’ll break my neck if I fall.”

She would hurt her
ass if she fell. Maybe. However, I didn’t intend to let her get hurt. “I won’t let you fall. Promise.”

It amazed me how quickly she trusted me this time, because without further discussion, she
grabbed the nearest branch and stepped off the wooden roof. She probably hated that I heard her frightened whimper, but I found it sexy as hell.

As she hung on that tree like a sheet on the clothesline, my gaze ran up and down her body. What I did next would certainly be the highlight of my day, and I intended to savor it to the full. Stepping so close that I could touch her, I placed my hands at the back of her calves then moved them upward over her thighs, until I
had a good grip right beneath her butt. All her muscles tightened at my touch.

I had to
unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth before I could speak again. “I have you. Let go.”

“
What
?”

What did she think we were doing here? Did she want to hang from that tree for the rest of the day?
“Let go of the branch, Matthews,” I said, laughing. “
Now
.”

After some moaning and unintelligible cussing, she let go of the branch, and the weight of a kitten came down on me
. Panicking, she clutched my shoulders, and I found myself trapped in her gorgeous green eyes. Finally, I eased my grip on her legs and let her slide down my body. Holy shit, that move turned me on like nothing ever had. When her feet touched the ground, I wasn’t ready to let her go. With my arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace, I inhaled her scent and soaked in the warmth of her body.

A smile tugged at my lips.
“Hi.”

With her palms pressed against my chest, she shivered, and it made me feel good, because it wasn’t in the least cold this morning, so
I
must be the reason for her trembles. It was sweet how she struggled to hide that fact behind a calm expression and stepping out of my hug.

“Can we go?”
I asked, still smiling.

“Where to?”

“The beach.”

She gulped, probably because it was quite a distance, but she
nodded anyway like a brave kitten. We started off together, and I settled for a seriously slow pace, so she wouldn’t collapse after a couple hundred meters.

I was used to running in the morning over weekends and usually enjoyed it because it was the only time of the day where everything was really quiet and peaceful. But with Liza by my side it was twice as nice.

We jogged down a few streets with houses all looking alike as dawn broke. Liza did great—meaning she hadn’t resigned yet. But I didn’t like the silence between us and asked, “So, your parents got angry because you didn’t get home Saturday night?”

“No,” she pushed out between erratic breaths.
“My parents thought I crashed at Tony’s. Which is fine with them.”

What the hell—she’d slept at Mitchell’s house? I almost tripped over my own feet. The bastard had never said a word about that.
“You do that often?”

Liza cut me a curious glance.
“You sound like you disapprove.”

Of course, I did! I scowled at her, but didn’t answer as long as I felt this invisible fist clenching my stomach. Only when we got closer to the ocean and the sound of crashing waves drifted to us, I managed to sound normal again.
“So why the grounding?”

She rubbed a forearm over her sweaty forehead.
“My mom saw my red eyes and figured I’d been drinking.” Then she cussed, which made me arch a brow at her. “I forgot your sunglasses.”

“No worries.
” I had forgotten about them, too. “You can give me them tomorrow before training.”

She
nodded, and it was clear that the little distance we’d run so far had troubled her a lot more than me. She sounded like a pair of bellows. As soon as we reached the beach, Liza slumped to the sand as though she had no life left in her any more.

That was not part of the plan. I stood over her, hands on my hips, and gazed at her reddened face.
“What are you doing?”

“Dying.”

I liked how she made me chuckle with such simple things. “No, you’re not. Get up, we’re not done.”

“
I
am,” she protested. “But don’t mind me. You just go on. I’m sure in a few hours someone will come and scrape me off the pavement.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Dig me out of the sand. Whatever.”

Laughing about her antics, I squatted down and started to untie her shoes for what was to come next. We weren’t done yet.

“Hey, what the heck—” She pulled her leg away. “You don’t steal from a dying person.”

I surrendered, lifting my hands, palms up.
“Fine, then take them off yourself.”

“What?
” Her mouth sagged open as she propped on her elbows in the sand and looked at me with wide eyes. “Why?” Then her gaze moved to the sea and her lips spread in a hopeful grin. “We’re going to take a swim now to cool off after the training?”

“Nope
,” I said, though she put a very beguiling thought in my head right then. I could be swayed to some fooling around in the water with her. But then this would be too much of a temptation. Kisses came along with such nonsense. And I had sworn to myself that I wouldn’t do that until she knew the truth about Mitchell. After a longing glance at the sea, I faced her again and said with a firm voice that wouldn’t get me into trouble, “The little run was only warm-up. The training begins here.”

All color disappeared from her face.
“You can’t be serious.”

“What are you willing to bet on it?”

She grimaced and sighed, but I’d figured out by now, my word counted to her, and she slipped her shoes off to hide them with mine by the rocks. I wondered if it was just the captain she saw in me, or if she wanted to make a good impression because she saw me, the nice guy, and therefore stuck with me.

Only a few minutes later, she made clear I wasn’t a nice guy to her as she shot me
a look filled with loathing. “Do your parents know about this sadistic side of yours?”

I remembered the first time that I had run on the beach for training. Her calves probably hurt like mad. But she had to get through this. We wanted to turn her into a kick-ass soccer player. I tugged gently at her high
ponytail. “What can I say? You bring out my best side.”

“Ah, great.
I feel so special now.” Liza shoved my shoulder, and I laughed as I struggled to steady myself with my feet sinking into the soft sand. “How far are we going?” she demanded.

“I never ran this route before, but I guess it’s about a half-mile. You know the houses at Misty Beach?”

“Your parents own a house down there?”

“Yep.”
It was a nice little thing compared to the mansion we lived in, and I really liked to come out here after training on weekends and study or read on the wrap-around veranda. My dad had set up a porch swing for Rachel and me when we were kids, and it was the perfect place to relax and enjoy a warm summer day.

We still had a bit of a way in front of us, and when
Misty Beach came into view, I thought Liza wouldn’t endure another step. She licked her lips, and her lungs made a weird, gasping sound. “I swear I’m going to drink up the ocean,” she cried.

“Chin up, Matthews. We’re almost there.”
I grabbed her upper arm when she stumbled and didn’t let her stop just yet, dragging her along with me the last few meters. As I led her up to our bungalow, her face lit up, seriously proud of herself. And I was, too.

There was always a set of keys in the
potted plant on the broad railing. I fished them out and let us in. The door slammed shut behind us.

While Liza stood rooted in the living room, her gaze traveling over the couch, wide-screen TV, and especially over the bookshelf, I headed into the sun-fused kitchen. From the fridge, I grabbed two bottles of water and tossed one at Liza.

She guzzled the water down as if she came equipped with a camel hump, then she wiped her lips with the back of her hand. “So, great tormentor, why did we run on the beach? Was it just for your personal pleasure to see me suffer?”

My personal pleasure would be to see her strip naked right now
. Rolling my eyes at her, I smiled. “Why do you think so badly of me?”

“I don’t know.
” She left her spot on the wall and leaned her delicious butt against the backrest of the couch. As she folded her arms over her chest, it gave her words that sweet edge of sarcasm. “Maybe because I lost my lungs somewhere on the way? Or because my legs are on fire?”

“Oh, come on now
,” I teased her. “We jogged over two miles and you’re still standing. That’s great. And running in the sand will strengthen your legs a lot better than the pavement. Since we only run on grass at soccer, you need to get used to the additional—”

“Torture?”

Smart-ass.
“Exactly.” I walked toward her and gently swiped her sweaty bangs out of her eyes. Every time I touched her, I could think about nothing else than a first, tender kiss. Something in her look told me she was becoming aware of it, too. Breaking our locked gazes, I took the empty bottle out of her hands and tossed it along with mine into the trashcan. Then I stiffened at the sound of footsteps on the porch.

Shit. That was my mom.

My glance skidded to the door then back at Liza. Not a good moment to have her here. Liza seemed equally shocked, but maybe just because I sort of panicked right in front of her. There was not time for an explanation. As my mom’s key rattled in the lock, I started toward Liza and tried not to hurt her when I knocked her backward over the couch. We landed on the cushions together, then I rolled to the side and pulled her down to the hard wooden floor with me, out of my mom’s sight. Hands down, Liza landing on top of me was the summit of my dreams, but it also pushed all air out of my lungs.

As she scowled down at me, I could feel her warm breath on my face, and it made me harden underneath her.
So
not what I had planned, dammit. I clamped down on my jaw and fought for control. But I didn’t think she noticed, although something in her expression softened for a millisecond. Like she was surprised about what she saw there in my eyes.

“Who is it?” she
hissed, then and her gaze turned annoyed once again.

“Can o
nly be my mom,” I whispered back and suppressed a moan then shoved her off of me. It was safer for both of us if she didn’t stay on top of me in this unbelievable
turn-me-on
position. I squeezed her in between the couch and me and placed one hand over her mouth to keep her silent while my mom carried several boxes into the kitchen. “She’s stocking the fridge.”

As my lips brushed against her ear, Liza closed her eyes. Her warm breath caressed the back of my hand. I smiled. Enjoying it, was she? What the hell stopped me from kissing around her ear a little just to make her sigh like that again? Ah right, noise drifting from behind the couch did.

A few seconds later, Liza pulled my hand away from her lips. “Why are we hiding here?”