Jaci Burton - Straddling the Line

“So who won?”

“Jerome did. I was on the court, and one of Heather’s rivals on the cheerleading squad won queen.”

Haven grinned. “You have to love karma.”

“And high school.”

“And you and Jerome stayed friends.”

“Hell, yeah. Never let a girl get in between you and a friend. Or a teammate.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll let me put any of this in your bio.”

“Uh, no. Not unless you get Jerome or Heather to agree to it. Though Jerome probably wouldn’t care. Heather, though . . .”

Haven laughed. “Right. Not a chance.”

“I don’t think she’s the type of woman to mellow about something like that over the years. Last I heard, she was married to Owen Lange and they have three kids and run an insurance agency in town. I remember him as a very quiet kid. He ran track and was pretty popular. Smart guy, president of student council, but kind of shy. She probably rules him with an iron fist. Poor guy.”

“They’d be a fascinating story, too.”

He laughed. “Look how your well is filling with ideas.”

“I think my well is pretty full with you at the moment.”

He stood. “I’m not nearly as exciting as you might think. Let’s go work out.”

“Just when things were getting interesting.”

“Right. I’ll meet you in the gym.”

Trevor went into the gym to warm up while Haven went to her room to change clothes. He got on the treadmill and started slow, then worked his way into a run.

Things were going well with Haven. She seemed focused on her work and upbeat. He liked that she’d connected with Alicia and Liz, and was having a good time while she was here with him.

When she came in, she was wearing tight workout pants that stopped just below her knees, and a sports top that hugged her body, giving him a great view of just how fit she was.

By then he was pumped up and running hard, while she smiled at him, slid her earbuds into her ears and got on the elliptical in front of him. She didn’t say anything to him, no doubt not wanting to distract him, so he left her alone and tried to focus on his workout. He kept his pace on his run while Haven started her machine.

But he was distracted, because she had a great ass, and the faster she moved, the more he paid attention to the motion of her legs and butt.

He was done, anyway, so he slowed to an easy jog, letting his heart rate decrease, then walked for ten minutes to finish cooling down and got off the treadmill.

Haven was a distraction. A good one. But he grabbed the towel, wiped off the sweat, and moved over to the weights.

Haven made her way over to the equipment a short while after he’d started lifting.

He stopped and racked his weights. “Do you want me to show you how anything works?”

She shook her head. “I’m pretty familiar with these strength machines. You go on and do your thing. I can find my way around here.”

“Okay. If you need any help, just holler.”

“Will do.”

He did his workout, but also watched Haven.

She was strong and capable on the pulleys as well as the free weights, and like she’d said, she didn’t need any help. Still, he enjoyed watching her work out, liked seeing her muscles in movement as she did squats.

She had powerful thighs, though you’d never know it by looking at her. She didn’t squat a lot of heavy weight, but she sure could push a lot of reps. Impressed, Trevor went and stood beside her as she finished up a set.

“Can I work in with you?”

She climbed off the machine. “You just want to make me feel bad by resetting the weights.”

He laughed. “I’m a guy. And my thighs are a lot bigger than yours.”

“Thank God for that. And I just finished my last set.”

She started to move away, but he grasped her wrist. “Are you avoiding me, Haven?”

She looked down where his hand was wrapped around her wrist. This time, he didn’t let go.

“I’m not avoiding you.”

“It feels that way. If I make you uncomfortable, we can set up alternate living arrangements for you while we’re working together.”

Haven took in a breath. Okay, that had been a lie. Yes, she was uncomfortable. Who wouldn’t be, being so close to someone like Trevor, especially after seeing him in such an intimate moment like last night? The problem was, it hadn’t made her uncomfortable in the way he thought. It had given her powerful desires she knew she couldn’t—shouldn’t—act on. And maybe it was time she had a truthful conversation with him about how she felt—and what she wanted from him.

But not now. There were still questions she had, and since today was a free day, she intended to grill him while they still had one-on-one time together.

You’re avoiding how you feel, Haven, just like always.

She listened to her inner voice, and agreed, but decided to ignore it.

For the time being, anyway.

“I’m totally fine with our living arrangements. And if it feels like I’m avoiding you, I’m sorry. I know how important your workouts are. I was only trying to stay out of your way.”

He relaxed, and let go of her wrist. “What if I like you in my way?”

He wasn’t making this easier on her.

“I’m going to go take a shower. How about we meet up for the rest of our Q-and-A after you’re finished with your workout?”

He paused, his body still so close to her she could feel the waves of tension coming off him. If she leaned in, she’d touch him. And oh, she’d really like to touch him.

But then he took a step back. “Sure. I should be done here in about an hour, and then I’ll take a quick shower and we’ll finish what we started.”

“Great.”

She turned and hightailed it out of there, feeling very much like a coward for not taking Trevor up on what he was so obviously offering.

She wasn’t ready.

Not yet.

As she made her way to her wing and her room, she thought about what he’d said.

Yeah, she’d like to finish what they started. Though they hadn’t even started yet, had they? So really, what she’d like would be to start something with Trevor.

She took a deep breath, closed the door to her room, and headed into the bathroom to take a shower, deciding it wasn’t just men who needed cold showers to keep sexual frustration at bay.

AFTER TAKING A SHOWER, HAVEN CONTACTED HER producer, filling him in on what she’d been doing. Camera crews would be at the next Rivers game, where she’d do some feed on Trevor and give a rundown on his background while at the game. They’d try to do an interview before the game. Haven had talked to a few of his teammates, who had agreed to give some sound bites as well.

Her producer seemed satisfied with the status, which relieved her. She was nervous about the direction she was taking with this feature, since she’d never done one as detailed as Trevor’s was going to be. She’d interviewed athletes postgame before, but those were one-or two-minute pieces, not an entire bio. She was out of her element here, but grateful to have Trevor as her subject. He relaxed her.

Well, sort of. At least professionally, he was making this easy on her. Personally? He made her tense. Nervous. A little breathless whenever she got close to him.

She was going to have to either learn to get a handle on her feelings for him, or figure out a way to have that conversation.

She found him downstairs in the office, so she set up her laptop and organized her notes.

“Ready to get started again?”

He nodded. “Sure.”

“I’d like to know about anyone you feel was a mentor to you on your way up the ladder to success. High school coaches, anyone in college.”

“Your dad.”

She stopped and stared at him. “You don’t have to say that just because it’s me.”

“I’m not saying it just because it’s you, Haven. Bill Briscoe saved my ass—more than once—and made it possible for me to have a pro sports career.”

She felt the twinge in the vicinity of her heart, but pushed it aside and typed the quote into her laptop. “Okay. Tell me about . . . Bill.”

“He took everyone under his wing. He was more than just our dorm parent. He genuinely cared about all of us guys. It made a difference to him that we were educated and also excelled at the sports we played. You know how hard college was for me. I wasn’t much into the academic part of it. But Bill pushed me to always do better. He said I wasn’t going to play sports the rest of my life, so it mattered that I graduated.”

She looked up from her laptop. “And you did.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Barely. Thanks to you. And to your—to Bill. Education was always important to him. He always wanted the guys to see a future beyond just a sports career. We talked a lot about what I saw myself doing after I was done with football and baseball.”

“Really. And what did you see in your future?”

“Nothing. Sports was always it for me. I don’t want to own some car dealership or do sportscasting. It’s always been and always will be sports for me. Bill suggested coaching.”

“At the pro level?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe working with kids somewhere down the road. I want to mold them when they’re younger.”

She leaned back in the chair and studied him. “I could see that. Kids would look up to you. You could become a teacher, then do coaching.”

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just not gonna happen. I’m not teacher material.”

“Why would you even think that? You totally could be. All you have to do is go back to school and get the right degree, then you could teach and coach.”