Be Mine (Jackson Boys 2)

“Who the hell is Erik Estrada?”

Lainey’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Erik Estrada is a very hot Puerto Rican who played a motorcycle cop in Miami.”

“Never heard of him.” A cop in Miami? Wait, did she say play? As in this dude is an actor? I swing around to locate Charlie. She’s got an actor friend who she met in treatment at the fancy Swiss hospital she went to as a teen. I narrow my eyes. Did she set Lainey up with an actor? She wouldn’t do that to me, would she?

“My abuelita watched that show Chips religiously. Estrada was fine. Mami would have left Papi in a heartbeat if Erik would’ve rolled up to the house on his motorcycle,” calls Diane from the other end of the bar.

Relief loosens my spine. My brow smooths out. Diane’s grandmother is eighty, at least. “I didn’t know you were into geriatrics,” I joke.

“Silver foxes are in right now.” Lainey sticks her nose in the air. “Did you see the guy that Sandra Bullock is dating? Hotter than ninety-nine percent of the guys younger than him.”

“Amen, sister,” Diane shouts. Lainey abandons me to go down and exchange a high five. I make a mental note to google silver foxes and Sandra Bullock later. Just out of curiosity, I want to know what cranks Lainey’s engine, because it is not football players.

Despite Stacks being a second home to many of the players, she never took even one of them up on their offers. And there have been a legion, much to my annoyance. The one good thing with her moving away was that I didn’t have to watch the endless parade of men hitting on her. The bad thing was that I couldn’t keep an eye on the endless parade of new men hitting on her.

In my rookie year, there were rumors that Lainey was a groupie who was interested in hitching her wagon to a football player contract, but in the time I’ve known her, she hasn’t slept with a single Mustang. We’d all know if she had.

In the locker room, you’re not supposed to talk about religion, politics, or money. A bad stock tip from one guy to another can put a real crimp in team unity. But who you sleep with is a constant source of heckling, particularly when it comes to the women who have more lust for the number in your contract than the stuff in your shorts, so there’s no way that Lainey could’ve hooked up with a Mustang without me knowing about it. Not that it matters. I’d take her if she’d slept with the whole team. After all, it doesn’t matter where a person starts—only where they end up.

“Silver foxes, huh?” I say when she returns to bus my plate. “Thought you didn’t believe in dating.”

Lainey gives a small shrug. “I don’t know. I’m re-evaluating things. Cassidy could use a dad. Want a water or Coke for the road?”

Before I can respond, Diane has to open her mouth again. “Honey, if you’re serious, my brother’s best friend is a trainer over at Planet Fitness. Sweet as pie and good looking to boot.”

“You can’t go out with a stranger,” I object. If Lainey’s interested in dating, then she should look closer to home. Someone that Charlie and I have fully vetted. Someone we can trust to be around Cassidy. Someone like me. “We don’t know anything about him. Fuck, he could be a murderer.”

“He is not!” Diane exclaims indignantly. “He’s super nice.”

“Then why aren’t you dating him?” I shoot back.

“Nick!” Lainey scolds. “They aren’t going to hire a felon to train people at a gym.”

Charlie returns to lean against the bar, smirking as if this whole conversation is a hoot and a half. She can forget about the flowers I was going to buy her.

“Dating a personal trainer is a big mistake. He’s only going to want to date women who are super fit and work out all the time.” The words come out before I can stop them. Diane sucks in a breath and Lainey looks like I kicked her in the teeth.

“So what you’re saying is I’m too fat and ugly for this guy?” She rips the bottle of beer out of my hand and tosses it into the sink behind her. “Give me the number, Diane. I’ll call him.”

“You’ve been sacked one too many times,” Charlie says in a stage whisper.

I drop my head to the bar. She’s not wrong.

Chapter Ten

Lainey

“Lainey, I am sure he did not mean you were fat and ugly. I know for a fact Nick thinks you’re gorgeous. He’s said so a million times,” Charlie exclaims for what has to be the millionth time today.

“It doesn’t matter.” The car in front of me slows down without warning, and I mouth a silent curse as I slam on the brakes.