The Screw Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 3) by Samantha Lind (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📕

“Sure can,” I tell her, slipping my phone into my back pocket. I tug her to me, dropping a chaste kiss on her lips before I step back. “Try not to panic, it will slow you down. And you look gorgeous, even if you only had ten minutes to get ready,” I tell her and then turn and walk away. It takes a few minutes for me to reach the Starbucks that is in the lobby of the hotel. Thankfully, my order is waiting for me when I walk up, so I’m able to grab it quickly and then head up to the second floor where I told her I’d meet her. I find the room easily and meet her at the doorway. “These are for you. Text me when you’re done?” I ask, handing over the cup and sandwich.

“Yeah, sure. And Lucas, thanks,” she says, and her cheeks deepen at the double meaning of her words.

“No need to thank me, Red. I’ll see you later.” I wink at her and walk away. I need a shower and some breakfast of my own, and I should probably plug my phone in, so I don’t miss her text message later today.

“Where did you disappear to last night?” Matt O’Riley asks after I sit down in one of the lounges the hotel has provided for the team. They’ve got all kinds of entertainment options going on in here for us, seeing how we have so much downtime between games right now.

“I don’t kiss and tell, man.” I smirk at him and run my fingers through my still damp hair from the quick shower I grabbed before coming to find my teammates.

“Since when?” he retorts.

“Since I said so,” I tell him, my tone advising him to drop it. What I did last night with Carmen isn’t up for discussion, especially with my teammates. My night with her is only for us, and I find myself wanting to protect that privacy at all cost.

“Damn, man, calm down.” He smirks. “How’s Carmen this morning?” he asks, and it’s obvious he’s put two and two together, since he knows I escorted her back to her room last night.

“Last I knew, she was in a meeting this morning,” I tell him, and hope he’ll drop the questioning.

I luck out when Derek and JJ come into the room, both sitting down with us. “What’s up, guys?” Matt asks them both.

“Nothing much, just waiting on my wife to call once the kids are napping,” Derek says. You can almost feel how much he hates being away from his wife and kids when we’re on the road. “What’s up with you guys?” he asks.

“What you see,” I tell him. “Anyone want to hit up the gym?” I ask, needing something to do that will get some energy out. My knees won’t stop bouncing while I’m sitting here, and I think it’s because I have so much built-up energy and excitement. It’s coursing through my blood.

We sit around, shooting the shit, until Derek gets the call he’d been waiting on from his wife. Once he finishes up talking to her, we pick up our trash and head out of the lounge.

“Damn, this place is nice!” JJ says as we push through the doors of the hotel’s gym. It looks newly renovated with machines that look brand new.

“Yeah, it is,” I agree with him. I head for a treadmill, first, to get in a warmup run before I hit the weights.

“Damn, boy. How much weight are you trying to press?” Derek asks as he steps in to spot me.

“Just my normal three fifty,” I tell him before I remove the bar from the rack and start my first rep.

I finish up in the weight room with the guys and am ready to head for my hotel room for my second shower of the day.

“Hey, Lucas,” Matt calls out to catch my attention.

I stop in the doorway, turning around to look at him, and find him across the room from me. “What?” I call out.

“You want to grab some lunch with us?” he asks.

“Maybe, I’ll text you once I’m done showering. I need to make a call afterwards, first,” I tell him, since I want to try and check in with Carmen and see if she’s done with her meeting so we can have lunch together. I’d rather do that with her than the guys.

He just smirks at me from across the hall, probably knowing damn well why I won’t commit to lunch with the guys. “All right, text me later, then.”

I head to my room, stripping from my sweaty clothes as soon as I enter the room and the door shuts behind me. I step under the hot spray and let the water work its magic on my sore muscles. Once I’m relaxed, I wash up, then step out of the shower. Once I’m all dried off, I wrap the towel around my waist and stand at the bathroom sink. I pull out my razor and clean up my beard. I like to keep it on the shorter side so that it doesn’t get out of hand.

Once finished in the bathroom, I pull a pair of joggers, a T-shirt, and a pair of boxer briefs from my bag and take them over to my bed to get dressed. I sit on the bed, sans shirt, and grab my cell from the nightstand. I pull up my text messages, and hover over Carmen’s name for a few seconds, trying to decide if I should send her a message or just wait for her to come to me. I’m not here to pressure her into anything, even if we were perfect for each other last night.

Fuck it, I think as I hit her contact and type in a quick message.

Lucas: Will you be free for lunch?

I toss my phone on the bed next to me while I pull my shirt on then kick back and turn the TV on. I’m sure Carmen