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“Thank fuck. I was nervous about being put on babysitting duty.” He grunted when the adults all shot him looks. “What? I’m just being honest. I’ve never been around kids.”
Jesse made eye contact with me and slowly smiled. I knew what was coming before he even opened his mouth. “Thank fuck!”
Caleb paled. “Oh, fuck. I mean shit. I mean… What the hell do you say when you need to curse in front of a kid?”
I gave Jesse a pointed look. “You know better. That’s another big boy word.”
He nodded. “Mommy says when I’m thirteen I can say big boy words.”
I cringed, hating hearing my own parenting spoken out loud in front of others. “Um… Anyway, I guess that’s it… Are you sure you’re going to be okay with this, Jesse? If you need me, Andrew can call me at any time. I’m just one call away.”
“Mom.” He could already say my name like a teenager and I blamed Lydie. “Go to work.”
Caleb pressed his hand to the center of my back and nodded. “I’ve got to get out of here before I teach the kid how to-”
“Caleb!” Andrew and Jack both chastised him in unison.
He grunted. “See?”
I took one last look at my phone and made sure I had their address before kissing Jesse on the cheek and telling him that I loved him. Then, before I was truly ready, Caleb ushered me out of the locker room and past a smaller, but still present group of women. I ducked my head, not wanting any attention, especially the kind that came with people seeing you come out of the men’s locker room.
Caleb kept his hand on my back and the size of his hand spanned across both of my shoulder blades. It warmed me through my top and I quickly understood that it wasn’t all male touch that I didn’t like. Caleb’s actually felt comforting.
“Thank you for this. I can’t say it enough.” I glanced up at him and saw that he’d been looking at me already. “I’m sorry about saying all that stuff back there. I’m sure it’s not everyday that you have a crazy lady break into your shower time and rant at you.”
Opening a door out of the stadium for me, he laughed. “You’d be surprised. Normally, women are yelling at me for my own shit, though. It was kind of nice to not be the source of the anger.”
I put that aside to think about later. “Either way, I’m sorry. Taylor’s your teammate and I don’t mean to put you in an awkward position.”
His laugh was genuine and loud as a response. He led me down a sidewalk to a small parking lot that definitely wasn’t one of the lots open to most students. “If you knew how few fucks I gave about Taylor, you wouldn’t feel guilty at all. That guy’s a dick.”
I bit back a smile, not wanting to appear too eager at that. “Isn’t he the captain of the team? Don’t you football types stick together usually?”
He stopped next to a flashy looking car and braced his fist against the door next to my head as he leaned closer and gave me a wolfish smile. “One thing you’ll learn about me, sweetheart, is that I don’t give a fuck about sticking to what’s expected of me.”
4
***Olive***
Whatwould’vebeenalong walk was a short drive in Caleb’s car. He controlled the gearshift between us with ease and drove with a confidence that I couldn’t help being impressed by. He glanced over at me often and smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he did. I wanted to study his features and take him in, but I stopped myself. He was doing me a favor and that was it. Plus, I had the interview to think about.
“You’re interviewing at a retirement community?” Caleb parked in front of the front office at Jolly Pines and looked over at me in confusion. “What’s the job?”
I took a deep breath and straightened my shirt. “Manager’s assistant. I really hope I get it.”
“You will. Chin up.” He mimicked puffing his chest out. “Or something like that.”
“Thank you so much for driving me, Caleb. I appreciate it so much.” For some reason, I felt like we were closer than we were after staring at him naked for longer than was polite. I normally never would’ve done anything like what I did next, but it just happened like second nature. I leaned over the console and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “I should go. I’ll see you later when I pick up Jesse, maybe. Thanks, again.”
I hurried out of his car and tossed him a quick wave before letting myself into the front office. I didn’t look back, terrified I’d see a horrified look on his face. If I’d just made an ass out of myself by kissing his cheek, I didn’t want to know.
The front office was oddly decorated to look like Key West. I’d never been to Key West, but as soon as my eyes adjusted to the interior lighting, I was struck by the wash of pastel greens and pinks. There was even a flamingo in a corner of the office that had to be six feet tall. The couches in the small sitting area were wicker and I could smell suntan lotion in the air. I was so busy gaping at the decor that I didn’t notice the woman approaching me.
“It’s something else, isn’t it?” When I jumped, the woman laughed and lightly patted my arm. “Sorry, honey! I didn’t mean to scare you. You must be Olive. That, or you’re lost.”
I was average height for a woman and I typically didn’t find myself being towered over by other women, but the woman in front of me was taller than any of the men in the locker room I’d just vacated. It might’ve been the stack of bleach blonde curls on top of her head, but she was the tallest woman I’d ever seen.
I realized I was staring and shook myself out of my stupor. “Um, yes. I’m Olive. I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting to be transported to Florida. It’s like a vacation, isn’t it?”
