“You are?” he asks doubtfully, and I glare.
“Yes,” I assert, leaning my shoulder into his. “Now, come on, are you ready?”
His eyes move down my body and then back up, and when they meet mine, I can tell he wants to say something, but he nods instead. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Gathering our group, we make the short trek to the Gilroy to find that it is in full party mode. The rest of the team is already here and has a table saved for us. After getting drinks, we meet up with them, and I make quick introductions.
“So who’s single?” Kuntz asks, and I grin as Delanie eyes him.
“Um. Well, Mandie is engaged now, right?” I ask, and she giggles breathlessly, holding up her hand where her ring sits. It’s easy to say she’s excited, but who wouldn’t be? She getting married, and she’s moving to New York with Jason so that he can play for the Rangers. I’m excited for her. “Yeah, so not Mandie, but Delanie… I don’t know, are you single?”
“No,” Jace says, wrapping his arms around her neck, kissing her hard on the cheek. “She’s going home with me tonight.”
“Where?” Jayden asks, laughing when Jace glares at him.
“In our room.”
“And where am I going?”
“I don’t give a shit where, but make yourself disappear.”
“Yeah, okay,” he taunts, shaking his head as everyone laughs.
I smack Jayden’s thigh and he looks over at me playfully while I roll my eyes. “Let him be.”
Leaning over, he whispers in my ear, “If I don’t get to get any, he doesn’t.”
Turning to face him, I ask, “Who said you won’t get laid tonight?”
Pointing at me, he says, “I’m fully taking that as a promise.”
Giggling, I watch as his eyes dance with lust before standing back up to nurse his beer, only giving me a heated sideways glance that has me breaking out in gooseflesh. Breathing in deeply, I lean into Mandie as she leans into me, grinning at me. With her lips at my ear, she says, “You know that y’all act like a couple, right?”
“No way,” I say, looking at her.
“Yes, whoever doesn’t think y’all are sleeping together is an idiot. Sparks fly between you two. It’s sort of a gorgeous thing to behold.” Eyeing her, I take a step away from Jayden, which makes her laugh. “He’s still looking at you with those dreamy green eyes.”
“Whatever,” I say, but it isn’t whatever.
I need to keep this quiet. Dad already sent in his request for some scouts to come look at Jayden and Jace. He told me after practice the other morning, and I can’t do anything to mess that up. Plus with the whole team here, I need them to keep respecting me. We are all working as such a unit now, I can’t have anything disturb that. While it would be best for us to call this off, I know I can’t. Not anymore, but I need Jayden to go into the draft. He deserves it. So maybe I should try to stay clear of him tonight.
But that’s hard when I really only want to be with him.
“Wanna dance?” he asks once everyone starts for the dance floor, and while I want to, I shake my head no.
“Probably not a good idea. Mandie says we look like a couple.”
He looks at me, perplexed. “Aren’t we?”
Giving him a deadpan look, I say, “Yes, but no one is supposed to know.”
He rolls his eyes. “No one cares, let’s have fun.”
When he bats his eyes at me, my resolve flies out the window, and soon he is pulling me onto the floor. I’d blame it on the alcohol, but I know darn well it’s him. He intoxicates me like nothing in this world, and as our bodies move together, the fact that people are probably watching doesn’t even bother me. Nothing does. All that matters is Jayden and his mad da
nce moves. He dances with ease, he’s goofy and silly but also very serious when he takes me into his arms, moving against me.
As Usher sings about not minding about his girl being a stripper, I turn in Jayden’s arms and move my ass very suggestively against him. When everyone starts to holler, I only dance harder, letting go completely. I feel so free, and I love feeling him against me. The more I move, the more I know I will make good on the promise he assumes I made. When I look back at him, he has this grin on his face that leaves me gasping for air as his arms go around me, hugging me tightly to him. Laughing, I lean into him as we sway, and to say I’m having fun is an understatement.