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“Looks like I’m on your team.” Brody’s thick drawl sounded like honey, but he stepped lightly as he approached, quick on his feet. Clearly, someone was glad to join our little game, and it was apparent he and Matteo would fit in nicely with our not-so-friendly version of touch football.
“Good thing,” I teased. “Seeing as we’re winning.”
He grinned. “Any day you and I are on the same side is a good day in my book. Winning is just a bonus.” The childish glee on his face made him look younger, and his unashamed interest in me, despite my brothers being within earshot, made me return his smile, unable to help myself. Anyone confident enough to flirt with me despite my family without being arrogant about it was another point for him in my book.
“Well,” I matched his drawl, “let’s see if we can go two for two today.”
Chapter 18
Brody
Matteowasn’tasoutof practice as I figured anyone mainly dealing with high-society types and little kids would be. I ducked away from a right-cross, coming back with my own before dancing out of reach.
Sweat poured down my face, but I didn’t dare try to wipe the moisture away, knowing Matteo would take advantage of my distraction. We’d been going at it for a while, both of us testing out the other until we realized we were pretty evenly matched. Then we really let loose, enjoying the bout immensely.
“So,” Matteo said as I blocked a kick, “what do you think of our Alessia?”
I nearly missed blocking the next jab but recovered enough to land a punch of my own. “She’s great.” I tried not to pant. “Easy to get along with, funny, low-key. A little stubborn, but she’s logical about it.” I shrugged, not sure what else to say.
Matteo dropped his hands to his sides in disbelief. “Alessia was easy to get along with,” he repeated, watching me to see if I was joking.
I nodded, not understanding his confusion. “She let me do my job and didn’t give me flack about it. She didn’t whine, complain, or even try to sneak out once. Any change in plan, she gave me as much notice as possible, even demanded I stay with her when some rich guy she was meeting with tried to dismiss me. That’s easy in my book, compared to others I’ve had to deal with in the past.”
He gave me an assessing look. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said, almost to himself. “She really must like you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m a pretty likable guy.”
Matteo shook his head. “Lessia might tolerate you if she had to, but she wouldn’t make you happy about your assignment.”
I thought back to how she was on the photo shoot with the others and winced, understanding what he was getting at.
“I’m happy to report that, while we were alone, I enjoyed the assignment of watching over Lessia the person, not Alessia the famous model.”
He nodded, amazement still lingering in his eyes, mixing with what could have been wariness. Was he afraid I’d get between them? Lessia might only think of him as a friend, but maybe he had other feelings?
“You know there can’t be anything between us, right? I’m her PSO, so I can’t risk compromising her safety. And she made it clear she’s not exactly looking for a relationship.” I couldn’t help but point out the obvious.
Matteo wandered over to the side of the ring, grabbed his water bottle, and tossed one over to me. I caught it, then downed half of it in one go. “Sounds to me like you’re making excuses.” Okay, so he apparently wasn’t upset at us being friendly.
Shaking my head, I threw the bottle back on the floor with a bit more force than necessary. “Not excuses, just fact.”
“I’ve known Lessia since she was eighteen, and I can count on less than one hand the number of people outside her family she actually tolerates outside of work, let alone likes. Trust me, she might have told you she isn’t looking for a relationship, but I think she’s just scared.”
I scoffed. “That woman isn’t afraid of anything. She went to a rapist’s home because she was interested in looking at the architecture of his house, for crying out loud.”
“Emotionally.” Matteo pulled the Velcro of his glove off with his teeth, ignoring my second sentence. “She’s afraid of committing to someone who isn’t just as committed to her. That woman is out until she’s all in, and she’s aware most people do things in stages instead of jumping in with both feet. Add in that she’s got a large interfering family that scares most men, a grueling job that most wouldn’t begin to understand, and fans of both the normal and obsession variety that make even going out to get milk an exercise in public relations. You can understand why she keeps her distance from most.” He pulled off his helmet after tossing the other glove, raking his hands through his wet hair and pushing it back from his face. “Unless she knows you’re sure of what you want, you can bet she’s not going to get past the idea of light, quick, and meaningless.” He cocked his head, thinking hard. “Honestly, even if she knows you’re looking for something serious, she’s likely to run scared for a hot minute before realizing that what she wants and what she can have are the same thing. She’s been putting up walls for so long. It’ll take some doing for her to comprehend that she doesn’t have to keep doing it.”
I pulled my own gloves off, throwing them to the side as well. “There’s still me being her PSO to deal with. I can’t compromise her safety.”
He cocked a brow. “That sounds like antiquated thinking to me. Look at the Accardi brothers. Even when they have security, I’ve noticed they dismiss them as soon as they’re in the company of another brother. They know they have each other’s backs. Contrary to their beliefs, Alessia has gone through a lot of the same training as what A.T. offers. She doesn’t need someone to protect her like some helpless damsel. She needs a partner to help watch her back.”
I considered his words, letting myself really think about what a relationship with Lessia could look like if we both let go and dropped our guards with each other. I was still thinking about it when we pulled into Gideon’s driveway an hour later.
Grinning when I saw the friendly football game, I tossed my worries aside for later. We joined in, Matteo being commandeered by Gia for her team, while I lined up next to Lessia and Royce. Keene hiked the ball, and Lessia took off running, ducking under Boone’s arm, snagging the football from the air in a practiced move. Before she could take more than a step or two, Gia, running to her aunt full-tilt, tripped as she leaned forward to touch her out, taking them both to the ground. Lessia dropped the ball as they fell, turning in mid-air to catch her niece, making sure she cushioned the girl’s fall.
“Oomph.” She hit the ground in a heap, her arms cradling Gia.
Before any of us could panic, Gia arched off her aunt, looking down at her.
