It almost sounded like a plea, which is not what he wanted but none the less reflected how he felt.
"I'll see you there."
He gently kissed her forehead and walked towards the door with Charlotte following right behind him. "Jordan?" He turned to look at her, her brown eyes and blonde hair mesmerizing him. "I had an amazing time."
"Me too."
"And one other thing." She leaned past him to grab the door knob, her lips close to his ear, and whispered, "I'll be wearing pants with this jersey tonight, but there won't be anything under them."
Jordan's head dropped as he groaned and closed his eyes. "You need to show me some mercy, Charlie."
She smiled and gently kissed the scruff on his cheek before opening the door for him. "Have a good game, King."
Jordan heard the door close behind him as he walked to the elevator. His body was stiff from sleeping next to someone after so many nights of being alone, and he would need the team's masseuse to loosen up his aching muscles before practice.
At least the locker room would have copies of today's newspaper so he could have an easier go at the crossword puzzle. And no, he did not purposely leave the puzzle from Charlotte's paper sitting right in the middle of her kitchen table to impress her. And he definitely didn't make it obvious that he had almost completed the whole thing in pen to prove his linguistic skills to a beautiful novelist. Nope, that's not what happened at all.
His brother's car was in the garage when Jordan got home that afternoon after practice. Ethan would spend some days working there if he wasn't needed on site, which Jordan would normally welcome. But he hadn't come home last night and if he knew his brother — and he did — Ethan would've noticed his absence this morning. He also probably would've been happy he didn't have to share his coffee.
He had barely made it into the kitchen when he heard, "Jordan? That you?"
"Are you expecting someone else?"
Ethan's head popped into the doorway, a knowing smirk on his face. "Well, well, well. Look who finally made it back."
Jordan just casually shrugged and opened the fridge, snatching the orange juice from the top shelf and drinking directly from the container.
"Gross," his brother lamented as he shuffled in. "I guess I don't get any more of that juice."
"Sorry, I was thirsty."
Ethan grabbed the stool for the kitchen counter and sat there quietly, staring at his brother in anticipation. Normally, Jordan would take this as a sign and run with it. But Charlotte wasn't normal.
"So are you going to start talking or not?" Ethan asked. "I have to go yell at the electrician about that building on Congress, and I would rather hear about your night."
"It was a night."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to be an ass or are you going to tell me what happened?" he said. "Because I'm quite observant, and I know you didn't wake up in our house this morning so start spilling."
Jordan took another swig of orange juice, trying to stall. He wanted to tell his brother everything. It was something they would normally do after one of them enjoyed the company of a woman. Bragging rights among brothers and all that. But it was also Charlotte, and Charlotte was...
"Earth to Jordan," his brother said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Are you going to start talking or not?"
"Sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I just don't know what to say."
Ethan's tone became more serious as he took in Jordan's response. "Wow. Charlotte had quite of effect on you, eh?"
"I mean, I did stay, didn't I?"
Yeah, he stayed. Of course he stayed. She told him he looked comfortable in her place. She ravished him on her sofa and in her bed. She bewitched him with her warm skin under his touch. And when he knew it was time to finally leave, she teased him by putting his jersey on her body. But those were things he could keep to himself for now.
"Dinner was good."
Ethan stared at him. "Dinner?" he asked incredulously. "You spent the night with Charlotte Stone, and you want to talk about dinner?"
"We went to that new place at the Ren Cen with the really good bread pudding."
His brother looked at him a bit longer before a smirk began to spread across his face. "Yep, she had quite an effect on you," he said. "You OK with that?"
