“Fan club?” I asked when he returned the arm flailing motion.
“The feeling’s mutual.”
His sisters were winding their way to the fence, waving him over, totally decked out with Shock gear from foam fingers to shoelaces.
“Why don’t you go say hi, and I’ll get your ice bath ready?”
Luke groaned, but it wasn’t very convincing with the smile on his face. “You want to come meet them?”
My feet stopped moving. He paused when he noticed me stopped at the edge of the field. Since I still didn’t know how to define whatever we were, family introductions had been way off my radar. Introducing a person to one’s family meant things were serious enough to bring that person into your inner circle. Was that how Luke felt about us? Or was he just being polite?
How did I feel about us?
“I think they want to see their brother right now,” I said. “Not one of the team’s athletic trainers.”
Luke’s shoulder lifted. “They’d definitely be interested in meeting the woman I’m seeing.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?’
His eyes locked on mine. “Sometimes the only way to know if you’re ready is to take the leap.”
“I’M SORRY I put you on the spot like that,” Luke said from the second-row seat of his SUV while I sat in the driver’s seat, feeling like I was driving a tank down the interstate.
“You didn’t put me on the spot. There was just a lot coming at me at that particular moment in time.”
“Like me suggesting I introduce you to my sisters.”
I sagged in relief when he pointed at the upcoming exit sign. In addition to feeling like a bus in comparison to my small sedan, Luke’s SUV wasn’t a smooth ride. My body would probably still be vibrating tomorrow morning. “Like me realizing I made a bad call letting you play tonight.”
“You didn’t make a bad call.”
As he said it, I heard him adjust the bag of ice I’d forced him to keep on his leg. I’d also insisted he keep it elevated for the next twenty-four hours, which was why I was in my current condition—barreling a tank off the interstate while Luke Archer sat behind me with a reinjured groin muscle.
“Is that why you didn’t want to say anything to Coach about it?” I asked.
Our eyes connected in the rear view mirror.
“I didn’t want to say anything to him because there was nothing to report.”
“And that’s the reason you have a bag of ice on your crotch and are laid out in the backseat, right?”
He leaned forward, bracing his hands between the passenger and driver’s seats. He smelled fresh from the shower, his still-wet hair curling around the rim of his ball cap.
Getting distracted by the way Luke smelled was not a great idea if I placed a priority on getting him to a destination safe and in one piece.
“No, you are the reason I have a bag of frozen water on my crotch.” His fingers curled into my headrest caressed my cheek. “I’d much rather have something else between them right now.”
“Like a vise?”
Archer chuckled, pointing me down the right road when we came to the end of the off-ramp. “Hey, Allie?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For letting me play. For taking a chance on me. For being you.” His hand dropped to my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“Is that all?”
“No, not all, but it sums up a good chunk of my thanks.” He pointed down the next road, and I coaxed the tank into a turn.
“In that case, you’re welcome.” I tried not to get distracted by him in the rearview mirror. Or the way I could feel him leaning toward me. Or the way his hand was still lingering on my shoulder. “Can I ask you a weird question?”
“I’d be disappointed if you asked me one that wasn’t weird.”
I lifted my brow at him in the rearview mirror. “The condom thing.” I swallowed. “Pulling out last time . . . what’s the deal? I’ve never met a guy so concerned with birth control.”
Luke didn’t look the slightest bit uncomfortable with the topic when I checked the mirror.
“Do you not trust me—what I said about being covered? Do you just really like latex? Are you scared of having a kid?” My eyes stayed on the road after that. I felt all kinds of awkward bringing this up, but it had been on my mind ever since that first night. I appreciated him being so responsible, but there was a difference between conscientious and paranoid.
“No, none of that. I trust you—I wouldn’t be with you like that if I didn’t. I don’t have some latex fetish, and I’m not scared of having a kid.” Luke was quiet for a minute, so I checked the mirror—he was staring out the side window with a pensive expression. “I’m scared of getting a woman pregnant who isn’t sure she wants me in her life.”