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What’s he doing here? Did Connor ask him to keep an eye on me? Seriously? There are no guys around.
“Everything set up?”
The crowd yells as the visitors kick the ball off to the home team.
“Yes.” My voice is tight as I answer him. My raffle-selling partner is Cole. Perfect. I get to spend the next quarter and a half trying to find something to say to him or stand here in awkward silence until I pull my hair out.
My eyes narrow into slits as I glare at the back of Connor’s head. He spends so much time making a big deal about me mooning after his friends, yet somehow, I ended up being stuck with the only one that I’m tempted by.
“Cole.” Tessa grins and gives him a half-wave. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” His body is stiff as his jaw flexes with irritation. “You?” Obviously, he didn’t realize he was volunteering to work with me, either.
“Better now that I’ve seen you.” Her entire demeanor flips from catching up with a classmate to sex kitten in the flip of a switch. “What’re you doing later?”
Ugh. This is what I mean. I don’t want to be here to witness the endless flirting and watch him set up hook ups for later on. Whether it’s Tessa or someone else, it’s bound to happen. Cole is too good looking for women to ignore.
He pops his neck and shoves his hands into his pockets. “Watching my brother’s game.”
She bites her bottom lip. “I’ll save you a seat. Maybe we can go to the after-party later tonight?”
The announcer calls out the down and distance remaining as the crowd cheers.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m busy.”
“How about tomorrow?” She flips her black hair behind her shoulder and tips her hip out in a clear bid for his attention. Lord, this is awkward. I crane my neck, trying to watch the football game to give me anything to do besides being the third wheel as they set up a date.
“I’m also busy tomorrow.”
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye as he arches an eyebrow, looking pointedly at Tessa. “You should go watch the game. It sounds like we’re getting close to scoring, and we can’t have you blocking people who might want to buy raffle tickets. You don’t want the kids to miss out on activities next year if they don’t make their donation goals, do you?”
“No.” She tips out her chin at his blatant brush-off in front of an audience. “I’ll see you later.”
It’s only after she spins on her heel that I exhale. “Old friend?” The words are out of my mouth before I can bite my lips together. My goal is not to blast that I’m obsessed with him, and acting like a catty bitch over the first woman that shows interest in him is not helping my mission.
“No.” He jerks his head around to meet my gaze. In the tiny space, there’s not much room to avoid his massive presence. “No, she’s not. I’ve never dated Tessa. Nor do I want to. Much to her chagrin.”
“Chagrin?” I chuckle over his use of the word, but it’s more from the relief that he’s not interested in her. She’s gorgeous, so it wouldn’t be a shocker if he was.
His lips arch upward in a smile, making him even more handsome. “It’s my big word of the day.”
“I like it.”
“Thank you.” He leans his hip against the counter and surveys me. “Sorry, I was late.”
“It’s fine.” That’s it? It’s fine. Surely, I can come up with something else to say.
I shove my hands into my short pockets as a new wave of awkwardness settles over me. After all these years, I still don’t know what to say to him. Well, that’s not the entire truth. Until I was in middle school, we played tag and flag football together when he was at the house. Then my butt got bigger, my brothers freaked out, and I was banished to my room when their friends came over.
“I didn’t know you were partnered up with me for the raffle ticket sales.” The crowd crescendos to a cacophony of noise as the team scores a touchdown. “Not that we’re going to sell much until the first quarter is over.” Even though the closest people to us are only 20 feet away, they’re facing the field and focused on the team.
“Do you want to do the shoot with Kameron?” His jaw is tight as he pops his neck.
“What? What shoot?” I frown as his question comes out of the blue. “Who’s Kameron?”
“Kameron Willoughby. The new guy who works with me down at the fire station.”
“I’m sorry. Of course, I know who Kameron is.” I roll my eyes. I can’t believe I said that. No wonder I avoid speaking to him; my brain malfunctions when he’s close, and I end up sounding like I’m not smart enough to chew gum and speak at the same time. And I don’t even have a piece of gum.
