“Ah. So youarecoming. In your pants, anyway.”
I turned and flipped him off with a saccharine smile before twirling back around. His laugh served as my soundtrack as I crossed the parking lot.
I reached Braden just in time to watch him hang his hands on his hips, his shoulders deflating in defeat as he stared at whatever was smoking under the car’s hood. He’d changed after the event — maybe worked out, maybe showered. Whatever the case, he was dressed in a matching athletic set, the short sleeves of his shirt hugging his biceps and a nice pair of Nike shoes on his feet. He had a matching hat covering his hair, which looked a bit damp at the ends, and it was like the whole ensemble was meticulously planned out.
Maybe he had a stylist. If he did, I imagined they’d be pissed at him now from the way he’d mucked up his clothes in his efforts to do… whatever it was he was doing with this old car. His hands wore streaks of black now, and seeing him all shiny with sweat and greased up had my poor ovaries in a tizzy.
Down, girls.
“Hmm,” I said as I approached, letting my bag thunk to the ground to relieve my shoulder. “Pretty sure you shouldn’t add mechanic to your resumé.”
Braden turned to acknowledge me, but he didn’t smile or say a word. He just let his gaze wander back to the car, his face turning green as he did.
“Hey, it’s all right. We can call someone to help. You don’t have to do it all, Superman.” I winked at him before I peeked around the hood to see who was in the car. “I’m assuming this belongs to one of the families who were here today?” I asked.“Did they find shelter somewhere just in case you blew it up with all your tinkering?”
“It’s mine.”
I laughed, sure it was a joke.
But when I turned to fire off another smart-ass comment, Braden’s eyes snapped to mine, and I realized he was as serious as a heart attack.
I couldn’t stop my brows from shooting up into my hairline, my thumb popping out and aiming at the smoking monster. “This isyourcar?”
Braden’s mouth pursed, his jaw tight. “Can you save your jokes at my expense for another time? Kind of have my hands full at the moment.”
The edge in his voice caught me off guard. I stilled, really looking at him this time — the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his hands flexed like he didn’t know what to do with them, the tightness around his eyes that had nothing to do with the smoke curling up from the engine.
Right. Not a joking moment.
Or… maybe exactly why I wanted it to be one.
I had a knack for discomfort in serious situations, and reaching for a quip was easier than tapping into actual feelings.
“No jokes,” I said, holding up my hands like a bank robber caught at the scene. To be fair, Ihadbeen loading up at least three more snarky comments, but the look on his face had me pausing to reconsider. “I just… am surprised. That’s all.”
His lips flattened, brows cresting like my surprise didn’t surprisehim. “Well, now that you’ve had your fun, you can go.”
I deflated, matching his energy for a moment. It really did surprise me to see a professional football player, who likely had more money than God, driving an old beat-up car.
Then again, I didn’t know Braden past his stats and his (unfortunately for me) gorgeous face and body.
But I wanted to.
Against all warnings written in my contract, I desperately wanted to know why he drove this car, if he’d planned out what he was wearing right now, and why he’d made the comment to me earlier about not everyone being able to treat life like a party.
Maybe that’s what had me asking, “What are you going to do?”
“Call a car and get a tow to a mechanic.”
“I can drive you.”
“With what car?”
I opened my mouth and then shut it again.Well, shit. He had a point there.
“Fine. Then I’ll come with you.”
I pulled out my phone and opened a rideshare app.
