When Sebastian and Sarah finally emerged from the locker rooms, the air between them was thick enough to choke on. The pre-game "warm-up" in the private room had turned out to be far more intense than Sarah had anticipated. Her heart was still hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird, and her skin felt sensitized, as if every nerve ending was vibrating on a frequency only Sebastian could tune into.
The realization that Charlie had already vanished toward the green didn't help. Without his boisterous, distracting presence, the raw tension of the morning slipped back into the space between them, cold and heavy.
"Relax," Sebastian murmured, his voice a low, vibrating rasp. He reached out, his large hand coming to rest on her shoulder, giving it a firm, grounding squeeze.
