Focused: A hate to love sports romance(25)

This time, because of that shift, I let my lips curl up in a smile. "Yoga."

"Yoga," he repeated.

"You're strong, and you're fast, but when you lose your balance, you lose the sack."

Noah sat back like I'd shoved him with both hands. "You're serious."

"As a heart attack."

"I work out for hours every day, Molly."

"I know, trust me." I let my eyes wander over the curves of his shoulders, down the vein that traced his biceps, the muscles bunching like I was touching them with the tips of my fingers. "But weights and strength training and the stuff you do in practice aren't the same thing as yoga, and I'd bet you a hundred bucks that if you practiced something like that regularly, it would help you."

His eyes sparked, and for the first time, I saw a teasing glint in those depths. It changed every aspect of his face, and it was hard not to want to curl my hand around his skin and feel the change for myself. "A hundred bucks? That's a steep bet."

I exhaled a laugh. "Not all of us have multi-million-dollar contracts, hotshot."

"Deal."

My eyes shot up. "What?"

"It's a deal." The edges of lips almost curled up, and I found myself holding my breath.

"You're going to go to yoga with me?"

"No," he said firmly. "But I can hire someone. Or if you send me something on YouTube. I'll try it at home where Kareem can't see me."

I bit down on my lip because the smile threatening was so big and so overwhelming that I felt my heart pinch. "Okay."

"Okay." He lifted his iPad. "Can I get back to work now?"





Chapter Twelve





Molly





"It's probably a really, really stupid idea."

"I couldn't say one way or the other."

No matter what my sister said, I knew it was as I us drove to Paige and Logan's house for our Tuesday night family dinner. But as I took the exit, I couldn't stop thinking about Noah sitting on that friggin' black couch, his legs too long and his frame too bulky for him to be comfortable. I thought about his fridge, full of boring food filled with vitamins and minerals and zero good carbs.

Good carbs like the bread kind of good carbs.

I thought about the fact that his telescope was being shipped from Miami, and how he never sat at the clear dining room table because he was always eating by himself.

"I'm just going to do it."

Isabel glanced at me from the passenger seat. "Molly, if you keep overanalyzing, I'll jump from this moving vehicle just so I don't have to listen. For the love of all things holy, make a decision."

My thumb punched the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel.

"Call Noah Griffin," I said.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Iz sighed and shook her head.

But there were no cameras to be found, and maybe it would be a good way for him to just ... relax. The phone rang and rang, and with each one that went unanswered, I felt even more resolute that he needed someone to step up and be in this role for him.

Noah needed a friend.

He needed someone who could see past whatever trappings were entailed in being The Machine.

After a prolonged beep, the disembodied voice of his phone told me to leave a message after the tone. I debated hanging up but didn't end the call when it came through the speakers.

"Noah, it's Molly. Umm, I know it's last minute, but if you ... if you're hungry, or bored, or whatever, we always do family dinner at my brother's house on Tuesdays. I mean, we do dinner. Sometimes non-family members show up too. Not often, but they do. Lia always brings her friend. I know it's not your family, but you're welcome all the same." I pinched my eyes shut. "You know where it is if you want to join us."

When the call ended, I blew out a disgusted breath.

"I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to come," Isabel mused.

"Screw you. Drive yourself next time."

"We live together, Molly. That's a gratuitous misuse of fuel." She wedged her sneakered feet up onto the dashboard before I knocked them down. "Hey, they're clean."

"So's my car. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Don't you think Logan would have an issue with one of his players showing up unannounced?"

That made me sigh. "Probably."

"Yet here we are. For all you know, Noah's going to show up like a grumpy lost puppy on the front porch in twenty minutes."

As I glanced in the rearview mirror, I caught my gaze, feverish and bright with excitement.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"No, I don't think he will," I admitted. "Yesterday was better, though. Sort of. One minor snag, but it's understandable that it would take him time to adjust. I know I'd feel off-balance in his position."

"And how do you feel in your position?" she asked pointedly.

"I don't know, Isabel. I think this is a really weird job, and it's putting me in a strange position because no matter what I do, Noah could still wake up tomorrow and decide to quit."

She pointed a finger at me. "That is highly unlikely, and you know it as well as I do. These guys are so freaking competitive. They can't play Scrabble without it hitting Super Bowl level of intensity."