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“My love?” He rolls his head toward me. “Who the hell is that?”
“Charlotte!” I point.
She hears her name and waves cheerily back again.
“She’s my love?” He sounds dumbfounded.
“You just said she was.”
“I said I love her.”
“Exactly!” I throw my hands up in exasperation. He’s playing games with the sweetest girl. I punch his shoulder again.
The puzzled frown only deepens. “I’m so confused.”
“You football players are all alike.” He’s not Chip, but he’s still a rat.
Nick levers his muscular frame up on one arm. “I love her like my sister. In fact, she will be my sister someday, as soon as my brother gets his head out of his ass.”
“Y-your brother?” Did I hear that right?
“What, you don’t know about him?”
I shake my head.
“That’s right. Charlotte’s trying to forget that he exists. My brother’s a Navy SEAL.”
“Oh.” Charlie tried to tell me yesterday, but I brushed away her explanation. Was it because I was using Charlie as a shield against Nick’s attractiveness?
“Yup.” A small, almost-sad smile tips the corners of his lips up. “Hard to live up to.”
My attention swerves back to Nick. Was that envy I heard? “But you play professional football. That’s amazing.”
He shrugs. “I play a game. My brother is saving lives. He’s doing important things.”
“Is that what your parents say?” I’m starting to feel incensed on Nick’s behalf. “Because very few people can play the quarterback position in professional football.”
Our hometown had a collective orgasm when Chip was drafted to the team in Detroit. The town fathers had the Welcome to Ashton sign changed a week later so that the words “Home of Jonathan ‘Chip’ Peters” were written in bold white letters. It didn’t matter how many interceptions he threw or how many games he lost. He was the hometown boy that made it to the big league. They love him.
“Nah, they’re proud of me. They aren’t into comparisons. And before you say anything, Nate’s not the one putting me down either. It’s not like that. I just know. Saving lives is on a different scale than throwing touchdowns. One is important, and the other’s just for entertainment. Unfortunately, all I’ve ever wanted to do is the entertainment thing, so that’s what I’m doing.” He lies back onto the blanket. “And all Nate’s ever wanted to do is make something of his life to show our dad that he’s worth something. My dad came from nothing. He grew up in a trailer park, joined the Marines, paid his way through college and built a huge empire by his own hands. We want to make our parents proud.”
“I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t be proud.” I look over to Cassidy, who is waving her feet in the air. “I’m proud when Cassidy eats all her peas. It doesn’t take much to make a parent happy.”
Nick laughs, crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. Pick me up and shake me like a rattle, but he’s so damn hot it’s not even fair.
“Well, I’ve never been very good at eating my peas, so I’m going to try to prove my worth by winning some games. What about you, Lainey? Are you making your parents proud?”
“No.”
I regret my terse response when the humor in Nick’s face drains away. I should’ve lied, but what parent is ever proud of a girl who gets knocked up at the age of seventeen? I stick out my chin. “My dad’s been long gone and my mom’s still upset I had sex before I got married. She’s a strict Catholic.”
Nick reaches out a hand and squeezes my sneaker-clad toe. “Hey, I’m sorry. It was a dumbshit thing for me to say.”
I try to act like it doesn’t matter. “Forget it. It’s no big deal. I don’t really care, after all. I have Cassidy.”
“That’s better than being a Navy SEAL and a pro player put together.” He gives the compliment with so much sincerity that I don’t have a comeback. Something hot fills my throat. I blink and look up at the sky, away from the honey in his gaze. Not even the late-summer sun generates as much warmth as Nick’s approving look.
I concentrate on breathing so that I don’t throw myself into his arms. Nick’s offering friendship here, nothing more. And even if there was something like affection and lust swimming in those deadly eyes of his, I can’t accept it.
Chapter Five
Nick
“Chip. Let’s talk about the option read for the third down play. Today, we were a little slow in getting the ball to Montgomery. We should consider making the decision before you make the turn up the field.” Coach waits for a response but gets none because our starting QB is staring across the room.
I follow his gaze to where Lainey is clearing a table. I don’t blame him. I can’t take my eyes off her either. Her shoulders fall as she picks up a tip. It must be smaller than she hoped for. I know things are tight for her, but she’s not going to accept any help. I’ve tried to find her a new place to live, a car, and a loan to go back to school. Lainey was so mad after these offers that she didn’t talk to me for two weeks. She also started returning my hundred-dollar-bill tips. I’ve been able to funnel some money through my fellow teammates who have told me more than once that there’s easier pussy out there. They’re not wrong. Even as a backup rookie quarterback, the line of women at my door is longer than I expected it would be, but none of them are curvy, lush-haired brunettes with melting eyes and an attitude that’s both sharp and sweet.
