Out of My Element (10 page)

“I don’t care, Tom. I did it, and
I’d do it again.” I looked at him, thankful for the understanding I saw in his
expression.

“Come on, let’s go get a beer.” Tom
led me to his car, tossing his phone onto my lap as I sat down. “Text Trevor.
Tell him to meet us at the sports bar.” He pulled out of the parking lot, fully
prepared to do damage control.

***

By the time Trevor got there, I had
three shots and two beers in me, and was feeling pretty good. One day, I will
solve my problems with maturity. Today, however, it will be with alcohol. Tom
filled him in on everything that happened at the game, and Trevor just sat
back, shook his head and chuckled. “I’m glad I could amuse you, man.” I glared
at him.

“Shit, Nick, I’m not laughing at
that; I guess I just never thought I’d see this day.”

“What? The day that my temper would
get the best of me and get me kicked out of the game I loved the most?” I
snapped.

“No, not that, but I am sorry that
happened. I was referring to you falling in love. Finally caring about a woman
more than yourself.” Trevor raised his beer. “Welcome to the club.” He and Tom
clanked bottles and laughed. Tom turned back to me and smiled. “Don’t look so
shell-shocked. We tend to fall in love the same way we get sick: without
wanting to, without believing it, against our will and completely unable to
defend ourselves. It was bound to happen—even to you.”

I tried hard to be pissed at them,
but I couldn’t. When it all came down to it, these guys were my best friends.
They had my back, no matter what, and Trevor was right. I hadn’t really given
it much thought, but I did care more about Chelsea than myself, and if that
meant getting kicked off the team because I defended her honor, well so be it.
In love? Was I in love with Chelsea? Hmm, I think I could live with that.

About three or four beers later,
Tom and Trevor were helping me to the car. “What am I going to say to her?” I
slurred. That’s funny; my words had sounded much clearer in my head. It was
like I was talking in print in my head, but my words were coming out in cursive.
I started laughing for no reason, and the looks on my two best friends faces
made me laugh harder.

“You might want to wait until
you’re a bit more sober to talk to her about anything important, Nick,” Tom
suggested as he buckled my seatbelt.

“It’s okay, I won’t put all of my
cards on the table right away. I’m going to find out where we stand,” I
slurred.

“Seriously, Nick. You’ll scare her
off at this point.” Trevor laughed.

“Why do you say that?” My voice
sounded funny. “That. That. Isn’t
that
a funny word?” I started laughing
again.

“Nick, there are two kinds of
brutally honest people in the world: very small children and drunk people. You
might want to sober up a bit before you pounce on her with your verbal vomit.”
I looked at Trevor, trying to process what he had just said, but all I heard
was “vomit.” My cheeks were beginning to hurt from the perma-grin I was
wearing.

Before I realized it, I could feel
my two best friends helping me up to my apartment. Tom took my keys out of my
hand and unlocked the door, shoving me forward. Laughing, I shouted, “Honey,
I’m home!”

Chelsea

I heard the laughing and the ruckus
at the front door. I heard Nick holler, and then it sounded like someone was
banging into the walls. Rounding the corner, I saw why.

“Wow, should I take it that he won
his game?” Nick was drunk. Not sick and sloppy drunk, but fun, goofy and happy
drunk. I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Chelsea, I missed you.” He grinned
at me, holding his arms out to me.

I looked at Tom and Trevor with
raised eyebrows, taking in their guilty looks. “Um, he had a bit too much to
drink.” Tom smiled.

“You think?” I giggled. “What
happened?”

“Chelsea, I think you should let
him sober up, and then he can tell you all about it.” Trevor was biting his lip
nervously.

“Okay, but can you guys help him to
his room before you go?” I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be able to hold him
up with him in this condition. I walked behind them down the narrow hall to
Nick’s bedroom. Nick sat on the end of the bed, just smiling at all of us.

“Do you want us to stay and help?”
Tom asked me as I knelt down to take off Nick’s shoes.

“No, I think you two have done
enough.” I smiled and winked at them.

“Okay, we’ll talk to you later.”
They practically ran over each other trying to get out of the apartment. I
couldn’t wait to hear about what brought this on and why Nick seemed to be the
only one who was intoxicated.

Nick laid back and started to pull
his shorts off. “What are you doing?” I gasped, backing away from the bed.

“I’m getting out of my pants.” He
waggled his eyebrows. “I may need some help.”

I laughed, “I think you can manage
that on your own.” I turned away, beginning to get nervous of what I would see
if I didn’t. “I’m going to go get you a bottle of water.” I moved to the
kitchen, grabbing him a bottle of water and a couple of aspirin before making
my way back to the bedroom.

Nick was lying back against the
headboard in his underwear. “Um, here, drink this and take these.” I handed him
his water and aspirin, waiting until he swallowed them. I pulled the blinds
down, making the room darker so he could get some rest.

I walked over to him, smiling at
the goofy look on his face as he shimmied down until he was lying flat. “Do you
need anything before I go?” I dragged my finger down his naked arm, watching as
his muscles twitched. When he didn’t answer, I turned around to leave. One
second I was walking away, and the next, I was laying next to Nick on his bed
where he had pulled me down.

“Don’t go,” he whispered. I tried
to get up and he wrapped his warm arm around my waist, pulling me back against
him. I could feel the heat from his body, permeating through my t-shirt and
yoga pants.

“Nick?”

“Please, Chelsea. I need you with
me,
please
.”

“Okay, Nick. Get some rest.” I felt
him relax as he snuggled closer to my back. After five minutes and a long sigh,
he was asleep. I tried to carefully move his arm off me, but he instinctively
pulled me tighter. I gave up the fight and just stayed in his arms.

It’s not like I didn’t want to be
there anyway. I had dreamed about this so many times, but I hadn’t expected him
to actually want me there. I had to remind myself that he was just drunk, and
things would be back to normal when he sobered up.

I placed my hand over his, tracing
his fingers with mine until I felt how swollen and scabbed up his knuckles
were. “What the …” I shifted so I could look at his hand better. His right hand
was obviously swollen, and he had cuts and bruises along his knuckles. What the
heck could have done this? You don’t even use your hands in soccer. I shifted
again and took a look at his left hand. There weren’t any obvious cuts or
bruises on that one. I guess I would have to wait until he sobered up to get
the full story. I lay back down and closed my eyes. I might as well get some
sleep since I was stuck here.

***

I felt him behind me. Not really
him
,
just a very prominent part of him, pressing against my back. Just knowing what
it was, made a heat spread all the way through my body. I tried to pull away
from him, but his arm tightened around my waist as he pressed himself even
harder into my backside.

I gasped, he chuckled, and now I
wanted to die. “You’re awake?” I asked, without turning to face him.

“Oh God I hope so, ‘cause if this
is a dream, baby, please don’t wake me up,” he mused.

“How are you feeling?” I forced
myself to sit up and turn to face him.

“Surprisingly, I feel pretty good.”
He pushed himself up onto his elbow and watched me closely.

“Holy crap, we slept for almost
five hours, Nick!” I exclaimed when I got a look at the clock.

“Hmm, no wonder I feel better.” He
sat up, leaning against the headboard. “I had a bit too much to drink.” His
smile was so adorable.

I laughed, “You think?” Nick was
still watching me, and I knew that I needed to put some space between us before
I did something I might regret. “Um, are you hungry?”

“You have no idea.” He leaned
toward me, and I panicked.

“Shit!” My foot got caught in the
sheet as I tried to climb out of the bed, and I tumbled over the side, landing
on my back precariously with one leg still wrapped up in the sheet on the bed.

“I was going to help you, but I’m
thinking I like you just like this.” I looked up in time to see Nick peering
over the bed with a front row view of my crotch.

“Stop screwing with me, Nick. Help
me untangle my foot,” I demanded, trying to keep a straight face as he casually
set his chin on his hands, watching me lay there in an incredibly vulnerable
position. My tight yoga pants weren’t leaving much to the imagination.

I sighed, “Please, Nick. We are
seriously blurring the lines of friendship today. I need to get out of your
bedroom where I can think straight.” I saw his mood change slightly as he
unwound my foot. “Thanks.” I stood up and headed for the door.

I turned and smiled. “Why don’t you
get a shower, and I’ll make us something to eat. Then we can talk about what
brought on your little drinking excursion today.”

Nick

I watched Chelsea leave my bedroom
before finally climbing out of bed. My head was still a bit foggy, but I had
definitely sobered up, and surprisingly, I really didn’t feel terrible.

When I woke up and realized that
Chelsea was still in bed with me, I immediately got hard. There was something
so right about having her pressed against me, in my arms. I didn’t want it to
end.

I wasn’t sure when things had taken
such a drastic turn for me. In the time that I’d known Chelsea, I had become
very protective of her, but seeing her with Adam, that wasn’t just
protective—it was unequivocally full blown jealousy.

I wanted her like I’d never wanted
anyone before, but it wasn’t just physical. I craved her company. I could spend
endless amounts of time with her and still want more. She was right. I was
blurring the lines today, but maybe it was time to see where things went—beyond
friendship.

I stood under the shower, allowing
the water to hit me with the constant pressure of the spray. As much as I
wanted to stay under the warmth of the water, I hurried through the process,
anxious to talk to Chelsea.

I felt like I hadn’t really spoken
to her lately. With my obnoxious reaction to her and Adam, and the incident
with the blonde bimbo that I’d brought home, I couldn’t blame her for not
wanting to sit down and have a heart-to-heart. I hadn’t exactly made her feel
like she could come to me as a friend, much less anything more.

After drying off, I dressed and
headed toward the kitchen. Chelsea moved around fluidly as she threw together a
couple of sandwiches for us. “Mustard?”

“Uh, what?” I asked. I had been so
busy staring at her that I hadn’t really heard her. While I was in the shower,
she had changed into a pair of jeans that hugged her ass like a glove. She was
wearing a black silk shirt with ruffles around the buttons that gapped right
above her breasts, showing an ample amount of cleavage. She was hot.

“Do you want mustard on your
sandwich?” She grinned.

“Yes please.” I reached up into the
pantry and pulled down a couple bags of chips. “Are we sitting at the breakfast
bar or in the living room?”

“Let’s sit in the living room.” She
picked up the two plates and brought them over to the counter where I was
leaning. We both added chips to our plates and grabbed the bottles of water she
had pulled out.

“I took a guess that you might not
really want a beer.” She smiled and nodded at the water. I followed her to the
living room, sitting down and taking a bite of my sandwich.

“Mmm, so good,” I mumbled. I hadn’t
realized how hungry I was. I couldn’t remember if I’d eaten at the bar with
Trevor and Tom.

We sat in silence, eating and
thinking. I knew it was only a matter of time before my feisty redhead started
asking questions. I wiped my mouth and tossed my napkin on the plate as I
waited for her to finish. Sure enough, as soon as she did, she curled her feet
under her and turned toward me.

“Do you want to talk about what
happened today?” 

“How do you know something
happened?” I asked innocently.

She cocked her eyebrows at me. “Did
you win your game? Is that why you got drunk?”

“I’m not sure if we won or not.” I
shrugged.

Chelsea frowned at me. “What do you
mean? Didn’t you play?”

I groaned and sat up. “I did, but I
got kicked out of the game. Trevor and Tom took me to the bar to blow off some
steam.”

“What happened Nick? Why did you
get kicked out?” She sat up and leaned toward me. Her face was clouded with
concern.

“I got in a fight, Chelsea—with
Adam.”

“Oh, Nick. Why?” She looked sad. I
could understand why. I mean, I had beaten up her boyfriend, even if he had
deserved it.

“I know you are probably mad at me
for fighting with your boyfriend, but …”

“Wait, what?” She stopped me.
“Nick, Adam is
not
my boyfriend. In fact, I’m pretty sure we won’t be
going on any dates after last night.” She chuckled.

I leaned forward. “Did he hurt you
last night?” I swear, if that asshole did anything to hurt her, I was going to
finish what I’d started.

“No, nothing like that.” She
smiled. “You can put your big brother tendencies away.”

“Trust me, Chelsea. The last thing
I have toward you is big brother anything.” I smiled back at her and continued
before she could question me.