“Poor kid. It’s hard to blame her with everything she’s been through.”
I nodded and took a sip of my beer. I still couldn’t believe Annalise was acting this way. I’d been sure she and Sheridan would click immediately. She’d latched on to Hadley hard and recently started calling her ‘Mommy’, which was bittersweet for those of us who’d known Lauren, but we also understood Annalise feeling like Hadley was her mom now.
“Dude, I broke several traffic laws getting over here as fast as possible,” our goalie Drew said as he walked up to us. “I have to hear about your date.”
Nash scoffed. “I’m glad my misery is so amusing to you fuckwads.” He shook his head.
“It really is,” Boone said. “Don’t leave us hanging.”
Nash looked over both shoulders to make sure no one could overhear.
“So she said she wanted to cook me dinner at her apartment, right? I was expecting a home-cooked meal and sex.”
Konstantin and Wes came to join our huddle, both with eager expressions.
“Is this about the date?” Wes asked. “What’d we miss?”
Nash rolled his eyes. “She said she wanted to cook me dinner at her apartment. So I got there, brought a nice bottle of wine too, and when she opened the door, she was dressed in black leather from head to toe.”
Boone cackled, putting a fist to his mouth to stifle his laugh.
“She told me I had to address her as Mistress Sandra for the entire evening,” Nash continued. “I wanted to pass her the wine and bolt, but she paid seven grand for this date, you know? I felt like I had to give her…something.”
“So you gave her your virgin ass,” Drew said, shrugging. “Makes total sense, dude.”
Nash glared as the rest of us laughed. He looked over both shoulders again before whispering, “I didn’t let her do that. She whipped me.”
Boone was doubled over with laughter.
“Okay, go back to the beginning,” Wes said. “I don’t want to miss a single detail. You walk inside, and then what?”
Nash heaved out a sigh. “She wanted me to take off all my clothes and put on a collar. I told her I’d take my shirt off, but that was it.”
“And then she whipped you?” Boone asked.
“No, she said that was fine. But she made me eat my dinner out of a bowl on the floor, like a fucking dog, while she sat at the table and told me the rules for the evening.”
I grinned and cut in, saying, “I would pay good money for a video of this date.”
Nash just shook his head. “I told her I wasn’t doing all of it.”
“But what did you do?” Drew asked.
Nash hesitated. “I tried to compromise. She wanted to put things in my ass but I said no fucking way. So I…licked her boot instead.”
Boone let out another guffaw as we all gaped at Nash.
“You…licked her boots?” Drew asked.
“Boot.” Nash held up a finger. “Only one. And it was one lick. They looked clean.”
“Oh my God, this is the best day of my life,” Boone said, grinning.
“It was ridiculous,” Nash said. “Not sexy at all. She pinched my nipples really hard and made me sit by her feet.”
“Is she your master now?” Wes asked, trying to rein in his laughter.
Nash glared at him in response. “I let her whip my ass a few times, so she…I don’t know, got her money’s worth, I guess. It hurt like hell. I have welts on my ass.”
“Can we move this conversation over to the grill?” Wes asked. “I have to start the burgers and hot dogs, but I don’t want to miss any of this.”
“That’s all there is,” Nash grumbled. “New subject. Will we be celebrating Lars’s engagement next weekend? Who brings someone to a team cookout for a second date?”
I shrugged. “I like her. She’s great. You are just jealous because I don’t have to lick my date’s boot.”
“Plus she’s a smoking hot supermodel,” Boone said.
I gave him a warning look. “Don’t talk about her.”
“What?” He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I say good for you, bro. I’d kill to go out with someone like her.”
I scanned the growing crowd for Sheridan. Wes and Hadley had invited all the team trainers and coaches and their families, so there were lots of people around. I finally found her, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear as she laughed at something Drew’s wife, Nina, had said. Sheridan was surrounded by a group of team wives and girlfriends, looking as if she was chatting with old friends.
Was she faking it? Surely she felt awkward, or at least nervous. I still felt that way at these things sometimes, and I’d known most of the guys on my team for years.
When she looked my way, I gave her a little wave and an expectant look. She smiled and gave me a thumbs-up.