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The sun creeps down, starting to hide behind the dense forest around the property. I garner a few curious stares from passersby, but they all leave me alone. Eventually, guys start filtering out of the main house. They must have wrapped up practice well before dinner because they all look showered and most are wearing comfy lounge clothes. I spot Trey and Leanna and wave. She beams and hurries over, tugging Trey behind her.
“I didn’t know you were coming over today! I would have made you come inside for dinner.” She frowns. “Wait—why are you sitting out here anyway? You look like you’ve been waiting a while.”
I pray the security guard can’t hear me as I lie. “Only a few minutes. I wanted to have a word with Ben.”
“Want me to go in and grab him?” Trey asks.
I should tell him yes, but I don’t want to inconvenience him. “It’s okay. I’m sure he’ll be out here eventually.”
Leanna nods. “Right, well, we could wait with you if you want?”
Trey shakes his head. “No need. Here he comes now.”
I follow Trey’s gaze to find Ben walking out of the house alongside an older black man with a shaved head and a neatly trimmed goatee.
“That’s our coach,” Trey supplies.
Ben walks with the man for a few more yards while they talk and then he branches off, turning to head toward the cabins. He looks down at the ground for a second and then glances up and Trey waves, catching his attention.
He spots us and my body goes rigid.
Was it really only last night that we were in the back seat of his car?
It seems impossible.
I can barely hold his gaze, barely look at him as I remember what it felt like to lie naked underneath him. I feel like my whole body is buzzing with nervous energy. His brown eyes crinkle at the sides as he takes me in from afar, a playful smile tugging at the edge of his lips. He’s happy to see me. Happy I showed up here after last night.
“We’ll let you two talk,” Trey says, pushing Leanna along even though she protests.
“I’ll come see you at the diner this week!” she calls, but I don’t even respond. “Sorry I couldn’t come in for pancakes this morning. I overslept.”
I’m too caught up in Ben’s approach to worry about what she’s saying. Too scared all of a sudden of the discussion we’re about to get into. I could forget everything, fall into those brown eyes, and never come up for air.
He stops only a few feet from me, crosses an arm over his chest, and takes me in as I sit propped on the back of Nan’s old car. His gaze lingers on my bare legs for a beat too long and then his gaze flits up to mine.
“Birdie.”
I study him, trying to work up the nerve to speak.
“You know I still don’t have your number?” he says, grabbing his cell phone from his back pocket.
“That’s fine. We’ll keep it that way.”
His brow arches but his expression doesn’t lose the playful edge as he slips his phone back where it was and steps closer to me.
“No numbers?”
I brace myself as he comes even closer, his jean-clad thighs brushing my knees.
I keep my arms locked tightly across my chest lest they get any ideas. With him this close, it’d be so easy to circle them around his neck and lean in for a kiss.
That’s not why I’m here though.
I straighten my spine.
“No numbers.”
“Interesting. Why?”
“Well, two reasons, really. Right now, I’m pissed. But even if I wasn’t, I still don’t think it’s a good idea that we do all that.”
“All that.”
“Yes.” I wave my hand. “Y’know, the whole song and dance where we pretend you aren’t leaving soon.”
For the first time, his smile slips. His eyes narrow and I swear, he almost looks annoyed with me.
“So you’re just going to decide that for the both of us.”
I uncross my arms and prop my hands behind me on the car, cool and unaffected—at least on the outside. “Sure am.”
He hums, and I can tell he’s not quite done with the subject even as he moves on.
“Right. Now go ahead and tell me why you’re pissed.”
My annoyance from earlier creeps right back in. I hate that it feels like he’s the one conducting this conversation, always in control.
“How much do I owe you, Ben?”
My question catches him off guard, and at first, he plays dumb.
“For dinner last night?”
“Sure, that on top of all the money you ‘donated’ to my nan with that phony foundation.”
He cocks his brow. “The foundation is real.”
“Great. So have them take the money back.”
“Doesn’t work like that, Birdie.”
I lean forward. “You had no right to give her money like that.”
“You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes.”
