Page 72 of Pressure Point

“Of course! Happy to support the team, but I also think it will be very entertaining to watch. I know quite a few of the players are really looking forward to it.”

"Like Liam!” Talia teased.

“No,” he responded gruffly. "I’m only doing this because Felicity told me I had to. I’d be more than happy to not have to go on a date with a stranger.”

Liam’s words slammed into Avery like a battering ram. A date?

Of course it would be a date. That was the point of a bachelor auction. That was why she would be bidding on Dash, wouldn’t it? But the idea of some other girl bidding on Liam made her stomach ache. And the idea of him on a date with whomever it was? Well, that just flat out made her want to puke. Not that she could say anything about it. Even ignoring that he was obligated as a member of the Atlanta Rising, she was going to be there to bid on someone else.

Conversation continued to swirl around her, but Avery was too stuck in her own head to follow along. All she kept seeing in her mind was Liam, sitting across from some tall, gorgeous blonde with a perfect rack, in a nice restaurant. Someone who would giggle and flirt, earning herself one of those life-altering Liam smiles. Avery’s stomach lurched again, her mind fast-forwarding to seeing this same chick at a game, wearing his jersey. Swallowing hard, Avery reminded herself that it didn’t matter. Liam wasn’t hers to claim. He deserved to be happy, and if some ball bunny was what accomplished that, then so be it.

She just wished the thought didn’t make her want to cry.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The nervous energy surrounding them in the small elevator carriage was palpable. Liam just wasn’t sure who was more anxious about tonight, him or Avery.

He’d picked her up at eight on the dot, the trip from his place to hers significantly easier now that there were only a few floors separating them rather than a few blocks. She had left the door unlocked for him to let himself in since she’d known she would be running behind. For all her insistence though, she’d been dressed and all but ready when he arrived, looking damn near perfect in her party dress. The sapphire color made her green eyes shimmer like the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, her beautiful red hair in waves loose around her shoulders. Her makeup was done just the way the woman at the Atira counter had coached her, complete with whatever that shade of lipstick was called.

I want to kiss the fuck out of you is what they should call it, he’d thought as she smiled at him when he walked through the door. Slipping her shoes on, she slowly twirled around, showing herself off.

“Do I look okay?”

“Beautiful. You look absolutely beautiful.”

It was taking everything he had in him not to turn to her and ask her to forget about tonight. To stay in and watch a movie with him. To let him peel her out of that dress and worship every inch of skin underneath. But he knew how much tonight meant to her. This was the culmination of all of it. Everything she’d been working toward to make her dream come true. Liam just wished like hell that she would change her mind about that dream.

“Swagger originated as a speakeasy in the twenties, and then was a jazz club for a bit before shutting down and reopening in the early sixties,” Avery said, breaking the silence as the elevator chugged along. Her voice was hoarse, and Liam could hear the uneasiness in it. He knew that spouting off random facts was her go-to coping mechanism when she was nervous, and he held back a smile. He might be the only person on the planet who found her quirks endearing, but to him, they were everything. “The original spot for it was on the ground level, where that CVS is. They moved it to the rooftop in the mideighties.”

She glanced over at him, smiling sweetly. The uneasiness that had laced her voice had moved to her eyes, and Liam’s heart ached. Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it gently, hoping to reassure her. Of what he wasn’t quite sure, he just knew that he didn’t like seeing his girl like this.

She’s not your girl…

“Just let the night play out,” Gunnar had told him at lunch. “Go, have fun, and forget about Dash. You’re there with her. And when the moment presents itself, as I’m sure it will, tell her how you feel.”

Liam heaved a sigh, trying to calm his racing heart as he played those words over and over in his mind. Just tell her how you feel. Easier said than done. But he knew he had to. He had to let her know that he was long past friendship with her and that she was all he wanted. That as far as he was concerned, she was it for him. Fuck, he just hoped she felt it too.

The elevator doors dinged, slowly opening to the open-air bar. A large pergola with a solid roof covered a portion of the rooftop, including the bar, while the DJ, dance floor, and some tables took up the rest of the space. Edison bulbs were strung between large pillars, blending in with the rest of the night sky. It was already crowded, even though by nightlife standards it was still plenty early, and they had to push their way through the crowd to find the area near the DJ where the hostess in the lobby had told them their group was seated.

“Daley!” Elliot shouted as they approached, the rest of the group letting out a cheer.

Avery tightened her grip on Liam’s arm, sending a shock wave through him. While he hated that she was so nervous, he did rather enjoy that her instinct in the moment was to cling to him. Maybe she was more his than he’d been letting himself believe.

"Miss Avery, you’re looking very pretty tonight,” Elliot commented.

“Er, thanks,” she said, swallowing hard. “Am, I, uh…am I the only girl? This wasn’t a guys’ night, right?”

“No, Mahoney’s girlfriend is here.”

“Mahoney has a girlfriend?” Liam asked, surprised. He couldn’t remember him ever mentioning one—had he missed something? He must have, since he would have bet good money that the midfielder hadn’t played for that team. So much for introducing him to Connor…

“Apparently,” Elliot shrugged. “They wandered off somewhere, but they are here. Then Chance’s best friend is in town, and she’s a girl, plus my best friend’s little sister just moved here, so I invited her. They are at the bar getting drinks. I’ll introduce you when they get—ahh, here they are! Avery, meet your new gal pals, Delaney Stewart and Haven Taylor.”

Elliot made quick work of finishing off introductions, although it was so hard to hear over the music that Liam wasn’t sure he knew which name belonged with which woman. Hopefully Avery had caught that and could fill him in later.

"So, you two are here together,” Elliot commented to Liam while Avery was talking to the other women.

“We’re…” Liam paused, unsure how to finish the sentence. He wanted to tell his teammates everything, but also didn’t want to look like an idiot if tonight didn’t quite go as he had planned. He’d already had to face one set of teammates after his girlfriend had picked someone else over him. He didn’t need to do it again.