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Prentice sighed, his gaze scanning my face before he asked, “Do you really want to go to the club? I could take you home instead.”
His offer was sweet, and I really wished I could take him up on it. Especially since that would mean I’d have him all to myself for the entire ride to Nixon’s house. But I had already agreed to be my brother’s designated driver, so I couldn’t just bail on our plans. “Yeah, when Nixon was telling me about how he and some of the guys go out to celebrate after a win, it sounded like fun. Plus, I’ve never…you know…been to a real club before.”
I hadn’t meant to remind him of my age since the last thing I wanted was for him to see me as a little girl, but the words came tumbling out of my mouth anyway. Between having his gorgeous brown eyes locked on me and the awkwardness of standing next to my big brother while my panties were drenched because of my reaction to his teammate, I was way out of my element.
“I’ll come with you, then.” His attention shifted back to my brother as butterflies swirled in my belly. “You’re going to The End Zone?”
“Of course.” Nixon nodded. “Where else would we go?”
“Good,” Prentice grunted. “Nobody will hassle Naomi if she walks in with me.”
The ups and downs of this conversation were giving me emotional whiplash. I’d been so excited by the possibility that he’d agreed to join us because he wanted to spend more time with me. Right up until he casually mentioned how easy it would be for him to get me into the club. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking from experience. If he was so confident of the outcome because he brought underage girls to the club on a regular basis. If I was just another in a long line for him.
The thought shouldn’t have hurt me since we’d only just met, but my stomach roiled while the guys hammered out the plan for our trip to The End Zone. The last thing I needed to do was be mopey when we got there, so I wasn’t paying much attention to what they said as I gave myself a mental pep talk.
“You cool with that, Mims?”
Nixon’s question pulled me out of my thoughts. “What?”
“Are you okay with riding over to The End Zone with me and then meeting up with Prentice in the parking lot so he can walk you inside the club?” he repeated.
Slanting a glance at Prentice, I nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine with me.”
“You gotta pay attention if you’re coming to the club with us.” Nixon rolled his eyes and gently tapped my forehead. “No getting wrapped up in those daydreams of yours when we’ll be around guys I don’t know.”
“Especially when they’ll be drinking,” Prentice growled, crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest.
My brother beamed a smile at him. “It’s a good thing you’ll be with us. You can help keep an eye on my baby sis. I love the guys, but you know how they can sometimes get when we’re out partying. It’ll be good to have your level head there in case some dude decides to hit on Naomi. You can keep me from killing anyone.”
“No worries there,” Prentice assured him with a grim smile. “I promise that you won’t need to kill someone for getting too close to your sister.”
Beyond irritated, I planted my fists on my hips and glared at both men. “First of all, stop talking about me when I’m right here.”
Nixon quirked a brow. “That’s not fair, considering you weren’t even paying attention to what we said before. You totally missed what I was asking you just a couple of minutes ago.”
He kind of had a point, but I was too annoyed to give him credit for it. Instead, I narrowed my eyes and continued, “Secondly, I’m the one who gets to decide if some guy deserves to get his face smashed in for hitting on me. Not you.”
“Like that’s ever stopped me before.” Nixon snorted and shook his head.
“And I’ll be the one to do the smashing, thank you very much.”
Prentice’s dark gaze drifted down my body, sending goose bumps along my skin in its wake. “I don’t want to get on your bad side, but I think you should let us handle anyone who’s bothering you.”
“Nah, she was right about that, at least.” Nixon flung his arm around my shoulders again. “I made sure my sister knows how to defend herself. Naomi might be small, but she’s tough.”
Sliding out from his hold, I huffed, “I had to be, growing up with you.”
He shrugged as he flashed me a sheepish grin. “Hey, someone had to help me practice in the backyard if I was going to make it to the pros someday.”
“And look where you are today,” I murmured, pressing my lips together to stop myself from smiling at him. “The least you can do is give me a little credit.”
“Don’t be silly.” He tweaked my nose. “If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be coming to the club even though you’re underage.”
“If we’re doing this, we’d better get going,” Prentice grumbled, sounding about as happy with my brother as I was.
I had a feeling it was going to be a long night. I just hoped I’d get to spend most of it with Prentice.
4
