Page 6

I watched Ace bring his plate to the sink. How was Cooper getting along with his roommate? “Hey, Cooper is having some problems with his roommate, and the football house is full.”

Ace cleaned his plate in the sink and set it in the dishwasher. “We have an open bedroom. I’m cool with him living here if you are.” He threw me a smirk. “If you can stand having your crush that close.”

“Fuck.” Huffing a sigh, I hung my head. Probably wasn’t a good idea. Especially if I was going to attempt dating JJ.

The next day, I strode down the hallway to my social media class with Cooper. After ducking into the room, I spied him in his usual spot.

His gaze caught mine, and he gave me a small smile and waved.

I strolled to the chair beside him and dropped in. Did he know about my date with JJ tonight? They had to have talked. “ Hey.” My gaze raked over his long dark bangs, falling to kiss his cheekbones. He was more of my type than JJ, but I had to stop looking at him like he was an option.

“Hey.” He bumped his shoulder on mine, dipping his head, his smile growing. “You’ve been busy.” Facing me, he sunk his teeth into his lower lip.

“I have?” I lifted my brows. He must know. As the corner of my lip twitched, I said, “And why do you say that?”

“You and JJ?” He rubbed his finger along the edge of his laptop, resting on the long table in front of us. “You’re going to date him, huh?”

“Sure, why not?” I shrugged and furrowed my brows. Wasn’t he happy about it? He was the one who set us up.

“Do you uh…” His jaw muscle bulged for a beat. “I guess you like him more than you thought.” When his gaze met mine, lines formed between his brows.

“I-I like him. He’s a nice guy.” I sank into my chair. Was he fishing for some intel for JJ? “He’s not my usual type, but he’s definitely not bad to look at, eh?” I flashed him a grin.

“Yeah? What’s your type?” He arched a brow, giving me a once-over.

You… Shit. “I don’t know, maybe dark hair and more muscular guys.” I winced. Had I given myself away too much?

“Yeah?” His smile returned with a vengeance, and he nodded while opening his laptop. “Okay.”

“Okay then.” I slipped my laptop and book out of my backpack, and my gaze snagged on the professor as she strolled into the room. Leaning toward Cooper, I said, “We need to get started on that assignment.”

“How about I come to your place Friday night? Your games don’t start until October, right?” He slid his gaze to mine and dropped it to my lips for a moment, flicking his tongue around his mouth.

“Yeah. Have you got one this Saturday?” I started my laptop and logged in, my belly fluttering. Why did he give me that look?

“I do. It’s our first home game and we play Northern Arizona University.” He opened his book. “I could get you some good seats.” His gaze swept over mine. “You could ask one of your roommates?”

“Yeah, Ace might be free, or I could ask one of the other guys. I know Archer Carlson really likes football.” The fluttering in my gut grew. Would JJ offer me tickets, too? How would JJ take it if I took tickets from Cooper and not him? Fuck, this was getting complicated fast.

“I can probably score more than two tickets if you need them,” he whispered as the professor started talking.

“I’ll let you know.” I settled in, my focus on the lecture.

That evening, I readied for my date with JJ. As I stood in the mirror of the hallway bathroom, I primped my hair. I wanted good flow for this date.

Zoma stopped in the hallway and ran his gaze over me.

“Girl, you look fabulous.” He waved his hand with a flourish, then stepped in behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“I love the silky black shirt with those white linen shorts. It looks like something I would wear.” He brushed his fingers over my chest. “And it shows off your tits.”

“What the hell?” Ace lumbered in behind Zoma. “Don’t touch him like that.” Grabbing Zoma under the shoulders, he pulled him back a step, the tease of a smirk curling his mouth. “And guys don’t have tits. They have pecs. He’s a hockey player, for fuck’s sake.”

“Well, aren’t you all possessive tonight?” Zoma twisted around, cupped Ace’s cheeks, and planted a hard kiss on his mouth. “You know how much I love it.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “You know what? Go do that somewhere else. I’ve bigger things to worry about.” Why did I care so much how I looked, if my heart wasn’t fully in this date?

Zoma let Ace go and faced me. “Oh? Like what? Talk to me.”

“Let’s all go into the main room.” Taking Zoma’s hand, Ace led us through the hallway and into the family room. He turned to me. “Myles, if you don’t like this guy, don’t lead him on.”

“I’m not leading him on.” I raked my hand through my bangs with a huff. Shit, now I fucked up the flow I had going. I slumped my shoulders.

“You aren’t into JJ?” Zoma peered at me. “I thought you liked him?”

“I don’t know yet.” I paced the length of the room in front of the sectional. “I gotta find out, don’t I? And the only way to do that is to try dating him, right?” I held my palms out in front of me.

Pursing his lips, Zoma scratched his head. “If your friend Cooper wasn’t around, would you feel differently about JJ?”

I stared at Zoma. Would I? “I-I don’t know. Maybe.” Or…maybe not. If there was a spark between us, I would have felt it last year.

“Just have a good time and enjoy yourself. You never know.” Zoma wrapped an arm round Ace’s waist. “With you two being alone, things might happen.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” With a nod, I grabbed my car keys from the kitchen table. “Anyway, I’m off. See you later.”

After parking, I strolled into the dark wine bar, a misting system flooding the outdoor patio. No one was brave enough to sit out there in the heat. Why waste the water on it? Shaking my head, I opened the heavy wooden doors to the place and stepped inside.

As my gaze traveled over a scattering of farmhouse tables and chairs mixed with comfortable couches and lounge chairs, I found JJ, sitting on a loveseat, smiling back at me in a white button-down shirt and form fitting jeans.

With a grin, I strode to him. My insides didn’t light up for him like they had every time I’d seen Cooper. But I had to give it time. “Hey.”

JJ stood and wrapped me in a warm hug. “Hey, Myles.” He kissed my cheek and held me out in front of him. “You look fantastic.”

“Yeah? Thanks. So do you.” I had to give him that. He was easy on the eyes.

We sat next to each other in the loveseat.

“So, I hear you guys have your first home game this weekend?” I picked up a menu from a round coffee table in front of us. This place was famous for its bruschetta boards, and I was getting one.

“We do. You want to go to the game? I know you guys don’t start your season for a few weeks and I can get you tickets.” He edged to my side and slid his arm behind my shoulders on the couch cushion.

My chest pricked. “Uh, yeah, but Cooper already offered me some tickets when we were in class today.” Could I get a few more of the guys to go? “But I have more guys I could ask.” I met his gaze.

“Sure. Why don’t you find out and me and Coop will see how many tickets we can get for you.” Dropping his arm onto my shoulders, he tugged me into his side. “It could be a fun night. We could meet up after the game, too.”

Holy fuck, this guy was making plans for us already. My pulse kicked up a notch, and I swallowed hard. It was fine, we could go out as friends too. “Yeah, so, what are we getting?”

Reviewing my menu, JJ said, “I’m getting a chardonnay. Do you want to share some of these bruschetta boards?”

“Sure. I’ll try the wine too.” Normally, I was a beer drinker, but wine worked. I set my menu on the table.

A waiter stopped in front of us, and we ordered .

Folding my hands in my lap, I stared at the table. What should we talk about now? This was a little awkward. “So, um…”

“How close were you and Cooper in high school?” Peering at me, JJ crossed his ankle over his knee.

“We weren’t like best friends or anything. We usually hung out with a group of mutual friends.” Should I lean back into him? It was a little weird having his arm around me like this. I snuck a peek at him.

“Oh.” He nodded. “I thought maybe you were best buddies.” He twisted his lips. “But then last year you talked about your gay friend Tyler.”

“Yeah, he’s playing for the Blackhawks now.” I rocked once. Did we have anything else to talk about? “You must have some high school friends around here, since you’re from here?”

“I do. A lot of them attend out-of-state schools. I only see them when they’re here for the holidays.” He dropped his arm to his side.

The waiter brought our wines and left.

Picking up my wine, I sipped it, the taste of oak and fresh apples washing over my tongue. “This is pretty good for a house wine.” I flashed a smile at him.

“Is it?” He drank his wine. “I’ve had better, but yeah, this is good.” He returned my smile. “Hey, after this, want to come over to my place?”

I raised my brows and gaped a moment. Were we hooking up tonight? “Uh, sure.”