Heading into the main part of the locker room, I found it dark and empty. All of the lockers had been cleaned out except for one. Number eleven’s. He was nowhere in sight, but then I noticed the sound of the shower. If he was still in the shower room, he was about to qualify for the longest shower ever.
Then again, maybe someone had just forgotten to turn off one of the showers. I broke to a stop when I got inside the shower room. Someone had left a shower on, but that someone was still hovering beneath it, his head and arms pressed into the tile wall below the showerhead. Archer wasn’t moving; he was just standing there, letting the water rain down on his back and spill down his body.
My throat ran dry watching him like this: naked, braced against the wall, water rolling down him, steam fogging around him. I had to remind myself I was mad at him because damn, there was nothing infuriating about the man stationed in front of me right now.
I felt other things, but anger wasn’t part of the spectrum.
“Archer?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t move.
“Is this how we’re going to deal with this stuff when it comes up?” I took a few more steps inside the big shower room. “Giving each other the silent treatment?”
I waited a minute. Then two. I was about to turn and leave when he shifted.
“I could have played.” His voice was low, guarded, but at least he was communicating.
“Yeah, you probably could have.”
His head tipped over his shoulder. “Then why didn’t you say that earlier?”
Crossing my arms, I moved closer. “Because I didn’t think you should play.”
A sharp exhale rolled out of his mouth. “I’m a ball player. I get paid to play. My job is to swing the bat and play the field. It isn’t to ride the bench with a bag of ice between my legs.”
“And I’m an athletic trainer. I get paid to take care of the players. My job is to prevent and treat injuries. It isn’t to tell the coaching staff whatever they want to hear.” I didn’t stop moving until I’d reached the wall he was leaning into. Still keeping him at a distance, I turned so I was facing him.
“I’ve got a job to do.” When his head turned toward me, his eyes found mine.
My hands lifted. “So do I, Luke. My job is to make sure you can continue to do yours. So back off.” My voice was growing, bouncing off the walls of the shower room. “If you want someone who will tell you what you want to hear, Shepherd’s really good at that.”
His brows came together as he inspected me. “You’re mad at me?” He sounded incredulous—he almost looked it too.
I gave him the same look right back. “Yeah, I tend to get a little touchy when people question my calls.”
“Good.” He shoved off the wall, turning to face me. Having the full view of him a few feet in front of me made me feel something I shouldn’t have been experiencing in a locker room with a man I was upset with. “I’m kind of angry too.”
“How is that good?”
A fire ignited in his eyes. “You’re about to find out.”
“Luke . . .” I warned, checking the entrance to the shower room.
This was too risky; I didn’t care what Coach had said about us being the last two here. All it took was one of the players realizing he’d forgotten something and popping back in. Or one of the stadium janitorial staff coming in thinking the visiting team had all left. Luke Archer wasn’t just some guy—he was arguably the best player in the sport. If anyone found out we’d done what I could tell he had in mind, the headlines would haunt me until the day I died.
“So I’m done talking with Doc now.” His voice was low still, but this time, it was from desire instead of anger. “I want to talk with Allie.”
When my eyes dropped from his, my theory about what he had in mind was confirmed. “You are talking to Allie.”
“Just making sure.” Going from frozen to a flash of heat, Archer grabbed me by the waist and pulled me in front of him. He shoved my back into the wet tile wall, pressing his body into mine to hold me there. “Hi.”
His hands slipped around my waist as his mouth lowered to my neck. So much for being upset at me for benching him. Not that I was exactly upset at him for challenging my call anymore either. Not with the way he was ever so gently flexing his hips into mine, managing to stroke me with his erection through my pants.
“I missed you,” he said.
“I thought you wanted to talk with Allie.” My words seemed to echo off the tile walls as he continued to suck at my neck. “I don’t think what you have in mind is talking.”
I felt his smile curve against my skin. “It starts with talking. Talking can even be interspersed throughout.” He tugged my shirt out of my pants, his hands instantly sliding up the plane of my stomach until they were molding around my chest. He pried my bra cups down to expose my nipples, and his fingers explored them until I could feel my heartbeat pulsing between my legs.
“What are you doing, Luke?”
Nipping at the skin stretching across my collarbone, he leaned back just enough to rip my shirt over my head. He threw it down the row of showers. “Getting ready to fuck you up against this tile wall. What do you think I’ve been doing in here all night?”