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A frown morphs across Maverick’s face. “Seriously?” Before she can respond, he fires off another question. “Since when do you party with the guys?”
“Umm…” Her mouth works a couple of times as panic flashes across her face. “I just thought…”
Watching her flounder has the corners of my lips lifting. This is a girl who usually has an answer for everything.
“We ran into each other at the library the other day, and I talked her into chilling with us after the game,” I reply easily.
When she remains silent, I prompt, “Isn’t that right?”
Her gaze remains pinned to mine as she swallows thickly. “Yes. We spoke at the library, and it sounded like fun.”
Maverick’s scowl deepens. “I don’t like it.”
Brody elbows his son in the ribs. “There’s nothing wrong with your sister hanging out with you tonight. Just think of it as a little McKinnon sibling bonding time.”
Maverick rolls his eyes. “What that really means is that I’ll have to keep an eye on her so no one gets ideas.”
“No need to worry about that,” I cut in. “She’ll be with me.”
“Guess we know how your night is gonna turn out,” he mutters under his breath.
The guy doesn’t have a clue. And that’s exactly the way it needs to stay. Mav would lose his shit if he found out what Juliette and I are up to.
“I guess we should take off then,” Natalie says.
All the parents agree to head over to the McKinnons’ for drinks.
In the chaos of the moment, Maverick pokes me in the chest. “You better keep a close eye on her. I don’t want her hooking up with any of these assholes. You know what they’re like.”
Yup, I do. And if she were my sibling, I’d feel the same way.
“I think your sister is more than capable of taking care of herself, don’t you?”
He grunts in answer before walking away.
Juliette hugs and kisses her parents, telling them that she’ll see them soon.
And then, it’s just the two of us.
She glances around the open space before her gaze reluctantly flickers to mine. It’s as if she’s trying to look everywhere but at me. Nervous energy radiates off her in thick, suffocating waves.
I’m not going to lie, it’s a little intoxicating.
Kind of like waving a red scarf in front of a bull.
“You ready to get moving?” I ask, making a concerted effort not to reach out and drag her into my arms.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?”
Fuck yeah. In fact, it’s the best damn one I’ve had in a while.
“Yup.”
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“It’s a surprise,” I say with a slow smile. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Before she can fire off any more questions or attempt to back out, I give in to temptation and step closer, wrapping my arm around her shoulders before steering us toward the exit.
