“Roman.” I heard the tranquil, feminine voice glancing up to see Taylor approaching me. With her chocolate brown hair pulled high in a stylish ponytail, and a black dress modestly cut but fashionable; it didn’t reveal too much. Everything about her was polished and perfect. Even down to the strappy shoes she wore. Designer, of course, but conservative. Her dad was running for Lieutenant Governor of the state, and she’d gone to a political fundraiser tonight. Not by choice. Her family’s political views were so off the mark from what she believed. But she toed the line with her family. Like I did with mine. In that sense, we’d always had that in common.
“Hey. We won.” I slipped my legs over the side, sitting up so she had space beside me.
“I heard.” She smiled tightly.
“How was the dinner?” It was held at an exclusive steakhouse in Austin where one had to make reservations at least two months out. Her father had rented out the whole restaurant tonight. I’d been to one of his rallies, and it was a little too much for me. Everything was about how you could bend over and take it from major contributors, promise them anything under the sun because at the end of the day funding for campaigns was the number one goal. Regardless, if you sold your soul to the devil. Her father and my father were already familiar with that process anyway or they wouldn’t have been as successful in the business world as they were. Who the fuck cared whose greased palm touched your dick as long as you got your way and were paid in full.
“Same old shit different day,” she answered, and I almost chuckled because curse words coming out of her mouth still sounded so foreign. She sat with legs crossed and spine straight. Years of cotillion and learning how to be a proper lady were ingrained in her. Her brown eyes rose to mine. “I heard you had a great game. I kept checking the highlights on my phone.”
“He did.” Axel drained the rest of his drink and stood up. “You want anything, Taylor?” he asked out of politeness and maybe guilt of what he thought he knew. Taylor had always been around us from jump.
“Gin and club soda with a twist of lemon.”
“I’ll make it.” I rose.
“I’ll come with you.”
Taylor followed me into the house where loud music buzzed off every wall. Luckily, we were somewhat secluded and our neighbors didn’t file complaints. In the kitchen, as I made her drink, I heard. “Hey, Tay. Tay.” Nick stumbled in, almost taking a few people down with him. He was piss drunk, and his nose was swollen and skin battered. However, he made a quick recovery and somehow managed not to spill the drink in his hand. “Too bad you missed the show tonight.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. It never bothered me, the affection between Taylor and Nick. He’d always treated her like a sister in front of me. However he was trying to start shit right now. I knew the punch line was only a few seconds away. “Roman was the star as usual.”
Taylor watched him with the look of trying to appease the drunk uncle—you know the one—who only showed up on Thanksgiving and embarrassed the fuck out the rest of the family. “I heard he played great.”
“He did. He’s a great player. Isn’t he?” Nick nodded and wavered, and I was about to punch his ass again and knock him out. That fucker still had a gleam in his eye, like he wanted to go again. I would if he weren’t so drunk.
“Nick,” I warned. “That’s enough.”
He drunkenly tried to smirk at me, but it looked creepy. He wanted to say more, but he held back because at the end of the day, we could go at it, but we weren’t spilling secrets. He raised his cup. “Here’s to being one of the top ten teams in the nation.” I held out my cup and Taylor did too, making a dull sound, not a clink, but we didn’t care. We all took a swig.
Taylor set her drink down and her eyes moved back and forth between the both of us. She studied my bloody lip and bruised cheek. “Did you two fight tonight?”
“Just an idiot’s disagreement. I’ll tell you about it, but it’s going to make you laugh,” I said, trying to lead her somewhere quiet to explain.
“Didn’t seem so dumb at the time. Huh, bro?” Nick threw back his drink and hugged Taylor. He glared at me and didn’t seem so drunk anymore. Like he’d gotten his second wind, but he shrugged. “I’m gonna let Roman tell you all about it and get another drink.”
Taylor watched me with a knowing look, as though she already had an idea of what happened but was waiting for me to tell her. Hell, maybe she’d already seen the pictures on social media for all I knew. She was constantly on her phone.
I led her out of the kitchen, away from the crowd down the hallway to my bedroom. I had the master since I’d found the house and paid a percentage more than the other three.
Taylor passed through the door and kicked off her shoes, sitting down on the black leather lounger by the floor-to-ceiling window that took up half the wall. It was on the far end of the house with a view of trees and twinkle of lights from homes that sat off in the distance below us on the bottom of a rocky hill.
“I saw the posts, Roman. I saw the pictures of the fight with Nick, and the photos of you and Theodora,” she said and stared down at her drink.
“It’s nothing, and who cares what people post?”
“I don’t care in the sense most people think. However, as my father is trying to win over the state of Texas, he doesn’t need his opponents to dig up dirt on him, on me, our relationship included. And you just loosened the soil for someone to scoop it up easily.”
My teeth ground together at the thought. If it were just me worried about my lifestyle, I wouldn’t give a shit. Actually, I’d only thought about myself earlier because I didn’t give a thought about consequences where Theodora was concerned. I just wanted to take, to conquer, to feel good. To crush her will. To make her admit there was still something between us, like it’d always been.
I could’ve been a dick and reminded Taylor about her life choices that wouldn’t bode too well for her father’s campaign if they slipped out. Not that it should’ve mattered, but everything could be twisted and misconstrued when you were in the public eye. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. She and I had an understanding that went way back. I always supported her.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful in the future.” I didn’t need the wrath of Richard Shields coming down on me, nor my father breathing down my neck more than he already was. “Besides, what happened tonight will soon pass.”
She downed the rest of her drink setting it down on the stand beside the lounger, rose to her feet, and picked up her sandals. Walking up to me, she patted me on the cheek affectionately. “I know you will.” Her brows furrowed as she lightly touched the bruise on the side of my jaw. “You and Nick went at it hard tonight.”
“It wasn’t that bad. We were both so pumped after the game, and I guess we still had steam to blow off.”
“Be careful, Roman. This girl tried to have you thrown in jail.”
I pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. “I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”
Taylor eyed me with a hint of skepticism, but smiled and adjusted the collar on the button down I’d changed into when I got home. Something she always did because she couldn’t stand wrinkled clothing or a collar that wasn’t completely perfect. Another lovely trait of hers (Insert sarcasm).