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“Nice game,” she says.
The way her voice curls around the words in her twang settles into my gut and lower. I take a breath to admire her and the swirling, powerful sensations filling me. The hairs on my arms stand. It’s been too long since I’ve felt this proud to share a game with someone like her. Or ever, actually. My ex was just there. It didn’t take too long to understand that she was only a trophy. Something to be kept on a bookshelf like a winning season or an MVP award. She was barely better than Levi’s conquests.
Raeann is different. In her gaze, I feel like she’ll get me. Like she’ll celebrate for me. Not with me. “I scored.”
“Twice,” she confirms.
“Did Pawpaw like it?”
“I think it was one of the better days of Pawpaw’s life. He had as much food as he could stand, drank some, cursed some. He was so tired, he asked Joey to take him back to a hotel room you got him?”
The last part comes out like a question. “The best hotel suite in Nashville.”
“You’re going to spoil him.”
“Is it working?”
“If he doesn’t wake up with a new lease on life tomorrow, I’ll be shocked. He’ll have so many stories to tell the neighbors that they’ll start running when they see him coming down the lane, waving his hands and yelling, ‘I forgot to tell you about the different kinds of cheese they had!’”
I shake my head, a chuckle spilling out. “That’s adorable, but I was hoping this was helping to win you over?”
Her lips curl into a smirk. “Is that what you’re doing? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Guess I better try harder.”
Her eyes widen a little, as if she can’t imagine what else I could do. I have some ideas up my sleeve, though. I hold out my hand and help her to her feet. “Thank you for staying in the box so I could concentrate on what I had to do.”
She side-eyes me. “Of course. Jace actually had a good time, too, in case you’re wondering.”
I’m about to tell her I couldn’t give two shits about that guy, when the door opens behind us. Davis, Levi, and Cade pile into the box. Reid walks in shortly after with his girlfriend tucked into his side.
“Holy…shit,” Raeann exclaims.
Her face pales, and I notice she has to work on her breathing at the sudden amount of increased testosterone in the room. I shield her for a moment, as if I can stop them from overwhelming her, but the guys don’t let that happen.
“Hey, I’m Cade,” Cade introduces himself first with a huge smile.
Raeann takes a deep breath, and just when I think I might have to step in, she steps up to the plate. Flawlessly. “Cade Farmer. Hi.”
“Davis.”
“Levi.” Levi tugs his hat down, and I swear his accent gets thicker. I nail him with a narrowed gaze. My sense of humor only goes so far, and he’s already pushing his luck.
“Hi. Briar and Reid,” Reid’s girlfriend says, pointing to herself, then to our QB.
Raeann seems lost for words, so I introduce her. “This is Raeann Gorman. She owns Pet Threads in Nashville. And this is Athena.”
Athena wags her tail and sits by Raeann’s side.
A few more pleasantries are passed around before I clap my hands. “Well, they apparently wanted to meet you, but they’ll be going now.”
Levi takes a step forward. “Actually, we were about to?—”
“Leave the room,” I finish for him. Tension wafts off Raeann. Athena hasn’t made a move to calm her down, so maybe I’m overthinking things, but I still want them gone.
The smarter ones start to leave right away, but Levi takes his time. “Some other time, then.”
“No.”