Free Team Niklas (The Saints Team #3) by Ally Adams

he
saw us. I texted Alice back.
    ME:
Define morose?
    ALICE:
Polite but not talking. Plays with console non-stop. Not eating
    ME:
Prada was like that once, off his food. He had a fur ball
    ALICE:
Ha ha, I’m serious
    Great,
what does that mean? It might not even be about me… he might have had bad sex
or be fighting with a groupie for godsake .
    ME:
What could it B?
    ALICE:
U know what it is. Do U really not like him?
    Fuck,
here we go. I won’t get any work done if a guy enters my life, although I guess
if it is Nik he’s away playing every second weekend. But then I’d be going out
with a player—how cliché and incestuous when I’m working there, I’ll lose all
credibility. Plus I’ve got to focus on Saffy’s dress and now the mother-in-law’s
dress and I need to make a new hat for the wedding—hell yeah, that will take
some time. He’d be good in bed though, I can imagine that strong, muscular
tanned body, those arms that could hold themselves over me, and I’ve felt the
imprint of his erection already… that was memorable.
    The
room was getting hotter. My phone pinged again.
    ALICE:
Hello?
    ME:
I like him a lot.
    ALICE:
Then what’s the problem?
    ME:
It’s me.
    ALICE:
Yeah we all know that. So get over it :)
    ME:
Thanks
    ALICE:
What’s the worst that could happen?
    I
could have a broken heart again; spend weeks in agony; have to go underground
to lick my wounds; leave town to get away from seeing, hearing or reading about
him; have to give up my job… the list is endless.
    ME:
A lot
    ALICE:
What’s the best that could happen?
    I
could have some fucking great sex if he’s capable in the sack; I could enjoy some
great eye candy; maybe a bit of company beside Prada; get my family and friends
off my back about getting back on the horse; have some fun; put Adam well and
truly behind me; have a date for my sister’s wedding besides Maxie… and maybe, fall
in love.
    It
did kind of weigh up pretty evenly both ways.
    ME:
OK
    ALICE:
OK, you’ll contact him?
    ME:
Yes
    ALICE:
Fabo Sash. Can U do it ASAP?
    ME:
OK
    ALICE:
2night?
    ME:
OK
    I
took another sip of chardonnay and drew a deep breath. I thought about what to
say. Hi and how are you? seemed pretty lame, Want to see my catwalk? sounded a bit suggestive, something nice wouldn’t work, he knew me enough
already to be suspicious about that. So I sent him a text.
    ME:
Still shitty with me?
    Yep, that covered it
nicely, the last of the romantics… watch out Shakespeare, this girl could turn
a verse. Then I waited. What if he didn’t text back now and Alice was wrong?
Fucking fantastic, I’d look like a dickhead who doesn’t know my own mind. I
sighed, this is the problem with relationships—I just want something direct and
easy without all the coding and deciphering required. My phone beeped and I
reached for it with speed and hesitancy if you can imagine how that works. It
was from Nik.
    NIK: Not shitty with U.
Thinking of me, huh?
    ME: Yep.
    I’m going for the
direct approach, we were both okay at that from the small window of experience
we had communicating together.
    NIK: Where’s the
boyfriend?
    Ah there it was. He did
see me—given how direct he normally is you’d think he’d just ask. But maybe he
didn’t think I’d be honest. Why?
    ME: What boyfriend?
    NIK: Wed night at
hotel?
    ME: My brother, best
friend and his guy?
    There was a temporary
lull in communications. This was interesting… then the phone pinged again.
    NIK: Can I come over
now?
    ME: Yep.
    That was it. A few
minutes later the phone beeped again and it was Alice this time.
    ALICE: U R the best. Nik
now up.
    ME: How up?
    ALICE: U tell me ;) C U
at work 2morrow xx
     
    *****
     
    Nik must have hired a Learjet because he was at my door in about twenty
minutes, showered, smelling delicious and earning that nickname the Kaiser—the
emperor in English—oh yeah, conquer me, Nik. Wow, how fickle was I? One minute
I’m saying stay away, the next I’m opening my front door and my