Page 115 of On His Team

“That sounds convenient.”

“It is.” There’s movement on her end, then a door opens. Her voice gets clearer. “Also, for the record, I did not tell her anything that would justify asking whether you can walk. She came up with that independently.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“I’m protecting my reputation.”

“Think Mara already took care of that.”

Gianna laughs, and I look down at my case study without seeing any of it. I’ve gotten used to hearing her laugh through a phone. I know the difference now between the one where she’s genuinely amused and the one where she’s laughing because she thinks something is stupid. This one is both.

I click my pen against the table. “Come over tonight.”

The laughter fades into a little pause. “What?”

I glance around the library even though nobody here gives a shit about my answer. “Yeah.”

“You called me to invite me somewhere with no plan?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s suspicious.”

“You come over all the time.”

“Not after secretly making out with you in your bedroom.”

That shuts me up.

She catches it. “See? You stopped talking.”

“I’m in the library.”

“You’ve been talking this whole time.”

I look toward the windows and smile. “What time are you done?”

“Five.”

“Come at six.”

“Six-thirty.”

“Six-fifteen,” I counter.

She laughs. “Why are you negotiating my arrival?”

“Six then,” I say.

“Rowan.”

“I’ll see you at six, G.”

“You’re very demanding for somebody who claims he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

That lands differently. She isn’t accusing me of anything, and I know her well enough now to hear the smile in her voice. The problem is that she’s right. I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know I want to see her tonight. Apparently those things can exist at the same time.

“Wear clothes,” I tell her.