Page 62 of Pressure Point

That and the view he knew he’d have while sitting there.

The whirlpool was just adjacent to the training room where Avery and her fellow trainers would be doing post workout evals. There might have been a total of six tables in that room, but Avery had a favorite, and thankfully it was the one that was in full view from the next room over.

“Padre,” Dash called as Liam walked into the locker room. “Are you ready for this weekend?”

“I guess,” he answered with a shrug. The Rising might not have a game, but there was still plenty going on. Dash’s party was Saturday night, and then the bachelor auction was Sunday afternoon. Felicity had been all sorts of frazzled this last week trying to get everything all set for the fundraiser, flitting in and out of practices reminding them all to be on their best behavior. As if any of them would dare misbehave in front of her. Truth be told, Liam was not really looking forward to either event, but he had committed, so he wouldn’t back out now.

What he really wanted was to find a way out of going to Dash’s party, so he could spend the night with Avery on the couch. There was nothing in the world that could compare to what he felt when it was just them, relaxed and doing their thing. Sure, they’d had fun that night at Club 404, but again, it was just the two of them. Saturday at Swagger was going to be some big deal, with the whole team there, and that was just not Liam’s idea of a good time.

“You guess? Padre, we have the prime spot reserved for us at Swagger. Just think of all the beautiful women who will be there.”

I only care about one beautiful woman…

Looking over at the training room, he found Avery standing exactly where he knew he would. Right by her favorite table, dressed in a pair of jeans and a green knit top that matched her eyes. Her beautiful red hair was pulled back in a French braid, a few pieces already trying to escape. She had Jarrett up on the table rolling his ankle. A surge of envy rose in him at his teammate getting to experience her touch in this moment, but he tamped it back down. At least for the time being. Which wasn’t easy, since every inch of him wanted to stroll over there, pick her up, and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe.

“You are coming, right? You promised.”

“Avery promised, not me,” he corrected him, thinking back to that moment. “But she’s excited, so we’ll be there.”

“So there is a we, huh?” Chance asked, turning to face them.

“Not like that.”

“That’s a shame, because she’s hot.”

“Excuse you?” Liam roared, feeling the envy rise in him again. No, that wasn’t envy, it was something else. Jealousy? No, that wasn’t quite right. But whatever this was that he couldn’t name, he felt it start to flow through his veins thinking about his teammates talking about his girl like that.

She’s not yours…

“She's hot, dude,” Elliot added. “Right, Mahoney?”

Mahoney Holmes, a midfielder who was still warming up to the rest of the team, shook his head as he stood from the bench in front of the lockers. “I’m staying out of it.”

“She’s hot,” Elliot repeated. “And the way she handled Tiago on Saturday? Damn!”

“Seriously, I had no idea that little thing had all that in her,” Chance laughed. “She put him in his place. And fuck, that was sexy.”

It was sexy. Watching Avery in her element had always been something Liam enjoyed. She was fantastic at her job, and her passion showed, making it so he had to force himself to look away. And watching her take charge of the moment during the game had been no different. He just hadn’t realized he wasn’t the only one who had noticed it.

“She can boss me around like that any day,” Elliot joked.

“Dude, have some respect!” Liam barked. Elliot held his hands up in surrender, backing away from the group, his face looking remorseful.

“Daley’s right, watch what you say,” Mahoney chided, turning away from the group. “I’m not doing extra laps because of your smart mouth, Elliot.”

“There’s been a change in her since the season started, though, so whatever you did…” Chance continued.

“I can’t take credit for it,” Liam said. “It’s all her.”

“Well, she found her inner girl boss as my sister would put it. And it looks good on her.”

It did look good on her. There was no denying that. Liam had always known that it would too. He just wished that the confidence she’d had Saturday on the field was something she showed off all the time. If he could just help her find that inside her and harness it, then he knew there would be no stopping her.

That had been his goal when he’d agreed to help her with all this. She might have been trying to find her sexy, but he knew that what she’d needed was just to learn who she was. No, that wasn’t right. Avery knew who she was. What she’d needed was to learn to embrace everything that made her wonderful, love it, and be confident in it. To know that others were now seeing what he’d always seen should make him happy. That meant that their project—for lack of a better word—was working.

However, it left him with a sinking feeling in the pit in his stomach. One that was growing bigger and bigger the more he thought about it. Avery would be thrilled to learn that the team had noticed a difference in her. That she had succeeded. Or, maybe not. She’d had her eyes set on a very specific prize from the start, so would she still call it success if said prize wasn’t the one taking notice?

Or maybe, just maybe, had the object of her affection possibly changed? Fuck, he hoped so.