“Why, if it isn’t our famous football star.” Mrs. Serrano hugged him before turning to Julie to embrace her, while Mr. Serrano shook Gavin’s hand. Mrs. Serrano stepped back and hooked her arm through her husband’s. “It’s so nice to see you two together. We always knew you’d end up together, didn’t we, Bob?”
“Oh,” Julie said, casting a glance at Kory. “Gavin and I are just friends.”
Mrs. Serrano winked, making it clear she didn’t believe them, and awkwardness settled over the table as the Serranos moved on to have their dinner.
“That happens a lot,” Julie said with a nervous laugh. “No one in this town believes us.”
Kory’s expression remained unchanged, no flicker of emotion over her statement. Before Gavin could figure out what—if anything—that meant, their food arrived, providing the perfect excuse for him to leave. He whispered in Julie’s ear that she had this, squeezed her hand, and then guided her into her seat. With that settled, he headed to the bar.
Once there, he advised Julie, “Just be flirty, smile a lot, touch his hand here and there, and let him meet you in the middle. The guy’s gotta at least do some of the work. All you have to do is give him a strong signal that you’d be into it—but remember, hints don’t always work on dudes.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her repeat the move he’d instructed her to do earlier. Elbow on the table, cheek on the fist, and when she opened her mouth, Gavin held his breath.
“Just thought you should know that you look a lot like this guy I’m going to hook up with later.”
Kory choked on the water he’d been sipping—in hindsight, Gavin probably should’ve mentioned a line like that shouldn’t be used while someone was eating or drinking. It was far too powerful.
After the guy recovered, he cast her a goofy smile that left no doubt he was into the idea of getting in her pants. And Gavin ran a hand across his jaw and reminded himself it was what she wanted. Fling or one-night stand or what-the-hell-ever, Kory had better treat her with respect or he’d be getting a follow-up visit.
With her well on her way, and his irritation growing fangs that longed to be used, it was time to sign off. “Great job. You’ve hooked him, and I’m going to leave the rest to you. Over and out—don’t respond verbally. A nod will do.”
Part of him didn’t want Julie to bob her head, yet the idea of eavesdropping on the entire date also seemed akin to torture. But as Kory began to tell her about his job, and she laughed at all the right places, Gavin went ahead and turned off his ear pod and slipped it into his pocket.
He ordered a drink and considered it a win that he glanced at Julie only a handful of times.
And only two of those times did he experience that weird pinch of jealousy.
Chapter Seven
After too many false starts, thinking “there’s Julie” only for his mom to knock on the door or for it to be Niki passing by his room on the way to hers, Gavin didn’t so much as twitch at the sound of footsteps.
Well, he didn’t until Kylo Ren perked up his head. Earlier this evening, the big tomcat had nudged open the unlatched door, jumped onto the bed, and climbed on Gavin’s chest. Tiny pricks of pain accompanied the cat’s kneading, until at long last, he’d deemed the spot comfortable enough—the cat, that was. Gavin had found the movement and extreme focus unnerving. Once the feline flopped down for a nap, though, the warm, purring ball of fluff soothed him into a state of half-sleep as well.
Two soft female voices filtered through. Niki and Julie. As soon as the cat heard his mommy, he abandoned Gavin at record speed, darting out into the hallway as if he’d been held captive for years instead of voluntarily cuddling for half an hour.
So as not to appear overeager about how the night went, Gavin moved more casual-like. Instead of pushing the door all the way open, he rested his hip against the jamb and studied Julie’s appearance, searching for signs that she’d, uh, scored.
“Who’s my handsome boy?” Julie scooped up Kylo Ren and held him like a baby, and Niki rubbed the cat’s belly. “Have you been hanging out with Gavin, handsome boy?”
Her hair was still in loose curls, her dress uncrumpled. The makeup on her face appeared flawless, no smudged eyeliner or mascara.
If I’d kissed her, there wouldn’t be any hiding it.
Gavin swatted away that errant thought, and Julie and Niki both looked at him like he had a few screws loose.
“You okay, big brother? Or did you hit the pain pills too hard? Go toward the light, ight, ight.” Niki’s otherworldly echo morphed into a giggle, and he flicked her ear in that way she hated.
“Very funny. I was just dozing with the cat until he heard there was a better option.”
Julie’s ruby lips accentuated her killer grin, and question after question flashed through his head, a neon sign that buzzed and flickered and bugged the hell out of you.
Did you sleep with him?
Are you going to continue the fling?
With him or someone else?
Do I need to kick his ass?
As casually as he could manage, he raked a hand through his hair and asked, “So? How’d it go?”
“Fine.”
Infuriatingly vague. The date was fine? The sex was fine? What was fucking fine?
Not him, and what was up with that?
“Right, you had your date. How was it?” Niki leaned in conspiratorially but didn’t bother lowering her voice. “Kory’s hot. Is he a good kisser?” Instead of keeping her eyes trained on Julie, his little sister scrutinized him.
“He was a perfect gentleman. We had a nice dinner and he walked me to the door. He mentioned possibly getting together later in the week, so…” Julie shrugged, and that meant there hadn’t been kissing or fucking, and the storm inside Gavin calmed. Something he wasn’t going to analyze right now. He’d have time for that later, when he was standing on the sidelines as the rest of his team continued to condition and train with another quarterback.
Jacob Mann was a good kid and would make a fine QB someday, but he didn’t have the experience Gavin did. Being on the injury list for the upcoming game sucked, especially without a guaranteed chance at the playoffs, but he assured himself the Mustangs could still pull off the win, and then he’d be out on the field the game after that, leading his team to victory once again.
“And you didn’t want that?” Niki asked.
At Kylo Ren’s wiggling, Julie let him go, and Gavin averted his eyes so he wouldn’t do the ogling he’d scolded Jason for attempting to do. “Of course I did. I just…” A disappointed sigh accompanied the dipping of her chin. “Maybe I’m not the kind of girl who guys want to devour. I’m more the type one introduces to their mom. Then, behind my back, they’ll seek out an exciting mistress to fulfill their wildest fantasies.”