Beautiful Player
Page 25
“Yeah, every morning.”
“Will trains with you every morning?” Chloe asked. Another look exchanged.
I nodded, moved to pick up a few errant things lying around. “We meet at the park. Did you know he does triathlons? He’s in great shape.” I snapped my mouth shut, realizing it probably wasn’t safe to be as obliviously unfiltered with Chloe as it was with Will. I knew her well enough at this point to know she didn’t let very many things slide.
And indeed, she lifted a brow and reached up, pushing a thick wave of dark hair behind her shoulder. “So, about William.”
I hummed, folding a pair of socks together.
“Do you see him outside of this daily running date?”
I could feel their attention like heated laser beams on the side of my face so I nodded, not looking over at either of them.
“He’s very handsome,” Chloe added.
Danger danger, my brain warned. “He is.”
“Have you seen each other naked?”
My eyes shot to Chloe’s. “What?”
“Chloe,” Sara groaned.
“No,” I insisted. “We’re just friends.”
Chloe snorted, moving to the closet with a handful of clothes draped over her arms. “Right.”
“We run in the mornings, meet up for coffee sometimes. Maybe breakfast,” I said, shrugging and ignoring the way my honesty meter seemed to flare into the red zone. Lately we’d been having breakfast together almost every morning, and talked at least one other time during the day. I’d even started to call him for advice on my experiments when Liemacki was traveling or just busy . . . or just because I valued his scientific opinion. “Just friends.” I glanced at Sara. Her eyes were trained on her papers but she was smiling, shaking her head.
“Bullshit,” Chloe all but sang. “Will Sumner doesn’t have any women in his life that are just friends, outside of family and the two of us.”
“This is true,” Sara reluctantly agreed.
I didn’t say anything, just turned and began searching through my drawers for a sweater. I could feel Chloe watching me, though, could feel the pressure of her gaze against the back of my head. I’d never had a lot of female friends—and I’d definitely never had one like Chloe Mills—but even I was smart enough to be a little afraid of her. I got the distinct impression that even Bennett was a little afraid of her.
I found the cardigan I’d been hunting for and slipped it over my favorite Firefly T-shirt, doing my best to keep my expression neutral and my head free of anything Will-related that ventured outside of the friend zone. Something told me these two would see through that in a second.
“How long have you guys known each other?” Sara asked. “He and Max go way back, but I’ve only known him since I moved to New York.”
“Same here,” Chloe added. “Spill, Bergstrom. He’s too smug and we need some ammo.”
I laughed, grateful for the semi-shift in topic. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, you knew him when he was in college. Was he a giant dork? Please say he was in the chess club or something,” Chloe said, hopeful.
“Ha, no. I’m pretty sure he was the guy who turned eighteen and all of the moms wanted to bang.” I frowned, considering. “Actually, I think I might have heard that exact story from Jensen. . . .”
“Max said something about him dating your sister?” Sara asked.
I chewed on my lip and shook my head. “They hooked up once over a holiday, but I think they just made out. He met my oldest brother, Jensen, on their first day of college, and then he lived with us and worked with my dad after graduation. I’m the youngest, so I didn’t really hang around with them that much other than at meals.”
“Stop evading,” Chloe said, narrowing her eyes. “You have to know more.”
I laughed. “Let’s see, he’s the youngest, too. He has two sisters who are way older than him, but I’ve never met them. I get the feeling he was sort of mothered a lot. I remember hearing him talk one time about how his parents are both physicians, and they divorced long before he was born. Years later, they met up at a medical conference, got drunk, and reconnected for one night . . .”
“And boom. Will,” Sara guessed.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. But his mom raised him. So, his sisters are twelve and fourteen years older than he is. He was their little baby.”
“Well, that would explain why he thinks women were put on this earth to cater to him,” Chloe added, flopping on the bed next to Sara.
“Will trains with you every morning?” Chloe asked. Another look exchanged.
I nodded, moved to pick up a few errant things lying around. “We meet at the park. Did you know he does triathlons? He’s in great shape.” I snapped my mouth shut, realizing it probably wasn’t safe to be as obliviously unfiltered with Chloe as it was with Will. I knew her well enough at this point to know she didn’t let very many things slide.
And indeed, she lifted a brow and reached up, pushing a thick wave of dark hair behind her shoulder. “So, about William.”
I hummed, folding a pair of socks together.
“Do you see him outside of this daily running date?”
I could feel their attention like heated laser beams on the side of my face so I nodded, not looking over at either of them.
“He’s very handsome,” Chloe added.
Danger danger, my brain warned. “He is.”
“Have you seen each other naked?”
My eyes shot to Chloe’s. “What?”
“Chloe,” Sara groaned.
“No,” I insisted. “We’re just friends.”
Chloe snorted, moving to the closet with a handful of clothes draped over her arms. “Right.”
“We run in the mornings, meet up for coffee sometimes. Maybe breakfast,” I said, shrugging and ignoring the way my honesty meter seemed to flare into the red zone. Lately we’d been having breakfast together almost every morning, and talked at least one other time during the day. I’d even started to call him for advice on my experiments when Liemacki was traveling or just busy . . . or just because I valued his scientific opinion. “Just friends.” I glanced at Sara. Her eyes were trained on her papers but she was smiling, shaking her head.
“Bullshit,” Chloe all but sang. “Will Sumner doesn’t have any women in his life that are just friends, outside of family and the two of us.”
“This is true,” Sara reluctantly agreed.
I didn’t say anything, just turned and began searching through my drawers for a sweater. I could feel Chloe watching me, though, could feel the pressure of her gaze against the back of my head. I’d never had a lot of female friends—and I’d definitely never had one like Chloe Mills—but even I was smart enough to be a little afraid of her. I got the distinct impression that even Bennett was a little afraid of her.
I found the cardigan I’d been hunting for and slipped it over my favorite Firefly T-shirt, doing my best to keep my expression neutral and my head free of anything Will-related that ventured outside of the friend zone. Something told me these two would see through that in a second.
“How long have you guys known each other?” Sara asked. “He and Max go way back, but I’ve only known him since I moved to New York.”
“Same here,” Chloe added. “Spill, Bergstrom. He’s too smug and we need some ammo.”
I laughed, grateful for the semi-shift in topic. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, you knew him when he was in college. Was he a giant dork? Please say he was in the chess club or something,” Chloe said, hopeful.
“Ha, no. I’m pretty sure he was the guy who turned eighteen and all of the moms wanted to bang.” I frowned, considering. “Actually, I think I might have heard that exact story from Jensen. . . .”
“Max said something about him dating your sister?” Sara asked.
I chewed on my lip and shook my head. “They hooked up once over a holiday, but I think they just made out. He met my oldest brother, Jensen, on their first day of college, and then he lived with us and worked with my dad after graduation. I’m the youngest, so I didn’t really hang around with them that much other than at meals.”
“Stop evading,” Chloe said, narrowing her eyes. “You have to know more.”
I laughed. “Let’s see, he’s the youngest, too. He has two sisters who are way older than him, but I’ve never met them. I get the feeling he was sort of mothered a lot. I remember hearing him talk one time about how his parents are both physicians, and they divorced long before he was born. Years later, they met up at a medical conference, got drunk, and reconnected for one night . . .”
“And boom. Will,” Sara guessed.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. But his mom raised him. So, his sisters are twelve and fourteen years older than he is. He was their little baby.”
“Well, that would explain why he thinks women were put on this earth to cater to him,” Chloe added, flopping on the bed next to Sara.
