“That’s right,” AJ said as the memory of overhearing his sisters’ talk about Lorenzo’s ex came to him. “You were engaged once before Livi, right? Is that who you’re talking about?”
Lorenzo nodded, glancing back toward the house where the girls were. “Yep, and just like this one”—he motioned toward Kelli and Nathan—“she was always sneaking away to take calls and got texts at all hours. In my case, they were from her ex, and I knew it, but there was nothing I could do about it since he was her kid’s dad and she had to keep things amicable for the sake of her kid. At least that’s the bullshit she fed me and I bought it. Then boom. I find out she’s sleeping with him again.” He shook his head. “I’m not saying I think that’s what Nathan’s girl is doing,” he said, glancing back at Nathan and Kelli. “I’m just saying she hasn’t put that phone down once since they got here. And who the fuck is Raymond?”
AJ continued to peer at Lorenzo, suddenly beyond relieved Clair’s dad didn’t exist as far as Addison was concerned. He sure as hell wouldn’t be able to deal with that shit. He glanced over at his brother and Kelli, who were on their way back now, and neither looked too happy.
“Well,” Sabian said in a lowered voice as Nathan and Kelli approached them. “Looks like trouble in paradise.”
“I’m taking her home,” Nathan said simply as they neared.
“Good night,” Kelli said with a weak smile to Isaiah and AJ. Then she turned to the others. “Nice meeting you guys.”
They all waved and said goodnight but kept their thoughts to themselves until Nathan and Kelli were out of sight.
“Well, shit, Enzo,” AJ said when Nathan and Kelli had entered the house. “Did you just jinx my brother?”
“All I said,” Lorenzo said, holding a hand up in front of him, “was there’s something shady about her. Apparently, I wasn’t too far off.”
That worried AJ as much as it seemed to worry Isaiah, who was staring pensively in the direction Nathan and Kelli had gone. Just like AJ, both his brothers rarely brought a girl around the family. Nathan’s bringing Kelli around spoke volumes about what he was feeling for her, and he’d been with her for weeks now.
AJ had only been with Addison two days now, and he couldn’t imagine having to deal with what his brother might be dealing with, least of all what Lorenzo had. The only thing he could hope for was that Nathan was a pretty good judge of character. Despite what Lorenzo said, until she took all those calls today, AJ had thought Kelli was a nice enough girl. If Nathan was getting serious enough to bring her around the family, she couldn’t be too bad.
He flinched when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. The guys were still on the subject of Nathan and Kelli as the girls started to make their way out from the kitchen. This time AJ walked away for some privacy with a smile when he saw Addison’s name on the screen.
“Hey,” he said when he answered. “You miss me already?”
“Yes!” she said with a giggle. “I can’t believe it’ll be weeks before I get to see you again.”
AJ groaned at the thought. “I know.” He shook his head with a frown. “It killed me to not be able to kiss you goodnight.”
“Exactly,” she said anxiously. “It’s why I promised Clair Starbucks before school in the morning. That’s usually a Friday morning treat. But I needed a reason to get her in bed early because it means us getting up and leaving an hour earlier than normal so neither of us will be late. She’s asleep now. You wanna meet me somewhere?”
AJ barely waved at the crowd by the outdoor bar who looked at him curiously as he rushed by them and into the house. A few places came to mind where they could meet. He named off a few bars and restaurants and she went silent for a moment.
“Don’t think less of me, okay?” she finally said. “But after last night, I was thinking more like a hotel room for a few hours.”
AJ groaned even louder this time as he practically sprinted to his car.
Chapter 11
Addison
It had been two weeks before Clair’s school let out for the summer and just as long until Addison and Clair were finally able to meet up with Addison’s parents on the road. Now more than ever Addison was convinced that taking the job in San Diego had been Fate. Even back in Chicago, she could do a large part of her job from home. She only ever needed to drive into her office three sometimes four days out of the week, but never all five. This position gave her even more time away from the office. It was just one of the perks that helped in her decision to move back. Since many of the meetings she had to attend were via Skype and conference calls with IRS statisticians from all over the country, there really was no need for her to be in her office for those. Her job consisted of lots and lots of calls to discuss and compare notes and charts. She could do that from almost anywhere as long as she had her laptop and phone with her.
This gave her more time to focus on Clair, especially since she didn’t want her parents to think for a moment that she’d moved back home so she could dump her daughter on them. Now that she was seeing AJ, though they didn’t know it yet, she wanted to continue to show just how devoted she was to her daughter. But she never imagined how much she’d love the fact that she could spend so much time away from her office.
Two weeks away from AJ had been torturous. Though she’d spoken to him every night via Skype once everyone was asleep, she still missed him like crazy. It was insane and a little scary how fast and hard she’d fallen for him. It was so hard to end the calls every night that they’d resorted to falling asleep with their laptops on in their beds. It was AJ’s suggestion, and she’d laughed out loud when he admitted he’d gotten the idea when he’d remembered one of the guys on the team getting ribbed mercilessly for doing the same thing with his girlfriend. At the time, AJ said he’d thought it disgusting. “How could anyone be that pathetically whipped?”
Well, now he knew. They both did. Seeing him in person and not being able to jump all over him was even worse. Sneaking off with him alone had proven even trickier, especially since she’d be sharing a hotel room with Clair on every leg of their trip. In some cases, she shared a two-room suite with Clair and her parents.
Addison never knew she could be so sneaky. Since she’d been a recluse in high school and then she’d gone and gotten knocked up so soon after her transformation after high school, she’d never really had a wild streak where she had to lie to her parents and sneak out her bedroom window and such.
The evening after the first game they met her parents in Denver. She hadn’t even knocked at AJ’s hotel room door when he opened it and pulled her in.
“How much time do we have?” AJ asked, consuming every inch of her mouth as he ran his hands up and down her needy body.
They moved along toward the bedroom of his suite, stopping against furniture and walls, unable to keep lips or limbs off each other. “About an hour,” she said between breathless kisses.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, eagerly giggling in his mouth when he lifted her suddenly and rushed her into the bedroom, never once releasing her mouth. “Good,” he kissed her again, tracing her lips with his tongue. “There’s plenty I could do to you in an hour.”
As soon as they were by the side of his bed, he lowered her and pulled off his shirt. His body was beyond amazing. She’d never tire of staring at him in complete awe.
AJ smirked, making her face heat when she realized she’d zoned out staring at his perfect arms, chest, and shoulders—again. He took one step forward and lifted her skirt; his fingers headed directly to her crotch, caressing her over damp panties. If it hadn’t felt so damn good, she might have been a little embarrassed at her body’s obvious reaction to his touch. Every inch of her quivered as his lips sucked her neck and his fingers continued to play with her down there. Even over her panties, it was already building. Touching his naked upper body wasn’t helping slow the impending eruption her body was readying itself for already.