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And I knew it for good when I called her the other night and finally let her all the way in.
Now, we just need to show her.
It. Is. On.
Briar’s hanging out down the corridor with Ivy, who’s likely waiting for Hayes and Stefan to go home with them. When Briar spots us, she says something to her friend, then smiles and walks over. “Great game,” she says, and for a second she leans in, like maybe she wants to kiss me, then Gavin, then Hollis.
She refrains.
I hold back, too, though it’s hard. “I bet your dog needs a walk right now. How about we go with you?”
A smile spreads to her eyes, lighting them up. “She does. And I’d love that.”
After she quickly runs up to her apartment to grab Donut we walk around her new neighborhood and she shows us all her haunts—the coffee shop she likes, the bookstore that hosts her book club, and the boutiques her friends frequent but she avoids like the plague since she’s allergic to shopping, she says, as we pass one called Better with Pockets. “Thanks again for the ticket. That was really great. I’m not used to gifts…from friends.” She says the last word with a lift in her brow and a tease in her tone.
Now is not yet the time to say let’s be so much more, so instead I take the lead, saying, “Glad you could make it, and find something suitable to wear.”
“Were you impressed with my secret superfan costume?” Briar asks as we turn onto her block.
“Yes, but it does raise the question of how far does the superfan costume go?” My hungry gaze drifts down her body. Fine, we’re not trying to get her in bed…yet. But no one said I couldn’t flirt with her. Loopholes and all.
Briar lifts a shoulder coyly as we head back to her building, Donut waggling her long, little body as she trots up the steps. “Hmm. Golden State Foxes panties. I have to be honest. I don’t have a pair of those. But that’d be cute.”
“That’d be hot,” Gavin says.
“That’d be perfect,” Hollis agrees.
“Well yeah,” I rasp out.
This will be hard. But Gavin is right. We need to romance the hell out of her for real. Part of the way to her heart is through her pets. “Can we say hi to Frances Furbottom?” I ask.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Briar says, then leads us into the building and to the elevator.
With the four of us in this small lift, it’s tempting to take turns pinning her up against the wall and kissing the breath out of her. But I resist, and so do my friends. “Do you want to come to our next game? You’re kind of a good luck charm,” I say.
“You’re really making it hard for me to keep up the narrative at work that I’m a Sea Dogs fan,” she says.
“Imagine that,” Gavin deadpans.
“So what’ll it be, superfan?” Hollis asks.
“With you guys, it’s a yes,” Briar says.
I resist that undercurrent too.
We shift gears and chat briefly about the contest as we reach her floor. “Supposedly, the winner will be notified in a few more days.”
“I bet it’ll be you,” I say.
“I hope so, but if not, I’ll just keep moving forward with the app. It might take a little longer, but I don’t mind,” she says as she reaches her apartment and unlocks it.
Once the door’s open, Briar unclips the dog, who races across the hardwood floor to retrieve a stuffed monkey toy in the corner of the room.
I step inside but stop in my tracks. Is this…really where she lives? It’s an empty, echo-ey apartment with only an air mattress, a rickety card table, and a cold metal chair. This won’t do for a friend, let alone the woman we’re romancing.
This won’t do at all.
But I hide my shock as we say hi to the cat, give her scratches on the chin, then tell Briar we’ll see her at the next game.
