Page 120 of Hometown Halftime

“Did she just wink at you?” Darren whispers.

“Maybe.” I shrug. “Don’t freak out about it.”

Lee bumps my arm with his elbow.

“How are things going between you two?”

Kinsey heads toward us with our beers, so I lower my voice. “It’s complicated. I’ll talk to you guys about it later. Not here.”

Darren’s jaw goes slack. “You can’t dangle a carrot in front of us like that.”

Kinsey sets our beers down and braces her arms on the edge of the bar top in front of us. We give her our food order and then she takes our menus. My eyes stay fixed on her as my mind flashes back to her sprawled across my sheets.

I steal glimpses of her as she moves around the bar, carrying trays and drinks. Every few minutes her eyes flick toward me, and each time it happens, I feel like a lovesick fool.

“Okay, what is going on between you and Kinsey?” Darren pushes.

I blink. “What?”

He snorts into his drink. “You’ve stared at her for the last ten minutes like she hung the moon.”

Lee points toward me. “I noticed that too.”

“I’m literally just sitting here,” I say before taking a sip of my beer.

"Uh-huh," Lee says. "Every time she walks by, you can't keep your eyes off her."

My brow draws together. "Not true."

Darren grins. "No way, man, you're looking at her like a golden retriever that just got adopted."

“Shut up.”

That only makes them laugh harder. But even while they continue giving me shit, my attention keeps pulling back to Kinsey.

Gordy comes out from the kitchen to drop off our food, and while we eat, Darren and Lee talk about work. Lee might be up for a promotion at his office. Darren got a two percent raise, and he’s pissed because that doesn’t even cover the cost of inflation. I sit there eating and listening until a man sits down at the bar a few seats from us.

He looks like he’s around thirty, dressed well enough in a polo and jeans. But the way he looks at Kinsey has my attention. His eyes wander inappropriately when she speaks to him. He leans over the bar a little too far when she drops off his drink. He watches her ass as she walks away.

An unfamiliar feeling of possessiveness creeps over me.

Kinsey clears our plates and pushes through the swinging door to the kitchen behind the bar. I get Darren’s attention, then tip my chin toward the man.

“Hey, who’s that guy?”

Darren swallows his sip of beer, then quietly says, “That’s Robert Williams. He’s sort of new in town. Works at Lowry’s in the office.”

I nod and take a long pull from my bottle. Kinsey returns to the bar and walks to where Robert sits with an empty rocks glass. She asks if he needs another, and that’s when I hear him speak.

“Still ignoring my texts?”

I focus on their conversation, wondering why he’s texting her. Kinsey sets his fresh drink down and puts her hands on her hips.

“Bob, I’ve already told you, this isn’t going to happen. I blocked your number. Move on.”

“C’mon, Kinz, you owe me another chance.”

Each comment chips away at my patience a little more.