“I’m in your lap, and your lips were on my skin only moments ago.”
His mouth twisted in devilish amusement. “I’m not in the middle of banging you against a wall, so this counts as slow.”
I let out a bark of laughter. That response was so Leo.
“Was that Detective Dyck I saw leaving?”
At the sound of the sharp male voice, I scrambled off Leo’s lap and onto the couch next to him. Forcing myself to look at Vincent, I wasn’t surprised to find a disapproving glare on his face that reminded me a little too much of Tristin.
For someone who was rarely home, he seemed to be popping up more and more often. It was like he instinctively knew that I was determined to snoop in his study, and his presence was warning me off.
I’d attempted to open the door when I knew he was at work, but it was always locked. Now, I was waiting for a chance to buy a lock-picking kit at the hardware store...and for him to leave on a business trip. It would happen eventually.
Leo leaned back, appearing unconcerned that his father caught us together. “Yes. He was badgering Thea about Bodie’s wreck again.”
“You better not have smarted off to him. He’s just doing his job.”
Leo sat up straight. “Just doing his job? Seriously? He has no right to accuse Thea of anything.”
“Is that what happened?” Vincent asked me. “Did he accuse you of a crime?”
I looked from him to Leo and back to him. “Not in so many words.”
“Okay, then.” He turned and headed toward the stairs. “If everyone in this house is innocent, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“If?” Leo leapt up from the couch. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
I gripped the edges of the cushion beneath me. I didn’t like it when Leo got angry. Not because I was scared of him. Because it took so much to get him there.
Except when it came to his father, it seemed. That was a recurring theme in this household.
Vincent paused but didn’t turn to face his eldest son. “Don’t lecture me about innocence, Leo. You, more than anyone, should understand that it’s not black and white.”
Then, he continued walking and disappeared up the stairs.
Leo stared after him until his phone alarm chimed through the room. “Fuck.” He took his phone out of his pocket and ended the alarm before turning back to me. “I gotta go. Late practice tonight.”
I stood and took a cautious step toward him. “Are you okay?”
He pushed his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. Might as well go take out all this aggravation on some unsuspecting teammates.”
“But you’re the quarterback...”
He shrugged and gave me one of his classic, impish smiles. “Yeah, but I can make those fuckers run.”
Chapter Eight
Thea
Petra scowled at me from the driver’s seat of her car. “I can’t believe you made me get up early on a Saturday over a boy.”
“It’s almost ten o’clock. Not exactly the ass crack of dawn.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She put the car in drive and circled back to the gate. “If you’d gone out with me last night, you’d think ten was early too.”
I laughed. “There was no way in hell I was allowing you to drag me to a party at the Delta house.”
Kelsey, Hayle’s ex-girlfriend, was a Delta and very much not a fan of mine. She was convinced that Hayle had broken up with her for me, and I wasn’t sure if even my budding relationship with Leo would sway her way of thinking.
“Besides, you know I hate parties.”
“Only because you refuse to loosen up and actually try to have fun at them.”
Did she have a point? Yes. Did it make me want to change my wallflower ways? Not so much.
“Anyway,” I said, changing the subject, “I appreciate you helping me with this. I didn’t know where to start.”
She shot me a grin. “You’re lucky you have me to swoop in and save the day.”
“Don’t I know it.”
A few minutes later, she pulled into a reserved parking spot behind Nana’s Fashions, her grandmother’s secondhand clothing store. I followed her into the store, where I finally came face-to-face with Nana.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it wasn’t this smartly dressed woman with a full mane of gray and white hair and impeccable makeup and accessories. She was an inch or two taller than Petra, and I immediately saw the family resemblance in the shape of their noses and mouths.
The older woman gave me a slow once-over before saying in her smoky voice, “Well, well, this must be the famous Thea I’ve heard so much about.”
“Not sure about the famous part, but that’s me.”
She gestured to my body with a wave of her hand. “You spent hundreds of dollars in here, and that’s the best you could come up with?”
I glanced down at my plain, charcoal long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and sneakers. “I have a shift at The Grind in a few hours.”
She tsked. “That’s no excuse. You can do better. Let me look through the new items in the back while you two get started on your project.”
When she flounced off with another wave of her hand, I turned to Petra, my eyebrows raised. “That’s Nana?”
She smirked at me. “What did you expect?”
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I don’t know. Someone slightly more...grandmotherly?”
Laughter spilled out of her. “Sorry to disappoint you, but Nana hasn’t baked an apple pie in her life. Or whatever grandmotherly types bake.”
“Huh.”
Petra latched onto my sleeve. “Come on. We need to get started if we’re going to figure this out before you go to work.” She led me to an area of the shop that housed rack after rack of tees and sweatshirts. “You know, this would have been a lot easier if you’d just asked Leo for one of his old jerseys.”
“Then, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
Because of his busy training and practice schedule, I’d barely seen him since our bistro “date” Wednesday night. But he’d texted me often and had left a bouquet of bright pink roses in my bedroom for me to find when I got home yesterday afternoon.
So, I’d decided to surprise him by wearing a sweatshirt with his number on it to the game tonight. It was cheesy, but I hoped it would make him smile.
Thankfully, when I’d texted Petra last night to ask if there was somewhere in town where I could get one made last-minute, she’d assured me that she could handle it.
As she flipped through shirts in my size, she said, “If you remember, I predicted this whole front row cheering scenario weeks ago. But after you and Tristin hooked up, I assumed Leo was toast. You just can’t make up your mind, can you?”
“Tristin is the one who scorned me, as you well know.” She was the only person who knew every detail of what had happened between us.
“Yeah, but you haven’t even tried talking to him.”
I narrowed my eyes at my friend. “What’s up with you? Why are you suddenly Team Tristin?”
“I’m not team anyone.” She paused in her searching to glance at me. “I’m just worried you’re going to regret going all in with Leo before even talking to Tristin.”