Bound

Kate

My mom was looking at me out of the corner of her eye as I mashed together cookie dough with my hands.

"What?" I asked, glancing over.

"Nothing. I was just thinking you seem . . . content."

I smiled at the way she stopped short of 'happy'. "I kind of am. One of my college loans is close to paid off, and I have that camping trip with my friends from high school coming up. I feel good."

"I'm glad. And Dale will really appreciate you making his favorite cookies."

I tasted the oatmeal raisin dough as I finished mixing it. "It'll soften the blow of the Scrabble ass kicking I plan to deliver tonight."

"You're a beautiful young woman, Katie. You ought to be out having fun with friends on a Saturday night instead of playing board games with us old folks."

"I'm content, remember? Which is progress for me. It's been a busy week of running and I'm glad to be home tonight."

"What've you been doing?" Mom poured us both some sweet tea and leaned against the kitchen counter to drink hers.

"Well, Jason Ryker's in demand," I said wryly. "I've been delivering autographed photos for charity events, shopping for new suits and setting up fan meetings."

"He doesn't have suits?" Mom furrowed her brows at me.

"I don't like the way they fit now because his shoulders and arm muscles got bigger in the offseason. He needs new ones."

Dale walked in the back door carrying a paper sack against his chest. "Kate, did you get a new car?" he asked, his brows arched in admiration.

"I wish," I said, grinning. "That's Ryke's Mustang. He's letting me use it while my car's in the shop."

"Kate's making oatmeal raisin cookies," Mom said. Dale slid his sack on the counter and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"We'll have lots of sweets, then," he said. "I picked up some of that caramel corn from the candy store. And some fudge."

My mom groaned and offered Dale a sip of her tea. "I need to lose weight, not gain it."

I pushed a baking sheet of cookies into the oven and washed my hands. When I turned back to Mom and Dale, I opened my mouth to speak but clamped it shut again.

"What?" Mom asked.

"I just . . . I don't know. I was thinking about asking Ryke to come over tonight and play games with us, but that's stupid, right? He's an NHL player. He doesn't want to eat cookies and play Scrabble. He's probably got plans to bang a groupie or something."

"It never hurts to ask," Mom said.

The feel of Ryke's body pressing against mine the other day hadn't left me. The way he'd looked at me, his eyes filled with longing. Despite my apology, I wanted to be that close to him again. But I couldn't. That was why game night felt safe. We'd be sitting at the kitchen table with Mom and Dale. I'd never heard of Scrabble leading to a night of wild passion.

"I might," I mumbled. "I need to go take a shower."

I went into the bathroom and turned the water up hot on the shower, letting the bathroom fill with steam as I slipped my clothes off and considered. When had I turned into such a puddle of indecision? I grabbed my phone and typed out a message to Ryke.

Hey, if you're not busy, wanna come over for board games and baked goods?

I was nervous as I sat the phone on the counter and stepped into the shower. The phone rang as soon as I got in and I jumped out, dripping as I whipped it up. I recognized the number on the screen as Quinn's, so I rolled my eyes and pressed ignore. A sick sensation rolled through me and I forced it away.