Balls: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (A Cruz Boys Novel Book 1) (9 page)

But he was furious at what happened. The kind of anger that made you do stupid things. Things that could get you arrested and screw up your life for good. So I felt obligated to stay with him, at least until he calmed down.

It was my career we were talking about too, after all.

So I broke my own rule and said yes.

Seeing Robert get knocked out would’ve been enough surprises for one night, but arriving at Leo’s made it feel like small potatoes.

He lived in a penthouse suite at the top of the W Hotel. I wasn’t an architectural nerd, but the massive sail-shaped skyscraper of polished glass was amazing. Walking into his expansive, top-floor suite was no less so.

All modern furniture with smooth curves and glass. White. Splashes of bright color accented how monochromatic everything else was. A bright red throw pillow set off the immaculately white leather sectional sofa. A bright green abstract painting broke an otherwise featureless expanse of white wall that ended in a wall of glass with an absolutely ridiculous view of the ocean below.

He stormed inside, tore off his suit coat, and threw it on the floor. His hands were balled up and his shoulders hunched tight. He pounded the back of a chair. A white chair with gleaming chrome accents.

“I should’ve choked the air out of his lungs.” He smashed his fists down again. “Beat him until his eyes popped out.”

He whirled around to face me. His eyes were wild.

“No one talks about you like that! Not if they don’t want a royal ass-whooping!”

I knew I shouldn’t have liked it, but I did. No one had ever fought for me before. And to be honest, I’d wanted to knock Robert for a loop ever since our fake wedding day.

Leo’s body pulsed animosity. Primal aggression. Even under the button up shirt, the dangerous power of his coiled muscles was apparent.

And totally magnetic.

“Don’t waste another thought on him,” I said. “He’s nothing.”

“How do you know him?”

“I
knew
him in another life.”

His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

I had no desire to dig up old bones, especially when I was terrified there might still be meat on them. But Leo’s look demanded an answer.

“He was my fiancé, until our wedding day.”

For once, Leo looked like the uncomfortable one.

“Are you married to him?”

My stomach turned, a wave of nausea washed over me. “God no! He’s a faithless coward.”

Leo waited. He clearly wanted more.

“We were engaged to be married. I had our whole future planned out. It was going to be perfect.”

“So why are you on a date with me tonight?”

“A fake date, remember?” I said. “Because on our wedding day, I walked into a bathroom and saw Robert having sex with one of my bridesmaids.”

An old ache, one buried so deep in my heart I thought it was gone, bubbled up. Tears moistened my eyes.

Oh no. Not now. Not for that jerk. I’d cried for him ten times more than he deserved. He didn’t deserve another thought. But I couldn’t help it. It was like a dammed-up river broke loose. Tears splashed down my cheeks. My breath came in wracked sobs.

Leo’s strong arms encircled me before I realized he’d even moved. I looked up into his face and through the warped blur of tears, I saw his anger bleed away.

Touching concern was all that remained.

“What an idiot. He was the luckiest guy in the world, and he threw it away.”

I melted into his embrace. I knew I shouldn’t have. I knew I wouldn’t have in any other situation. But I needed the comfort.
 

And he felt so good. So safe.

So
right
.

I let the grief flood out, and all that was left behind were the soaking remnants of my memories on his shirt. After all the pain seeped out, I gathered myself and blinked away the last of the tears.

He kissed my lips softer than a gentle breeze. His touch grounded me, brought me back to the present. I breathed in his masculine scent. His air entered my lungs and radiated shivers to my toes.

I felt cleansed. Freer than before. Lighter.
 

This wasn’t the fake date I expected.

“Well, now you know my worst memory.”

He nodded. “You want me to beat him up again?”

A small laugh escaped my lips.

“You knocked him out cold and destroyed his camera. That was a good start.”

“As long as we both know it was just a start,” he said with a grin.

“So, uh, now the intimacy is all uneven,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t you feel it? I’ve poured my heart out and all you’ve done is make eyes at my butt all night.”

“To be fair, I’ve made a lot of eyes at your breasts, too.”

“Very funny. I’m serious. You have to tell me your worst memory to balance the scale.”

He shrugged. “I don’t worry about the past.”

“Why? Nothing bad happened?”

He shook his head. “Plenty bad happened. But I can’t change any of it. So why bother giving it any of my mental space?”

“I guess that’s great if it can work that way for you.”

“I make it work, mostly.”

“That sounds like a loaded and totally unsatisfying answer.”

“It was. Tell you what. I’ll tell you something I never volunteer to my dates.”

“Are you purposefully reminding of your past conquests?”

“Not at all,” he said. “I’m trying to prove to you how special you are to me.”

“That sounds better. You could’ve just said that. So, what is it? What’s the thing you never share?”

He screwed his lips to the side and exhaled deeply.

“I’m adopted. I have two brothers. We were all adopted because our parents wanted children and weren’t able to have them.”

I recalled reading somewhere that he grew up with his grandparents in Italy somewhere. I didn’t know if I was prying or being too pushy, but looking up into his eyes made me want to know more.

“You were raised by your grandparents, weren’t you?”

He nodded and pursed his lips. The ache in his eyes made me regret the intrusion.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

He sniffed and it sounded a little wet.

“No, it’s fine. I want you to know. It’s part of who I am today.”

“Okay.”

“My mother was taken by lung cancer when I was four. Losing her broke my father. He fell apart after she left. End up overdosing on heroin four years later.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I said as I squeezed my arms around his broad back.

“It was hard. Unbelievably hard. None of us would’ve pulled through without Nonna and Nonno. They somehow managed to wrangle three troubled boys and turn them into reasonably productive members of society.”

“I’d say they did more than that with you.”

He looked at me with heart-breaking tenderness.

“Thank you. I’m not perfect. Far from it. But being with you makes me wants to try harder than ever.”

“Thank you for letting me in,” I said.

He sniffed again and looked out the window at the black ocean beyond.

“That and other reasons are why I try not to dwell on the past. I have some good memories, but the awful ones seem to have more power.”

His vulnerability made him so much more real.

So much more sexy.

“You’re pretty amazing, Leo,” I said as I snuggled into his chest.

“I feel that way when I’m with you.”

“Oh, come on,” I said. “You’re The Lion of Spain. The best soccer player in the world.”

“Yeah, but for how long?”

The brittle edge to his voice startled me.

“What do you mean?”

He forced a laugh, “I’m about to unbalance the scales again.”

“You can tell me anything,” I said.

He considered quietly and, just when I thought he’d decided to pass, he opened up with something I never expected to hear.

“I’m afraid of not being the best. I’m afraid of the time when my body can’t deliver what I require of it.”

His candor shocked me. Here was this hunk of a man, in the prime of his life, at the top of the most popular sport in the world, and his biggest fear was when that would pass.

It made sense, actually.
 

Of anyone playing the beautiful game, he had the furthest to fall. He had the biggest expectations on his shoulders to never let that happen.

And yet, it would.
 

All athletes fell on hard times at some point. Even the fleeting few that soared at the top without a dip would inevitably fall to the the simplest of opponents.

Time.

Time eventually won. It made the young into the old, the strong into the weak.

But because it was inevitable, there was no sense fearing it. No point in worrying over it.

Easier said than done, especially for someone like him.

We held each other quietly. A perfect fit of hard lines and soft curves. We swayed in each other’s arms, lost in the comfort of the shared warmth.

“Can I show you something?” he asked.

“Does it involve your pants coming off?”

“Should it?”

“No. This is our first fake date and I’m not that kind of girl.”

“Then it doesn’t.”

“Can I trust you?” I asked.

“No, but you can trust yourself.”

I considered what that might mean. I wanted to trust myself, but I’d never felt less in control of my feelings.

“Alright, I’m yours,” I said.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

Before he made a move based on a misunderstanding, I clarified. “I mean, yes, you can show me.”

His face brightened. The shadow of aching pasts and fearful futures washed away.

I followed him out onto the balcony and got a little dizzy seeing the crashing waves so far below. I expected it to be windy, but the protected space kept it calm.

The dark ocean stretched to infinity in front of us. The glowing lights of Barcelona stretched to either side. La Sagrada Familia with its dramatic, slender towers. The Torre Agbar sticking up like a giant illuminated Christmas condom. The castle of Montjuic perched proudly on the hill above the city.

This was a totally new perspective of the city. A totally breathtaking one.

I burrowed into Leo’s embrace.
 

“I knew I could trust you,” I said.

A low rumble sounded in his throat. “I don’t trust me. Not around you.”

Low, white couches surrounded a crystal-clear private pool and attached hot tub.

“You have your own pool? At the top of a skyscraper that looks out on the ocean?”

“It’s awesome, right?” he said with boyish glee.

“I need a drink,” I said.

I really needed a drink. I’d only had one so far. And with Robert and then all this. Honestly, what was a girl like me doing with a guy like Leo? His world wasn’t my world.
 

How could it ever work?

“Sure,” he said as he led me toward a nearby couch. “Have a seat and I’ll whip something up.”

I collapsed into soft cushions and stared at the glittering lights of the city. This was a fairy tale, but I was no princess.
 
And, despite what I’d seen, Leo’s history made it clear he was no Prince Charming.

So, what to make of it?

I was no closer to an answer when he glided into my pondering with a stemless glass of red wine in each hand.

“You are too kind,” I said as I gratefully accepted. I knocked back a gulp and was surprised it didn’t immediately burn the back of my throat.

“Big fan of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti?”

I wiped my lip and nodded.

“Sure. Tastes fine.”

I took a more measured drink.

“It better. That bottle cost over $20,000.”

I coughed, choked, and blew out a cloud of expensive red mist. I gagged, struggling to regain control.

Leo laughed.

“I think you just blew out five-hundred dollars.”

My eyes went wide. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

He took a gulp of his and likewise blew it into a fine mist.

I laughed so hard I snorted.

I did not like when I snorted, especially on a first date, especially with Leonardo Cruz.

His eyebrows shot up. “Whoa now! I thought we were back on Nonno’s farm there for a second.”

My face warmed by ten degrees, and it wasn’t the wine. “Shut up! So I sound like a hog from time to time.”

He batted his eyebrow at me. “I’d love to make you sound like a hog.”

I muffled another snort with a sip of wine.

“We forgot to toast,” he said. “It’s a good tradition, and besides, it gives me a chance to say nice things about you.”

“I think you’ve said quite enough about me!”

“To us,” he said.

“That’s better,” I said.
 

He winked and I knew better was turning worse before he opened his mouth.

“To us getting naked and fucking like farm animals.”

He tinged his crystal glass to mine and a perfect note sounded, like a fairy godmother snapped her fingers. He sipped from the glass and then set it on a fashionably low table next to the couch.

Leo dug in his pocket and flipped on his phone.

How rude!

Was he really checking his phone right now? Did he have some emails that required immediate responses?

From nowhere and everywhere at once, a sultry bass beat echoed through the air. It throbbed in my chest, and lower in my core. It didn’t have the driving haste like at the club. Yet, it was equally as urgent all the same.

Leo dropped the phone on the table and held out a hand, waiting for me to take it.

“Our last dance ended early. Ms. Young, may I have the pleasure of another?”

Did I have a choice?

Not with him looking so undeniably gorgeous. I placed my hand into his.

“Yes, you may, Mr. Cruz.”

* * *

Leo pulled me to my feet and crushed me against his hard body.

Especially hard
there
.

But hard all over too. He was muscles stacked on muscles. Not a bulky freak, just built.
 

My kind of man.

His mouth crushed into mine. I gasped in surprise, only to find his tongue dipping between my parted lips. He tasted rich, the wine mixed with something more masculine.