No, it wasn’t the height.
It was like the distance between them was bridged by a taut string that vibrated every time one of them plucked it, leaving behind an ever-present tension, a buzz, a hum. She knew she should probably scoff at her thoughts, and she would if that buzz hadn’t taken a permanent residence in her chest.
Practice was almost over, and as all the players gathered around the coach to listen to his final instructions, Maddy saw Nate look up and spot her right where she was sitting.
Well.That surely intensified the buzzing.
He looked sweaty and disheveled and slightly out of breath, and he’d never looked more stunning. So of course he just had to top that off with a small smile and a wink, before turning his attention back to his team.
If she passed out from a wink, Maddy would never forgive herself.
Look at that, she was slightly out of breath herself and she hadn’t even been running.
Swallowing thickly and attempting to pull herself together before Nate got there, Maddy considered the best way to tell Nate about her grandma’s invitation. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, so she really had to make it clear that her nonna was only trying to poke fun and have a nice evening. She knew that it was just her grandma’s way to assess the situation, do some snooping.
Maddy had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the looming shadow, until the clean scent of body wash hit her nostrils and Nate’s features filled her vision.
“Hey,” she croaked breathlessly. Okay, maybe she wasn’t as good at appearing unaffected as she thought. She cleared her throat and tried again.
“Hey.” Much better.
Nate could barely contain his amusement.
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
Huh. That was a very good question.
“Well, I was just about to head home when I thought I’d stop by and say hi.” She felt a small blush rising on her cheeks. “I wanted to see you.”
Nate looked at her intently before stepping closer to her and cupping the back of her head with his hand, bringing her even closer.
“I wanted to see you, too,” he whispered almost against her lips.
Her breath whooshed out of her, which made Nate grin. She felt that grin against her own.
“What are you doing?” She had no idea how she was still capable of speech when his proximity was robbing her of all reason.
“Do you want me to stop?” he muttered, his lips tugging at her bottom one playfully, sending her system haywire.
“No,” she whispered. “But there’s people watching us.”
“Fuck them.”
Good suggestion.
“Yeah, fuck them,” she breathed, feeling herself melt under Nate’s light touch.
A wolf whistle from nearby had them turning towards Liam who pretended he hadn’t been the one to interrupt them. Nate chuckled just as he raised his middle finger in answer.
“Hey, I was thinking that if you’re not busy this weekend, then maybe you could come over. Maybe do that decorating/movie thing we talked about.”
Maddy felt her own grin stretch wider.
“I’d love to!” Then she frowned. “Wait, do you even have the basics? You know, tree, ornaments, lights?”
Nate stared at her blankly.
“Why would I tell you to come help decorate if I didn’t have decorations?”
