5

“Hey! Madeline!” The masculine shout came from the line in front of Subway. It was White, and his boyish grin made her smile as he grabbed his bag of food and ran up to her. He shoved his shaggy brown hair off his forehead. “Sorry, ma’am. Just glad I didn’t miss you. Do you think it’ll take long to fix my pillow?” He shifted the strap of his large duffle bag on his shoulder, continuing before she could answer. “Not that I wanna rush you, but I can’t sleep good without it. I know it’s stupid. The tear ain’t that bad, so I could just take it—”

“It’s not stupid at all. And don’t you worry, I can have it ready for you before the game’s done tonight.” She couldn’t help reaching out to pat his cheek as his grin widened. Damn, she missed her little brothers.

“Maybe you could meet up with Tim and he could make sure I get it?” White glanced over his shoulder and Madeline spotted a few of the other players, waiting in the distance. Tim wasn’t with them, but White lowered his voice as though afraid to be overheard. “Just don’t tell him I suggested it.”

“White!” The black-haired team captain, Callahan, shouted, leaving the group as though to come get White. “Hurry up!”

Without thinking, Madeline put her hand on White’s arm. “How do you suggest I meet up with him then?”

“You can…ah…” White scowled as if he was frustrated with himself for not thinking that far ahead. Then he scowled at Callahan as the other man joined them. “I can find my own way to the hotel, Captain. Chill out.”

Callahan’s lips thinned. He glanced over at Madeline. “The kid bothering you, miss?”

“Not at all. We were trying to figure out how I will meet with Tim to return the pillow once it’s all fixed up.” Madeline patted White’s forearm, smiling when his tense muscles relaxed under her hand. “I’ll get ahold of the team’s travel coordinator, Ian, and take it from there. No worries.”

With his lips softened and an amused light in his eyes, Callahan changed from hard and cold to dangerously attractive. Still too young for her, but her wariness of him faded away as he motioned toward the escalators. “Or you could follow us down to the bus and just ask Tim.”

Refusing would make it seem as though she was avoiding Tim, but by going to the bus, she might give him the wrong impression. Would he believe she only wanted to ask him about returning the pillow? What if he thought she was coming on to him?

Would that be so bad?

Yes. She preferred for men to make the first move. To get a feel for what they expected from her before she set herself up for disappointment.

“You don’t have to do it, ma’am. Really.” White stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and hunched his shoulders. “Stupid to go to all this trouble.”

“Enough of that, White. It ain’t no trouble, is it, miss?” Callahan curved his hand around the back of White’s neck in a rough, affectionate gesture that had White snorting and elbowing his captain in the ribs. The same hold would have frozen Madeline. She wet her lips with her tongue, missing Callahan’s next words. He chuckled, repeating himself. “Come on, he doesn’t bite. Not unless you ask real nice.”

The last thing she wanted was for this young man to think she was afraid to speak to Tim. But she was tempted to elbow Callahan herself when she nodded and he smirked. As they walked to the escalator, she gave him a sidelong look. “Didn’t your momma teach you it isn’t polite to speak to a lady that way?”

All the teasing, the friendliness, disappeared from Callahan’s expression. He glanced over at her. “No. But she wasn’t a lady herself.”

You really stepped in it there, genius. Madeline sighed as Callahan quickened his pace, noticing how the other players avoided him as though sensing his mood. White stayed close to her, taking her suitcase and his pillow when they reached the bus, offering to keep an eye on it while she went in.

The bus was huge, the seats larger than those on any bus she’d ever been on, but it was still a bus, with little space to move around. All the players either stayed outside or quickly sat to let her pass, making her feel very self-conscious as she made her way toward the back of the bus.

Tim, who’d been sitting at the edge of one of the last seats before the bathroom stall speaking to his brother, glanced over and stood quickly when he spotted her. His head hit the bottom of the luggage compartment. Hard.

“Fu—damn it! Ow!” Tim laughed at himself and rubbed his head as he moved closer to her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again until we got back on the plane. Not that I didn’t want to, I—”

Dean snorted without looking up from the clipboard in his hands.

Usually, uncertainty in a man turned Madeline off. For some reason, it made Tim more approachable. She stopped worrying about how coming here looked and smiled at him. “Ian asked me if I could get his pillow back to him after the game tonight. We both agreed it would be easier if I met with you to return it.”