AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Katie’sagreementcaughtinherthroatastheyturnedacorner. After five days of fretting over when she’d see him and what she’d do when she did, Landon was there. In the flesh, huddled up in conversationat the end of the hallway with Hernandez and Coach Rowe. He didn’t see her coming, but there was no way he would miss her when they walkedby.
Katie grasped for some excuse to duck away or turn back, but no convenientdiversionspresentedthemselves.Ifheignoredher,ifhe stared right through her like she was yesterday’s news replaced overnight by Layla Lamar—her heart would probably die a little. Yet, how could he do anything but ignore her?
Katie couldn’t ignore him. The energy between them was too magnetic, his pull over her too strong. Her eyes flashed up to his face as they passed by and locked right on to his.
He kept right on nodding at whatever Coach Rowe was saying, but his baby blues widened and he gave her the quickest of eyebrow waggles. A secretive, half version of what he normally threw her way, but it was enough. Enough to change her whole mood and send her pulse fluttering and giddy excitement dancing in her belly.
In that moment, Katie understood about women who went back to their cheating exes over and over again. Landon had ghosted her for four days while engaging in a public daliance with a gorgeous starlet, and she was suddenly floating on cloud nine because he'd basically winked at her. In that tiny uptick of his eyebrows, he'd said so much. He'd let her know that it it wasn't over between them. That their time together wasn't a memory just yet.
Unless you want it to be, a nagging voice reminded her. Sheneededit to be over, but not one fiber in her being wanted it to be.
He’d had a hair cut and a shave since she’d last seen him on TV and Katie’s fingers curled into her palm, aching to run across the back of his head and over his chin and cheeks. To see how all these changes felt. What a silly thing to think about, Katie thought, just as Ellis’ voice cut into her daydreams.
"Katie?...Katie!"
"Huh?What?"
"Whatiswrongwithyou,girl?Whyareyouallflushedandjittery?"
"I’m not," she insisted, adjusting her shoulders and smoothing her hair.
Ellis didn’t buy it. He looked back down the hallway. "Oooh, does one of our boys have Miss Kitty-Kat’s attention? Prrrrr."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure, Lori would have my soul for breakfast if she caught me looking too long at one of the players inSports Illustrated."
"Oh come on, we can at least look, right?" Ellis argued. "Let’s be honest, working around hot ball players is a pretty big perk of this otherwise torturous job. Which one were you eyeing? Was it our sexy Latin lover, Jose Hernandez? Or everybody’s favorite All-American bad boy, Landon Ryan?"
"Howdoyouknowit’snotCoachRowe?"Katieteasedback.
Ellis looked over his shoulder again. "He’s a little out of what I assumed was your age range, but hey, I can dig the whole daddy thing."
Katie giggled and swatted him on the shoulder, her fretful mood swapped for a joyous one in the span of an eyebrow waggle.
"SeriouslyKat,I’mcurious,whatisyourtype?"Ellisasked.
"How about all of the above?" she suggested as they finally turned a corner and Landon’s eyes quit boring into her back.
"I get it, I get it, leaving your options open. Well all three were sneaking glances at you, and how could they not when you are slaying it in this sweater dress, honey. And the boots? Total sex."
Katie groaned. "Ok, I change my answer to none of the above. I don’t need the hassle of dressing for a guy."
"Sweetie,youdonotwearanoutfitlikethatwithoutplanningtoget alittlemaleattention.Ihaveanoseforthesethings.Whoisit?"
"Hey, the only man I dress for these days is you Mr. Fashionista. It’sa second job just keeping up with your outfits every day."
"AhKat,that’sthesweetestthingyou’veeversaidtome."
Ding.
Theybothwhippedouttheircellphones.
"It’s me," Ellis said, followed by a frustrated wail. "Jimmy Black’s new agent is fucking over my entire life right now. She doesn’t like his portrait for the auction. Fuck!"
Katie snatched the keys out of his hand. "Go. Deal with it. I can handle finding a few tablecloths."
Ellis kissed her forehead and fled and Katie continued on to the corridorofvacantofficescurrentlybeingutilizedforstorage.Withsix doors to choose from, she sighed and started with the first. She found the key on the third try, then flipped the light switch a few times to burnt out bulbs.
There was one window, with a cabinet right up against it, but enough light filtered around the edges for Katie to make out the rows of boxes, splints, and rolled up bandages on the shelves. Padded tables werelinedupagainsttheothertwowallswithsmallertablesturned upsidedownontop,woodenlegspointingtowardtheceiling.Several pairs of crutches occupied one corner. Obviously the athletic trainers had claim to this room, but Katie gave the space a quick look anyway. It would bejustlikeAnjalitohidethepackagesoshecouldbetheheroandfindit.
