Spark (5 page)

“I think you get in trouble on purpose,” he snickers at me.

“Yeah…totally planned this out,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes. He’s back to his southern sweet charm, making me wish I were still lost in the woods.

“
I’m starting to think you just like me rescuing you.” He grins, wagging an eyebrow at me.

“Your ego is on overdrive,
” I snarl back, grinning at his attempt to flirt. “I didn’t ask you to rescue me by the way. You are just always…there.”

“What did you do before me?” he teases.

“Hmmm…let’s see.” I pretend to ponder, giving him my best thinking face. “I was able to go for runs without knocking into you. I walked around my apartment naked without giving anyone a show. I was able to lock my door at night, knowing no one would get in.” He chuckles, facing the road again. “Oh, and I was able to go to work without having a ‘protective big brother’ to fight my battles.” The smile on his face disappears. He looks irritated… he’s no longer his fun, playful self. “What? I was just messing with you.”
Shit, what did I say?

“You think of me as a big brother?”
He frowns.

“Well, in the sense that you are always saving me, I guess. Is that bad?” I ask, trying to read his nonverbal cues.
Damn, I wish Carissa were here to do this for me. I’m horrible at this stuff.

“Sure. Whatever.” He grips the steering wheel harder, not even glancing over to me. My stomach is in knots, and my heart thumps out of my chest. I feel like I’ve just been kicked in t
he gut and had the wind knocked out of me. I’ve upset him and now it feels awkward being in the same car with him.

I ca
n’t let him get close to me. It’s better this way,
I think to myself over and over.
As much as I try to convince myself of this, I know I want to fight it. Eric makes me feel things I haven’t ever felt. He’s different…but not necessarily in a bad way. He definitely has that southern charm to him, always helping me and caring for me.

“Thank you,” I mumble, trying to break the tension.

“No need to thank me, sweetheart.” His smile reappears, bringing relief over me. “Do you want me to walk you to your door?” he asks, pulling along side our apartment building.

“You aren’t going home?” I ask.

“No, I’m still on my shift. I snuck out to come find you.”
Oh my god…if my life was a cartoon there would be floating hearts coming out of my chest right now.

“Now, I feel horrible!” I mope, feeling bad he left his job
once again
to check on me.

“No biggie. I guess that’s what big br
others are for, right?” he retorts, slapping my words right back in my face.

“Sure.” I smile and get out of the car. “Thanks again, Eric.”
I slam the door shut, walk up to my apartment…alone and confused.

Why is this so hard? Isn’t love supposed to come natural…
easy?
Not for me. It never will.

“Where the hell have you been,
Velaney?” Carissa screams at me the second I walk in the door.

“I tried telling you. I went for a run and got lost.” She scoops me up in a big bear hug.

“I was worried sick, Lane. Like seriously. I was pacing back and forth this whole time.” She pulls back, pressing her hands into my shoulder.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise. A
nd um, thanks for sending Eric…I think.” I giggle a little. “I mean, he rescued me…once again.”

“I didn’t
know what else to do, Lane. Lord knows I don’t run. If I went looking for you, we’d both be lost and die out there.”

“Well, that’s a pretty picture.” I smile, hugging her tight again. “Well, I’m off to shower and bed.”

“So, any woodsy outdoor sex happen?” she asks, smirking.

“Oh yes. Lots and lots of steamy outside sex. In fact, I think I
have twigs still in my hair,” I say sarcastically, acting overly dramatic just to mess with her.

“
You go girl.” She winks at me, and I roll my eyes as I walk away, wishing things ended differently tonight.

I
wake up for another day of work, and skip my run. It’s Tuesday, which is laundry day, which also means I have hardly any clothes left to wear. I really need to expand my closet, but I’m not fussy about my clothes like Carissa is.

“Riss!” I call out, wrapped in
a towel. “I need something to wear. Pick me something out, please!” I beg, hoping she hears my desperate tone.

“One of these days, I’m taking you shopping for your own clothes!” She fakes a smile and hands me a black pencil skirt, dark purple top, and black pumps.

“I’m going into work, not a night club,” I groan, taking the clothes out of her hand.

“Listen, smarty pants. That’s all I have. Or go naked.” Carissa was feisty in the morning. She didn’t do
well in the AM. I always tease her for it.

“
Rawr.” I wagged my eyebrows at her, smirking.

I finish my morning routine, make some coffee, and grab my bag. If there was one thing I loved
however, it was purses. I had about twenty of them stashed in my closet.

I walk
down the hall, sipping my coffee when Eric comes into my view. His hair is still wet from a shower, and he’s wearing a tight black V-neck t-shirt. He looks amazing.
Almost too amazing.

“Good
morning, sweetheart.” He smiles, stopping in front of me.

“Good morning,” I repl
y, trying to hide the stupid grin on my face. “I think you’re on the wrong floor,” I joke.

“I was just coming to see you actually. Making sure you didn’t come down with anything after being out in the cold for so long. I even brought
you soup.” He holds up a grocery bag in one of his hands that I don’t notice earlier.

“Wow, that’s so nice. Thank you. I feel fine actually. Skipped my run, but I’ll be back at it tomorrow.” I smile, reaching for the bag of soup he hands me.

“I think I need to run with you from now on,” he states matter-of-factly.

“I don’t need an escort. I won’t go back in the woods, don’t worry.”
I take another sip of my coffee, never taking my eyes off him.

He presses
his hand over his heart, pretending to be heart broken. “You damage me, Velaney.” I laugh. “Way to shoot a man down.”

“Shut up! You are such a boy,” I tease back.
“If you want me to be your running partner, just ask.” I cock my hip out, daring him to say the words.

“That’s what I like about you, Velaney. Direct and to
the point.” He smiles, making my whole body shiver, almost making me want to drop everything and wrap my arms around him. His smile is perfect.
Too perfect.
It reaches so high, it almost touches his eyes. He has the most perfect teeth I’ve ever seen, which actually says a lot considering I’ve seen tons of teeth in my day.

I shrug nonchalantly. “I don’t play games.”

“Fine.” He presses. “Be my running partner.”

“That’s not asking. That’s demanding!” I take a step closer to him, nudging him.

“Oops. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He smiles, nudging me back.

“Fine. But this time, knock!” I glare at him, making him laugh back at my expression.

“But then how will I be sure to get a good view in the morning?”

“Look in the mirror,” I say without thinking.

“Hmm, I think that’s a compliment.” He ponders for a minute, obviously loving it.

“No, actually…that’s not what I mean, I—
” I stumble, unable to save myself. “Whatever. I’m leaving,” I fire back, mad that I feel like I lost this battle…whatever battle we were having.
Flirting battle? Was there such a thing?

“Have a wonderful day, Velaney.” The way he twirls my name around his mouth makes me
shiver.
Good gravy, what is wrong with me?

***

“Coach, what do you say a little one on one?” I ask. I'm feeling pretty confident. I ate the soup Eric brought me, smiling the entire time.

“You’re on, little lady.” He glances down. “You can’t play in heals, you’ll break an ankle.”

“I’ll take them off, don’t worry old man,” I tease, making him huff a laugh. My dad and I used to play basketball every weekend. It was his way of making sure I could keep up with him and my brother.

“Oh, you’re on!” he
snarls, grabbing a basketball from the cart. I whip my heels off and aim for the door.

“Let’s see what ya got,” I howl, stealing the ball from him. I leap around him and shoot the ball up. It s
wirls around down the hoop. “Two points, baby!”

“Alright smart ass, now I’m turning the heat up!” he fires back. I bounce the ball to the floor in his direction. He catches it and bounces it with one hand as the other hand tries to block me.
I wave my hand over, missing the ball as he rounds behind me and swishes the ball through the net.

“Ugh,” I gr
oan, grabbing the ball from him.

“That’s right
, pretty lady,” he teases, wagging an eyebrow at me.

“You’re a cocky old man, aren’t ya?” I tease, bouncing the ball to the side, keeping him as far away from it as I possibly can.
He reaches for it, but I quickly jump back dodging his attempt. I chuckle at him, skid behind him and shoot again. Only this time I miss and it bounces off the rim coming right back at me.

“
Ow!” I yelp. The ball smacks me right in the face, bringing me to my knees.

“Holy shit,
Vel! Are you all right?” Coach asks, bending down to examine the damage.

I pierce my eyes open, cringing as my eye burns. “I think so, but my eye hurts bad,” I mumble, getting to my feet.

“Let me see,” Coach demands, taking my hand off my face. “Oh shit. You are going to have a nice shiner there.”
Great.

I ice my eye for the rest of my shift, hoping the swelling goes down. Turns out Coach is right. A nice black and blue rim appears around my eye, making me look like a hot mess.

“Take it easy all right?” Coach hugs me as I clock out for the day.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. I think I should win by default.” I grin at him.

“Don’t think you can use the girl card on me, Vel. We were tied!” He chuckles lightly, patting me on the shoulder.

I drive home, only opening my one good eye. It’s more difficult than it seems, but I make it back home safely.
I grab my paperwork that I didn’t finish during the day from the passenger seat, and head inside to my apartment.

“What happened to you?” Carissa asks as soon as she spots me.

“Basketball,” I mumble.

“Damn girl. That gave you a
doosey.” She inspects my eye, rubbing her thumb over it.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll find a frozen bag of vegetables and place it on there for awhile.”

“Those vegetables are starting to come in good use,” she teases, remembering when I slammed my head against the pavement not too long ago. I stick my tongue out at her, completely annoyed with myself.

“Are you working tonight?”
I ask, knowing that Tuesday nights are her nights at the bar.

“Yeah. Aren’t you?”

“No, I have off. It’s laundry night.”

“Well, could you do mine for me if you don’t mind?” she begs, holding both her hands together as she pleads.

“Fine,” I finally say. “But I refuse to touch any men’s underwear this time.”

She laughs. “I promise. No men’s underwear have been left over this week.” She winks at me, and I shake my head. Carissa is beautiful and knows it. Men tell her all the time. Men that love to sleep with her, but she is never interested in anything more than that.
I usually have the unfortunate duty of kicking them out of the house before breakfast.

I take my frozen peas and lay on my bed. My head is killing me, but I don’t have time to whine about it. My laundry basket is overfilling.

I place the peas back and grab my hamper. I take Carissa’s and place it in the hallway, as I now have to make two trips down to the Ladybug.

“Laundry night?” Eric calls to me as I reach my car. I turn around and see him wearing running shorts.
Only shorts.
His muscles are
extremely
apparent, and sexy.
Sexiest I’ve ever seen.
A layer of sweat rides over them, but I don’t care. It’s hot as sin. His nipple rings makes me want to lick him in the most unconventional way. He has tattoos on both biceps and down over one peck on his chest. I never knew tattoos and piercings could look so damn sexy…but they do.
Oh, Lord help me.

“Yup, and I have the unfortunate pleasure of doing Carissa’s as well.” I fake a smile, showing my amusement.

“What the hell happened to you?” He leans in, touching my face. The way his hands rubs my cheek sends shivers down my body. His face is so close to mine, I can feel his hot breath on my neck.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I got hit in the face with a ball.” I continue staring at him, enjoying his touch.
His very much-wanted touch.
I try to act casual, but I’m sure it’s not working.

“Damn, don’t mess
with you, huh?” He laughs, bringing his hand back down to his side.

“Yeah, I taught that ball who was boss, don’t worry,” I joke, laughing with him.
I was just about to ask him what his plans were for the night when a car I’ve never seen in the parking lot before pulls up next to me.

He leans in and kisses just under my eye. My eyes close as I
take in his scent and his ever-so-desired touch. He releases all too soon and my heart breaks a little.

“
Well, I gotta go, sweetheart. My friend is here.” I nod and say goodbye, watching every solid muscle as he runs over and greets whoever is here.

The smile drops from my face as I watch him escort a chick ou
t. She’s tall with blonde curly locks. He swoops in for a hug, making my insides sick with envy. I turn back to my car, not allowing myself to watch him with her. It was ridiculous to say the least the way I felt a pull toward him. Perhaps it was the way he is always there for me, saving me when I need it the most. But another part of me knew it was something else.
Something unexplainable.

I run back up to my apartment
, and grab Carissa’s hamper and bring it back to my car. I drive to the closest Laundromat and start unloading.

“Hi,” a small voice says behind me as I’m loading clothes in the washer.

I turn around and see a tall frame, baby blue eyed man staring at me. He has short brown hair that spikes up in the front. His hands are tucked in his front pockets as he stands contently in front of me.

“Hello,” I say back, unsure of why we are exchanging words.

“I remember you…from the bar,” he states matter-of-factly. He rocks on his feet while I channel my brain for a moment trying to recollect any memory of him.
Nothing
.

“Sorry, I don’t remember you,” I say politely,
feeling extremely uncomfortable, closing the washer door.

“That’s okay. You work there right?” I nod. “I’m Alex. I was there the night there was a huge bar fight and you tried to stop it.”
Ahh…that night.

“Oh
, right. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Alex.” I bring my hand out, offering to shake his.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh geez, sorry. I’m Velaney. You can call me Vel or Lane. Or Laney, I suppose. But only my best friend calls me Laney, so I mean, whichever you prefer,” I ramble on, begging myself to stop.
What is wrong with me? Why am I acting like a fool?

He smiles back, shaking my hand.
The way his hands brush over mine makes me smile, realizing that I’m thinking how attractive he is.
Perhaps not Eric attractive, but attractive in a different way.

“Velaney,” he rolls through his teeth. “That’s pretty.”

“Thanks.” I smile back, unsure of what else to say.

“Are you using this one?” he asks, motioning to the washing machine next to mine.

“Nope, it’s all yours.” He smiles back at me and I notice the way I instantly want to keep talking to him “So what were you doing at the bar that night?” I ask casually, making light conversation.

“My sister works there. I was coming in to say hello when all hell broke loose,” he says, laughing.

“You’re Kenna’s brother?” I ask, remembering Kenna telling me she had brother before.

“Yup, that’s my baby sister.
”

“I bet that made for an interesting childhood,” I smirk, knowing
Kenna is a ball of fire.

“You have no idea.” He chuckles, putting money in
to the pay slide and starts his machine.

We continue making playful conversation for the next half hour until my washing machine buzzes
. I’m intrigued to know more about him, but as usual, I don’t let myself go any further than that.