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Of course he liked to be surrounded by people. He'd never had any family come to watch his games. He needed the attention and admiration, even if it was from strangers.
"It's a habit for me to get sucked into all of that, and I..." He paused, then raked a hand through his hair. "You have to know, the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, Holly. I swear to God, I wouldn't do that on purpose."
"I believe you, but..." She kept her eyes on the floor, too afraid that if she looked up at him, she'd cry.
Ugh, this was so stupid. And completely unprofessional. She'd gone on and on about maintaining boundaries—yet here she was, hurt as hell because he'd ignored her. Why had she ever thought she'd be able to keep her emotions in check around him?
"I don't want to be the guy who constantly lets you down. I don't ever want to be that guy again."
"Just forget it."
"No. I can't."
He gently tipped her chin up with his finger, bringing her gaze back up to his, and the intimate nature of the gesture had her fighting back a shiver. And the gentle way he was looking at her?
"I should go to bed," she said, backing away from him and crossing her arms. "It's late, and I'm sure you have practice tomorrow."
"Okay, but Wilkes, are we good?" He studied her intently. "Don't tell me we are if we're not."
Even now, under the unflattering fluorescent light in the kitchen, he looked better than any man should, with his sleeves rolled up and his hair in disarray. The scent of his cologne had mostly faded, but she could still smell him, and even as upset as she was, she wanted to press her cheek against the soft fabric of his dress shirt, just to inhale the comforting scent of him.
Just to be close to him.
As angry as she was, she still wanted him. But angry sex wasn't exactly professional, either. And if she didn't get out of there, she was going to jump his bones and fuck his brains out.
Angrily, of course.
"We will be," she said honestly. "Goodnight, Eli."
He shoved his hands into his pockets and gave a short nod. "Night."
Holly slipped back down the hall into her room and climbed back into bed.
She didn't want to dwell on her feelings for him or the humiliation he'd caused. Instead, she grabbed her iPad and pressed the icon for Netflix.
A distraction was necessary tonight. And the sooner, the better so she didn't end up on the other side of his door.
11
"Holly, we did it! We won in San Jose's arena!"
Penn let out an unholy shriek over the tinny cell phone speaker, and Holly laughed as she yanked the Android away from her ear.
"Ouch, Curly Cue."
"I'm sorry, I'm just so excited! I wish I was there with you guys. It's brutal to not be able to celebrate with everyone, including my man. Did you have fun?"
"I did," Holly assured her.
Tonight marked her first away game ever, and she'd sat with the WAGs, who were nervous as hell thanks to the supposed “arena curse.” Penn's boss had needed her to work, and she hadn't been able to travel for the game.
"All I want to do is hug West," Penn said wistfully.
"I'm sure, but don't ask me to hug him for you, because it's not happening," Holly joked.
"I would never. He might think you'd been replaced by a pod person if you hugged him. Considering how you two got off to a rocky start when we first got together, a hug would be awkward."
Holly snickered. "I like to keep him living in fear of my wrath, you know? Hurt my best friend, lose yourcajones. That's my motto."
