Hard Fall (St. Louis Mavericks 1)

Lauren loaded her plate up with pasta salads and a cheeseburger, and I went for a hot dog, mac and cheese and some fruit. She was one of those naturally thin women—a size four who stayed gorgeous no matter what she ate, while I had to work out every day just to stay a size ten.

She got stopped by an aunt and uncle who wanted to congratulate her, and ten minutes had passed before we finally sat down at a table to eat. Lauren was an only child, but her parents had multiple siblings and her extended family was big. They’d always included me in their holiday get-togethers, because the only family I had left was my brother, a Navy SEAL who was never in one place for long, and an uncle in Florida.

I was so hungry that I immediately shoveled a spoonful of mac and cheese into my mouth, following it shortly with a bite of my hot dog. If we got called away to have pictures taken again, I wanted to at least get a few bites in so I didn’t get hangry.

“Hey babe,” a deep male voice said.

I turned to see Ben approaching us, Wes right beside him.

Fuck. He couldn’t have gotten a less flattering first look at me, my mouth wide open. I chewed as quickly as I could, wiped my mouth and smiled up at Wes as Lauren stood to hug Ben.

“Hey, Wes,” Lauren said, hugging him next.

I nervously ran a hand over my face, praying I’d gotten all the leftover crumbs. My heart hammered as I stood and met Wes’s very blue eyes. He was tall, with dark hair, a handsome face and a smile straight out of a toothpaste commercial—perfect and pearly white.

Images of the four of us double dating flashed through my mind, and obviously, I was in his lap as I imagined it.

“Hey, Hadley,” he said, grinning. “I see you like to put wieners in your mouth.”

My heart sank and I gave Lauren the side-eye. This guy had so much potential until he opened his mouth. He grabbed a potato chip from his plate and popped it into his mouth. In addition to chips, his plate was loaded up with a hamburger, a hot dog, and at least a cup of every side dish on the serving table. It was a wonder the mountain of food wasn’t spilling all over the ground.

“Looks like you do, too,” I said, giving him a tight smile as I nodded at his plate.

“Heh, yeah.”

“Hey guys, we need to go talk to some people,” Lauren said, giving Ben a conspiratorial look. “Just visit for a little bit and we’ll be right back.”

I gave her a wide-eyed are you fucking kidding me right now look, but she ignored me.

Wes plopped down in the chair Lauren vacated and gave me a shit-eating grin.

“What’s this I hear about the best man and the maid of honor hooking up at weddings?” he asked.

“It’s news to me,” I said, focusing on my plate and mentally composing the rant that would be directed at Lauren later for leaving me here alone with him.

“You want to meet up for a drink later, after we all go out?” Wes asked.

I narrowed my eyes and gave him a skeptical look. “I think we’re already going out for drinks after dinner.”

“Yeah, but I mean after that…you know, just you and me.”

I couldn’t stand men like him. He didn’t care who I was or what I was about—he just wanted to get laid later.

“I think I’ll be pretty tired after we all go out,” I said.

“Tired?” He laughed. “I think you need to loosen up.”

“I’m good.”

He shook his head like he couldn’t understand why I turned him down and exhaled hard. “Come on, Hadley. We’re both single, might as well live a little. Give it a chance and you might even end up liking me.”

I laughed, unamused. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough.”

I rolled my eyes. “I have too much self-respect for your taste, trust me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I have no interest in having sex with you.”

He put his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, I wasn’t asking you to. We’re all going out tonight. I just thought you and I could spend some time together after.”

“Yeah, while already drunk,” I said sarcastically.

“Nothing wrong with having some fun.”

“You seem like the type of guy who likes to have some fun with a different woman every night.”

He shrugged and looked down at his left hand, holding it up and meeting my eyes. “Ring finger looks empty to me.”

“Ugh. Do you still live in a fraternity house?”

“I would if I could.”

“Living in filth, partying every night and being irresponsible. I bet you’d love it.”

He grinned. “You’d love having some fun, too, if you’d…you know, unclench a little bit.”