Page 13 of Pressure Point

“Sexy beast?” he repeated. Did she really just say that?

“Liam, I need your help. We need to find my sexy.”

Chapter Five

We need to find my sexy…

Her words rang out in his head, and Liam was sure he hadn’t heard her correctly. Forget sexy beast. This was a whole new level of…something. It was a good thing he hadn’t been taking a drink, or he would have spit it out all over the coffee table.

“Come again?”

“I need you to please help me find my sexy.”

“Is it lost?”

Was she out of her mind? Find her sexy. What the hell did that even mean?

“I’m not entirely sure I ever had it to begin with.”

“Avery, you’re going to have to explain yourself,” he told her, still unable to wrap his mind around all this. She wasn’t making any sense. “There is nothing wrong with you.”

“Nothing wrong with me? Where do you want me to start? Well, you’ve experienced the awkward, so we don’t need to rehash that. But, then there’s still this!” She gestured wildly up and down her body, drawing his eyes to her chest.

Pulling his gaze back up to hers, he looked at her beautiful emerald-colored eyes. They were filled with the same worry that he’d seen back on the pitch in San Antonio when she was checking him for a concussion. A seriousness that he knew she was feeling way down deep inside her. No matter what he seemed to think or how crazy she was sounding right about now, this obviously meant something to her.

“I have the body of a prepubescent boy,” she continued when he didn’t say anything. “None of the fun womanly curves that men get all excited about. I have basically no boobs to speak of.”

Unable to control himself, his eyes found her breasts again. Sure, they weren’t massive or anything, but they were still pretty nice in his eyes. Her body type reminded him of Keira Knightley—thin, with small, round, and pert breasts that sat perfectly front and center. He’d spent more than his fair share of time thinking about them and had even wondered once or twice if she were wearing a bra. Scratch that, he’d wondered that more than once or twice. That thought had crossed his mind so often he should probably be embarrassed.

“You don’t look like a prepubescent boy. I was one, I would know.”

The corner of Avery’s mouth quirked up at his joke. Just as quickly, her body slouched, and she let out a sigh of defeat.

“Liam, I have to do something.”

“Why?” he asked, curious as to why this was suddenly bothering her so much. Had she always been self-conscious about this, and he was just now seeing this side? Women had body issues he was never going to understand, this he knew. After eight years with Orla, he’d come to know that it was just a universal truth that most women didn’t like something about themselves. Avery's epiphany seemed to go beyond all that though. Unless this was just one more way he didn’t understand the fairer sex.

“Dash’s party is coming up in a few weeks. Maybe if I can find my sexy and figure it all out, then he’d be interested in me.”

Dash. Fucking Dash.

So that’s what this was about. Her crush on his teammate. Liam’s heart sank thinking about it, and he let out a sigh. So much for working himself out of the friend zone. That was never going to be possible if what she wanted was help getting some other guy’s attention.

“Avery—”

“I know you think I’m crazy,” she cut him off.

“A wee bit, yes. There is nothing wrong with you!”

Looking over at her, he sucked in a deep breath, admiring her simple beauty. If she could only see what he saw, if she could only know just how much his body ached to hold her. He knew without a doubt that she would fit perfectly in his arms. Just the thought of how she would feel up against his chest sent a rush through him.

“There is, and I need your help.”

“Exactly what am I going to do here?” he asked. “It’s not like I have a chamber to stick you in so that you come out looking like…Scarlett Johansson or something.”

“Well, you can help me figure out what to talk to him about, and how to not be weird and clumsy about it. You guys are friends, and roommates on the road, so you must know what his interests are. Plus, I’m going to need something to wear to the party, so there will probably be a shopping trip involved.”

He let out a groan. He hated shopping for himself, much less anyone else. The idea of being dragged around from store to store made him want to scream. Wasn’t that something that girl friends were for?