Page 35 of Hate the Game (Playing Dirty #1)

***Savannah***

“Iespecially loved the line about Jax’s uncharacteristically wobbly throw.” Cole sat across from me in a booth at Cow Cow’s Creamery, laughing with tears in his eyes as he recalled the only negative line in my article.

Blaire had insisted on pulling it up and her eyes were bright with laughter as she looked up at her brother. “I’ve always heard southerners were good at insulting people and making it sound so sweet and innocent.”

I was next to Jax, face buried in my hands to hide just how hotly I was blushing. “Can we move on from this?!”

Jax tossed a balled-up napkin at me. “Oh? You want to move on from it? I’m just so glad you caught my wobbly throw and called me out on it.”

“I’m going to crawl under this table pretty soon. You’re not supposed to sit and have milkshakes with the person you just wrote about.” I groaned but my head snapped up when I felt Jax’s hand on my upper thigh.

He squeezed just enough to get my attention. “I can handle a little tough love. Plus, having you admit that I’m normally amazing the rest of the time was nice.”

Blaire tossed a straw at him. “Don’t flirt with my friend.”

“What about that was flirty?”

She made a face. “You can handle a little tough love? Tough love? Really?”

I sucked at my milkshake and looked at Cole. I nearly choked when he flicked his eyes to my lap with a look that said he knew where Jax’s hand was. There was no way, though.

He grinned and raised his eyebrows. “Jax has never been able to flirt. He’s too nice for real flirting.”

Jax’s fingers tightened on my thigh. “And what do you consider real flirting?”

Blaire groaned. “Honestly, do Vannah and I need to be here for this? We could go and leave you two to flirt with each other.”

I laughed, doing my best to ignore Jax’s hand. “Hey, Poppins, do you have your bag? Maybe you could pull out a yardstick for the dick measuring contest.”

“A yardstick? More like a broken ruler. Don’t let their attitudes make you think they’re packing heat. I used to bathe with that one when we were little and he has no right to be that cocky.”

I laughed so hard that I cried and had to hold my stomach as it cramped.

One look at Jax’s bright red face made me laugh even harder and then snort.

I slapped my hand over my mouth but there was no stopping me.

The snort just made me laugh harder. Blaire was right there with me, both of us drawing attention to our booth in the busy shop as we laughed uncontrollably.

“It’s not that funny.” Jax grumbled. “I’ve grown a lot since then. For the record.”

Without thinking I grabbed his hand and squeezed. My breath caught in the middle of a laugh when he turned his hand over and interlaced our fingers. I coughed and had to take a long drink of my milkshake before I could breathe normally again. Still, I giggled sporadically.

“This is why I don’t hang out with you.” Jax’s disgruntled tone towards Blaire made her flip him off.

“You should definitely write about this in your next article. I can see the headline now. Star quarterback has small penis but big dreams. It could work.”

Jax stiffened beside me and withdrew his hand. Cole had gotten a strange look on his face across the table, too. Before I could decipher the change of mood Trey walked in and spotted us. He came over and slapped Jax’s shoulder.

“What’s up, everybody? How come I didn’t get an invite to the party?” He grinned at me. “Texas. You’re looking like a tall glass of water on a hot summer day.”

I grinned back at him. “Georgia. Thank you very much. How were your tacos?”

“They would’ve been better with you at my side.” He covered his heart and sighed. “I see that I should’ve offered ice cream instead of tacos.”

“Nah. They just caught me on a hungry day. Tacos with my favorite Trojan couldn’t be beat.

” My eyes went to Jax as his hand found its way back to my thigh, even higher that time.

His jaw was stiff and for a second I couldn’t see a single remnant of the golden boy.

Then he smiled and the mask was back in place.

“Your favorite Trojan?” Trey wiggled his eyebrows. “Just wait until I tell my momma about this.”

I ignored Jax and laughed easily. “Go get your ice cream, Trey.”

“Yeah, go get your ice cream, Trey.” Cole didn’t sound nearly as nice as I did when I said it.

Blaire met my eyes and made a face. “Ready to go, Vannah?”

I nodded emphatically, eager to get back into a territory I was familiar with. Being around Jax and Cole for that long was too much. “So ready.”

“I’ll find you for tacos soon, Texas.” Trey said his goodbyes as Jax stood up and let me out of the booth.

“Don’t forget, Georgia. You promised me tacos and I expect you to pay up.”

Blaire led the way out of the restaurant and I fell into step behind her. As we neared the door a rush of people came in and we all had to move over to let them pass. I felt both Jax and Cole move closer and rest a hand on my lower back. I froze and then felt them stiffen behind me.

I refused to look back and acknowledge anything had happened. I heard a muffled grunt behind me and rushed out behind Blaire as fast as my legs would carry me.

She looked over at me when I looped our arms. “What?”

I shook my head. “Nothing at all.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You sure about that?”

I cleared my throat. “Nope.”