Page 36 of Gator

From Trixie’s perch on his arm, she said, “Pants on fire.” Then she squawked, and I laughed.

“She has your number, Mika. You aren’t anywhere near as innocent as you look.”

We were two games in, the trash talk flying fast and loose, when the elevator doors opened and Gator walked in.

Conversation didn’t exactly stop—but itstuttered, like everyone collectively bracing.

He took it all in at a glance: me laughing at Tucker making excuses for her last shitty break shot, Mika practically cuddling Trixie, and Axel leaning close to adjust my stance on a shot.

His jaw ticked.

“Looks like y’all are real welcoming,” he drawled, voice deceptively casual.

Maddox raised a beer in salute. “We’re excellent hosts.”

Knox didn’t even look up from his game. “Mika’s the one who invited him. Blame him.”

He let his gaze sweep over the room again, lingering on Mika with Trixie and then back to me and Axel.

“Y’all treating himrealfriendly for someone who just moved in,” he grumbled.

Trixie cocked her head to one side. “Grumpy Daddy.”

The roomhowled.

I buried my face in my hands. “Oh my God, Trixie. Shut. Up.”

When I peeked out through my fingers, Gator was watching me. His mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile, but his gaze was still all possessive heat.

“Julius,” he said low.

I straightened, cue still in hand, heart tripping like a teenager’s. “Yeah?”

“How long are you going to be out here?”

I wasn’t sure what the right answer was. I was having fun, so I wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon, but the heat in his eyes made me wonder if he had other plans that might be even better.

“I don’t know. I was just killing time. Why?”

“I thought maybe we could go over our plan for the rest of the week.” He paused. “In your apartment.”

My mouth went dry at the way he saidin your apartment.

Nobody said anything, but the silence got thick. Tucker cleared her throat like she was trying not to laugh.

I swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Uh. Yeah. Sure. Let me just…”

I walked over to Mika and held out my arm for Trixie. She eyed Gator with open suspicion and hissed,“Grumpy Daddy”one more time for good measure before fluttering her wings and settling on my shoulder. Gator didn’t say anything else, but he watched the entire handoff with that same narrowed, possessive look that made my knees wobbly.

I forced a bright smile at the room. “Okay! I’m going to go… have a meeting, apparently.”

Axel smirked. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”

“Good lord, that’s not a high bar,” Tucker drawled.

Even Crowe cracked a half-smile from his armchair.

I flipped them all off with my free hand and turned on my heel. Gator fell in beside me without a word, his steps long and sure.