“You don’t want to know.”
Did the kid really think he could take him? Hawk would have laughed if he hadn’t been so damn pissed off. “Where do you get off lecturing to me? What I do in my personal life is my business.”
“Nicole is my friend. She’s taken care of me when she didn’t have to. I’m not going to let anyone hurt her. Not even you.”
Normally Hawk enjoyed a good challenge, but this time there couldn’t be any winners. He was angry and frustrated with nowhere to put it.
He swore under his breath, then pushed past the kid, shoving Raoul harder than he needed.
“I don’t need this crap,” he muttered as he walked to his truck. “Go to hell.”
Raoul didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. In some way, he’d already won.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NICOLE WAS ACTUALLY looking forward to the game Friday night. Both she and Hawk had been busy, so she hadn’t had a chance to see him or speak with him in a couple of days. Not that she wasn’t still tingling. The man could work some serious miracles on her body and he was welcome to hone his skills anytime he wanted. She was so impressed, she was actually starting to think that if she’d known him a few months ago, when she’d had her surgeries, he could have cut her healing time in half.
She was still smiling at the memory as she walked into the stadium.
“Hey, Nicole,” one of the kids called.
Nicole sort of recognized her from the group that hung out at the house. There were a few regulars she knew and some that just stopped by every now and then. Eventually she would know them all. She waved as she made her way up to where most of the parents sat.
“Nicole! How’s it going?” Barbara asked.
“We’re going to win tonight,” Dylan, father of Aaron and Kyle, told her.
“I can feel it, too,” she said with a laugh.
There were more greetings. She settled by Missy and Greg, a quiet couple with two boys on the team.
From her bleacher seat, she could see the whole field. She looked around until she saw Hawk, then hoped her smile didn’t give away her quivery insides.
Their deal had been for him to get the sex he wanted and her to get a chance to show people she wasn’t a pity party of one. But she had a feeling she’d gotten the better part of the arrangement, because the sex certainly worked for her in a big way. Maybe tonight after pizza they could…
She caught sight of Raoul and remembered that inviting Hawk by after hours was no longer an option. Still, they were going to have to figure out something. She didn’t want to go weeks between encounters again.
Speaking of encounters, she saw Hawk on the field. When he looked toward the stands, she waved. He didn’t wave back. Nicole frowned. She would have sworn he’d seen her, but then he looked right past her. Of course, she was a long way from the field and it would be easy for him to miss her. Not that he’d ever missed her before.
A few minutes later Raoul spotted her. She half expected him to tell Hawk where she was, but he didn’t. Which was odd. Then Brittany bounced over to her boyfriend. Raoul said something and she looked up toward the stands. When she caught sight of Nicole, she waved her pom-poms and hurried over to her dad.
Anticipation tightened Nicole’s stomach. She tried not to smile, but it was as effective as trying to ignore the sun. She shimmied in her seat and told herself to act cool. Which turned out to be good advice.
Brittany spoke to Hawk, pointed toward the bleachers. Hawk glanced Nicole’s way once, then turned his back and walked away.
Nicole felt as if she’d been hit in the stomach. Her chest hurt and it was hard to breathe. Humiliation washed over her. Hawk had just rejected her-totally and publicly.
Heat burned her cheeks. She pretended to look for something in her purse so she could look down and let her hair hide her face.
What had just happened? Why had he done that? Dismissed her that way? Just a couple of days ago, they’d been laughing and making love in her bed. They hadn’t seen each other since or even spoken on the phone. So what could have gone wrong?
A thousand possibilities flashed through her brain. He hadn’t had as good a time as she’d thought. He’d met someone else. He was tired of pretending. He was repulsed by knowing she’d been stupid enough to marry Drew.
She felt sick and desperately wanted to run away. Unfortunately she was trapped by the crowd and the fact that she always drove kids to the pizza place. If she ducked out now, her absence would be noticed. For some reason, she didn’t want Hawk to know he’d hurt her.
So she raised her head and refused to let anyone see that she’d been humiliated and emotionally kicked in the gut. She was so grateful that Missy and Greg weren’t big talkers. When the game started, she did her best to pay attention, ignoring how the seconds crawled by.
She hadn’t realized how many times Hawk looked her way during his time on the field until he began to ignore her completely. Even though there was no way anyone would notice the difference, she still felt exposed and ashamed. As if she’d done something wrong. Finally the whistle blew and the players lined up to shake hands. Which was usually her cue to go down to the field.
Nicole hesitated. Should she just leave? No, she told herself. She would go down and figure out what had happened. It was the mature thing to do. It would strengthen her character and make her a better person. Then when she got home, she would go upstairs and throw up.
She let the crowd push ahead, then went through the gate and onto the field. Several parents crowded around Hawk, wanting to talk to him about how the game had gone. Nicole had to glance at the scoreboard to figure out if they’d won or not. When life went by in slow motion, it was tough to keep score.
She waited until there was a lull in conversation, then stepped forward.
“Hi,” she said, going for a light, easy tone. Until she knew otherwise, she was going to pretend nothing was wrong.
“Hi,” Hawk said, not looking at her.
She waited, but he didn’t say anything. Then, just when she was going to ask him what was wrong with him, Annie, one of the slutty mothers, strolled up and put both hands on Hawk’s chest.
“So I should just wait for you in the parking lot?” she asked, the lights from the field glinting off her impressive diamond wedding set.
“That’s right. I’ll send the kids to you.”
She smiled into his eyes. “Thanks for asking me to stay tonight, Hawk. I’m really looking forward…to everything.”
“Me, too.”
It was as if he’d slapped her, then reached into her chest and pulled out her heart. This could not be happening. Okay, sure, she and Hawk weren’t actually dating, dating. Not in the traditional sense, but they had a deal and they were having sex and she would never in a million years have believed he was the kind of man to not only go back on his word but also be deliberately cruel.
That’s what got her the most. He was doing this on purpose, as if wanting to exact the most amount of pain. And damn him, it was working.
She turned and hurried off the field. She fought the tears in her eyes, refusing to give in and show weakness until she was by herself. Her to-do list was getting longer. As soon as she got home, she was going to throw up, cry and, oh, yeah, walk the dog.
She’d nearly made it to her car when she felt someone touch her arm. She looked up and saw Raoul standing next to her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low, his expression tight with guilt and pain. “This is my fault.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Coach. The way he’s acting. It’s my fault.”
Nicole ignored the fresh wave of embarrassment as she realized there had been witnesses to Hawk’s rejection.
