Authors: Theresa Ragan
CHAPTER 10
Kari watched Max leap in the air, muscles flexing, tendons straining as he spiked the volleyball over the net.
One of the three guys on the opposing side was ready for him though and the big guy managed to give the ball just the right touch, sending the volleyball right back toward Kari.
“Mine,” she called.
Tense, she entwined her fingers, elbows straight, just as Max and his football friends had instructed. She was ready this time...legs apart, body alert, eyes on the ball. Right before she could touch the ball though, Max flew through the air in front of her, hit the ball with his palm, and sent the ball over the net, giving them another point.
Max looked over his shoulder at her and winked.
She plunked her hands on her hips. “I called that ball.”
He smiled. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t hear you.”
Babe?
Since when had she become babe? Max had started acting strange, playing the macho boyfriend the moment they hooked up with his friends. “That’s bull,” she said, hoping to show him she didn’t appreciate being treated like an object instead of a human being.
He smiled, his teeth flashing in the sunlight.
“I’m serious,” she said. “That’s the third time you took the ball from me after I called it. How am I supposed to learn the game if I never get to touch the ball?”
“She’s right,” one of the guys on the other side of the net said.
“Stay out of this,” Max told him.
“Why don’t you come over on our team,” another guy called out. “We’ll let you touch the ball.”
She looked over at the three big men standing on the other side of the net. They were all football players. Derek Hoffman stood on the left, and if he had a nickname, she decided it would be Killer. Because he had killer blond hair and a killer smile. Not to mention a killer body. The guy standing in the middle was Peyton, although they all called him Snake since he had a massive cobra tattoo that wrapped around his arm. The guy on the right was the biggest of them all, a lineman, no doubt. He had to weigh at least three hundred pounds. His head was shaved and a gold tooth sparkled in the sun whenever he smiled. For some reason, a reason she was sure she didn’t want to know, they called him Screw.
“Where are you going?” Max asked when she started off toward the other side of the net.
“You’re a ball hog,” she said. “I want to play with men who aren’t afraid to let me touch their ball.”
The guys taunted Max after that, making it clear she could touch their ball all day if she wanted to.
Max did not look pleased with her, but she didn’t care. He deserved it. When he wasn’t ignoring her, he was treating her like a possession. She’d been standing in the hot sun in the back corner for forty-five minutes and hadn’t even broken a sweat.
“Good going,” Brandon scolded Max. Brandon Hill was the Condors’ kicker, and he happened to be on Max’s side. “Somebody needs to come over here with us.”
Killer, Cobra, and Screw all stood their ground.
“Okay,” Max said. “Have it your way.” He brought the ball up, ready to serve while directing his gaze at Kari, intending to intimidate her with one of his menacing looks, the one she figured he probably used on the football field when he faced an opponent.
His daunting expression turned to a frown when she reached down, clutched the hem of the T-shirt he’d bought her at Lily’s Boutique, and pulled the shirt up and over her head. Underneath was the teeny-weeny bikini top he had also bought her.
#
Holy shit.
Max never did see what was in that bag of hers before they walked out of the store earlier. He’d also bought her a pair of shorts, but from the looks of it she wasn’t going to take those off. Thank God for small favors.
This was the first time he’d seen her half naked. The blouses she usually wore were loose, bordering on matronly. Sure, he knew she had a good body. Hell, he wasn’t blind, but until this moment, he hadn’t known how good. The idea of her parading around half naked for all his friends to see bothered him. And yet it shouldn’t have because he didn’t have a jealous bone in his body.
“Is everyone ready!” he shouted angrily when he noticed none of the guys were looking his way anymore. “Are we playing volleyball or are we girl watching?”
“We’re girl watching,” Hoffman said with a laugh.
Max gritted his teeth. He and the other guys played beach volleyball on a regular basis, but Max hadn’t realized they already had all been introduced to the rookie. Hoffman had no business being invited to the beach with them before he even stepped on the practice field.
Max served the ball, a nice straight line into the side of Hoffman’s head. Hoffman stumbled across the sand and it took him a moment to regain his balance. By the time Max found his spot at the back corner and was ready to serve again, Hoffman was already under the net, coming right for him.
Hoffman rammed into him like a big rig without breaks, hitting his side and bringing Max to the sand with a thud.
Max came up swinging.
Hoffman ducked and then came back at him with a fast right hook, putting Max back on the ground.
Bystanders started gathering, yelling from the sidelines.
Max wasn’t sure whose side they were on, but he didn’t care. He saw red as he scrambled back to his feet. “Come on, Pretty Boy,” Max said, putting up his fist for more. “It’s time somebody taught you a lesson.”
“Calm down,” Screw told Max. “Let it go.”
“Shut up, Screw, and mind your own business.”
“What’s your problem?” Peyton asked. “You’ve been acting like an idiot all day.”
“Fuck all of you,” Max spit out.
Hoffman grinned and looked at Kari. “The only one I want to fuck is that pretty girl over there.”
Adrenaline took over from there and the crowd must have tripled in size when he wasn’t looking because the shouts were deafening, making Max feel like he was at a boxing match in Atlanta as he danced around the younger football player, planting a left jab into Hoffman’s gut, then a right into his side. He had the kid right where he wanted him.
Without looking away, Hoffman gestured with his chin toward the spot where Kari had been standing. “Looks like your girl is leaving.”
Max turned to look.
Big mistake. First lesson he’d learned when it came to boxing was to always keep your eyes on your opponent.
Too late.
Hoffman must have learned that lesson too, because he came in fast for a quick one-two. His right fist landed just above Max’s left eye. The second fist hit Max’s nose. Blood gushed. And it was pretty much all downhill from there.
#
Lindsay and Cole watched from the car as Molly stormed up the front walkway toward the house. They had suddenly become her two worst enemies. Molly used the key from her backpack to unlock the door. Then she disappeared inside the house.
“Well,” Lindsay said to Cole. “It certainly has turned out to be an interesting day.”
Cole hadn’t said more than two words since Molly told him that Max was her father. He had politely kept his mouth shut while Lindsay lectured Molly on the way home from school. Molly, it turned out, was definitely suspended, which meant she would miss her last two days of school and the father/daughter dance.
Lindsay grabbed hold of the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Is Max really her father?” Cole asked.
Lindsay turned to face him, her face pale. “Who told you that?”
“Molly did when you were off talking to the principal.”
“I can’t believe this.” She looked at her cell phone. “Why hasn’t Kari called me back?”
“It’s true then?”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“Max never mentioned having a kid.”
Lindsay sighed.
“He doesn’t know?”
“Of course not. He’s a man, isn’t he?”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means he sees,” she pointed to her eyes, “and feels,” she laid a hand over her heart, “with his penis.”
Cole kept waiting for her to point at his crotch, but she kept her hand on her chest instead. “You’ve lost me,” he said.
“Nearly fourteen years ago,” Lindsay said, “Max returned from college long enough to have sex with Kari Murphy, a senior at Roseville High School. That’s where Max got the name ‘Mad Max.’ He had all the girls at Roseville tripping over their feet to get to him. All the big handsome jock had to do was snap his fingers and he could have any girl he wanted.” She shook her head in disgust. “The worst part is that Kari was smarter than all the other girls, but somehow she fell for him just the same.”
Cole listened, waiting patiently for her to get to the part where Kari had a baby without Max finding out.
“She fell right into his trap, and then, like most guys, he simply disappeared.”
“That doesn’t sound like Max, or like a fair assessment of the situation. Did he know Kari was pregnant?”
“According to Kari, Max was on the rebound when he returned home. His sister was having a party. After he found his steady girlfriend with another guy, Kari and Max wound up in bed together.”
“Ah-ha,” Cole said. “So it’s not always the guy.”
Lindsay ignored him. “Kari went to see Max a few days after he took advantage of her, but he wasn’t home.”
Cole couldn’t help but wonder what sort of assholes Lindsay had dated to make her so bitter toward the male species. Sooner or later, he’d get to the bottom of it.
“When Kari realized she was pregnant, she went to Max’s house and left a letter with his mother. The letter explained everything, but Kari still never heard from Max.”
“Strange. Mrs. Dutton is a wonderful woman. She adores her family and her grandkids. I don’t think she would keep something like that from her only son. Did Max and Kari talk when they started working together?”
She shook her head. “When Max first saw Kari in the doctor office, he didn’t recognize her. Kari told him they had met before, but even that didn’t jog his memory.”
“Max has no idea that his nutritionist is the same girl he slept with years ago?”
“That’s right.” Lindsay sighed. “She’s lost some weight since then, had braces for a few years, colored her hair...you get the picture.”
“But Molly has always known that Max was her father?”
Lindsay shook her head again. “Not until the night of her thirteenth birthday when she overheard Kari and me talking about it. I didn’t know who Molly’s father was either, not until I took pictures of Max and Molly together at the bowling alley. The resemblance is remarkable.”
Cole rubbed the back of his neck. How could he keep something like this from his friend?
“Please don’t tell Max what you know,” she said as if she could read his mind.
“You’re asking me to lie to my best friend?”
“I’m just asking you not to tell him yet.”
“I promised his mother I would spend the day with his family this Sunday,” Cole said. “If I have to go there, knowing what I know and yet keep my mouth shut, then you have to go with me.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“Call it whatever you want,” Cole said. “Go with me.”
“If I go, you won’t say a word to Max or his family?”
Cole didn’t like resorting to blackmail but something told him that nothing about Lindsay would ever be simple. “Tell me you’ll go with me and my lips are sealed.”
“Then I guess I have no choice.”
“Great. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You don’t have to come tomorrow,” she told him. “You’ve worked hard all week and I can handle the kids by myself for a day or two.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She climbed out of the car and then turned back to him. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Pursuing me even after I’ve made it clear I’m not interested in you or in having a relationship?”
“I find you interesting and smart. I like the way you interact with kids, and I think you’re sexy as hell.”
She looked at him for a moment longer before she said, “See you tomorrow.” Then she shut the door and walked away.
A smile curved his lips. He waited until she was inside before he turned up the radio and drove off.
#
“What is wrong with you?” Kari asked Max as he approached the curb where his motorcycle was parked.
Max frowned. “Why does everyone keep asking me that? Derek Hoffman pummels me in the face, breaks my nose, and yet everyone wants to know what’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with this picture?”
“You hit the guy in the head with the volleyball on purpose and for no reason.”
“I had a reason. Number one, he was staring at you as if you didn’t have any clothes on, and number two, the guy wants my starting position on the field.”
She snorted. “He was not staring at me.”
His gaze fell to her breasts. “Put some clothes on, would you?”
“No.” She plunked a hand on her hip. “I won’t. I don’t know what has come over you, Max, but if you tell me to put on my shirt one more time I’m going to strip down to nothing.”
“God, you’re stubborn.”
She watched blood ooze through the shirt he held to his nose. She stepped forward to examine his face. “Maybe we should get you to a hospital.”
“If you had just kept your shirt on, none of this would—”
She growled as she untied the string that held her short shorts on and then slid her shorts down and off of her legs.
The guys were watching from the beach and they all started whistling and shouting at once.
“Shit. Okay, stop,” he pleaded. “I’m sorry. I apologize.”
Her hands were behind her neck, ready to untie the strings holding her top on. The man made her crazy. “You really know how to piss me off,” she said.
“What did I do?”
“You brought me to Malibu Beach under the pretense of teaching me to play volleyball, but as soon as your friends came around you started treating me like an object instead of a person.”
“Because I didn’t let you hit the ball?”
“That was part of it, yes. And calling me babe, what was that about?” She swallowed hard “You acted like an ass when they glanced at me for two seconds.”
“It was a hell of a lot longer than two seconds.”
“You were looking, too.”
“But you don’t belong to them.”
She cocked her head. “What did you say?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he refolded the shirt and put it back to his nose.
“You think I belong to you?”
“Did I say that?”
“You’re a very confused man, aren’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“When you and your brothers-in-law took Joey into the house the other night, you thought we couldn’t hear you.”
He winced. “But you could?”
She nodded.
“What did I say?”
“When Joey referred to me as your girlfriend, you didn’t hesitate to set everyone straight and tell them I was not your girlfriend.”
“Are you my girlfriend?”
She crossed her arms. “That’s the thing about me and you. I have no idea what I am to you.”
Holding the cloth to his nose, he stepped close and draped an arm about her shoulder. “Will you be my girlfriend?”
Despite his beat up face, she was tempted to snuggle in his warm arms and say yes, but she wasn’t ready to let him off the hook for acting like a fool. “I’m not finished. You told everyone in the room that I wasn’t your girlfriend. You said it was a ridiculous notion. And you said it more than once. You sounded panicked as if the mere idea of having a girlfriend was more than you could handle. And that was minutes after you kissed me in front of your family. It was humiliating.”
He squeezed the bridge of his nose tighter.
“And if I’m not your girlfriend, how is it that I belong to you?”
“You’re right. I’m confused.”
She sighed. “Could we go?”
He opened the small compartment at the back of his motorcycle and asked her if she wanted to put her clothes inside. She stepped into her shorts and pulled her t-shirt over her head instead.
Max straddled the bike and waited for her to climb on behind him. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re right. I was being an ass.”
She was glad to see he understood where she was coming from. “We better go.”
“What about dinner?”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine without me hovering over you.”
“That’s not true. I’m already starting to forget which is worse—saturated fats or unsaturated fats.”
“Saturated,” she said with a chuckle.
“See? I was going to say unsaturated.”
“It’s not going to work, Max.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, should I worry about overeating protein? And could you give me the scoop on amino-acid supplements again? I can’t remember what you told me about those.”
She rolled her eyes as she put on her helmet. After he slid the key in and started the engine, she forced herself to wrap her arms around his waist. Max had made a fool of himself. He’d embarrassed her, too. There was no way she was going to enjoy the feel of his hard abs beneath her fingers. Never mind that his skin felt warm to the touch or that he smelled like sand and lotion. She wasn’t going to pay any attention to his hair and the way it flipped into little curls at the back of his neck. Nope. She wasn’t going to enjoy the ride home one bit.