“She’s on the dance floor with Maverick,” Adam says.
“Thanks.” I wave again. “It was nice to meet you guys.” Looking to Rhett, I say, “See ya later.”
“Wait, you’re really leaving?”
“Yeah, I’m wet and sticky, and I have to teach two fitness classes tomorrow morning anyway.”
“Yeah, okay.” His brows knit in confusion. “At least let me come with you to make sure you find Josie.”
I nod, and we start across the lawn.
“We have the semifinals Monday night, so we’re keeping it low-key the rest of the weekend, but can we hang again?”
“Uhh...” I decide to go with honesty since it’s unlikely he’ll remember asking me tomorrow anyway. “I don't usually do that type of thing, and I'm not judging you, or even me, casual hookups can be fun. I mean, that was fun. Really fun.” I’m blathering on and talking in circles, and not really saying what I mean which is that I like him and hooking up will end with me getting hurt. “You’re really drunk.”
“Fair, but I wasn’t drunk when I asked you to come tonight.”
“This was a mistake. We both have a lot going on.” I’m bullshitting. We both know it. Elias would call me out on it, but Rhett doesn’t.
We reach the dance floor, and I spot Josie dancing with a group of girls, Maverick in the center of them. Josie sees us and waves.
The sight of Maverick without his shirt reminds me that I still have Rhett’s.
“Oh, here.” I start to take it off, but he stops me.
“Keep it. I’m going to head out soon too. Drinking makes me tired.”
“So I've heard.” I take a step toward Josie, half hoping he’ll stop me. He doesn’t. “Later, Rauthruss.”
The next day, I’m finishing up with my second barre class when Rhett appears in the hallway. He slips in as my students gather their things.
“Hey.” Hands in pockets, he approaches me at the front of the room.
“You found me.” I’m a little impressed he a) remembered I said I was teaching this morning and b) is awake this early.
“I looked at the group fitness schedule before I went to bed last night and set an alarm.”
“Impressive.”
He grins. “A first for everything. I didn’t ruin your dress last night, did I?”
“No, it’s fine. Your shirt is at my dorm. I’ll bring it to the rink.”
“Or you could bring it to my place later?”
I laugh. “Presumptuous much?”
“Not like that. To hang, watch TV, play Xbox or... whatever. I’d suggest something more exciting, but we have curfew at nine.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, Coach is pulling out all the stops to keep us distraction-free.”
“And you thought inviting a girl over was the answer?”
“I’ll be distracted by you either way.”
My stomach flips. This freaking guy.
“What time?” I ask. I was prepared to say yes as soon as he asked—actually, as soon as I woke up this morning and wished I’d stayed at the party longer—but sober and charming Rhett is almost as impossible to resist as half-naked Rhett.
“Six.” He hands me a piece of paper with the address and backs away. “And for the record, I don’t usually do that type of thing either.”
9
Rhett
I give Sienna a quick tour of the apartment, grab a beer, and offer her one. “I promise I won’t spill it on you.”
She smiles, but shakes her head. “No thanks.”
“Right. You said you weren’t much of a drinker. We also have water, orange juice, and a variety of energy drinks.”
“I’m good, really. And I drink, sometimes, like last night. Just not very much or very often.”
I grab a water and lead her to the couch. It’s quiet for a change. Adam’s at Reagan and Dakota’s apartment across the breezeway, Ginny and Heath are in his room with the door shut, and Maverick is at his place. When I asked them not to bombard Sienna, I didn’t think they’d listen. I’m pleasantly surprised.
“Because of your heart condition or just not your thing?”
She nods. “Mostly because of my heart.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what kind of heart condition do you have?”
“It’s called long QT syndrome. Basically, my heartbeat gets out of whack.”
“But it’s treatable?”
“I take medication, and I have an implant that monitors my heart, but no, not really. I just have to be careful and listen to my body.”
“Skating isn’t dangerous?”
“I have type one, which means both physical and emotional stress can trigger episodes. If I wanted to be completely safe, I’d have to avoid basically everything. Sometimes I can feel my heart get out of rhythm when I’m working out, other times I’m just sitting around doing nothing.”
“Freaky. What’s an episode like?”
“Usually it’s just a fluttering in my chest or a lightheaded feeling.” She shrugs and a small smile pulls at her lips. “I’ve gotten really good at listening to my body and knowing when to take breaks. I can do most things, in moderation. No roller coasters, though.” She sticks out her bottom lip. “I haven’t been to a carnival in forever. I miss cotton candy.” She angles her legs toward mine. “Did you mean what you said about not usually doing that type of thing?”
I chuckle at the topic change. “Yeah, of course.”
Her gaze narrows.
“You don't believe me?”
“Everything I know about you contradicts that. The day I met you, you hooked up with someone only hours before. Or tried to. Your phone was blowing up with different girls later that day.” She laughs softly. “Then last night...” Her voice trails off, and I’m accosted with hazy visions of Sienna in the bathroom of the basketball house.
“I guess if you’d only known me the past week, I could see where you might get the wrong idea, but that’s not me. I got out of a relationship recently, and last weekend was... well, it was the result of a lot of things, but that’s not something I do on the regular.” I’d certainly like to, though, with her. I leave that part out. “And last night—”
“You were really drunk. I get it.”
“Yes, but sober Rhett would have done the same thing. Minus drenching you in beer.”
An amused smirk plays on her lips.
“Okay, fine, that might have happened anyway.” I bump her knee. “Last night was fucking awesome. I’m only sorry we got interrupted.”
“Just as well. You’d probably have fallen asleep on me,” she teases, but her breathing changes, and tension hangs in the air between us.
“Not a chance.”
Her grin makes my cock twitch. Taking her to my bedroom after I just claimed to not be that kind of guy seems like a bad plan, so I pick up an Xbox controller. “Wanna play?”
She lets out a slow breath and nods. “What do you have?”