Page 74 of Nailing Heat

The clinking of crutches causes my head to snap towards the door. “What won’t you do again?” Amelia asks as she makes her way into the training room.

“Hey you, how are you?” I ask her, ignoring her question.

“Backwoods tonight?” August asks her.

Amelia looks between the two of us. “Fine, don’t tell me what you two were talking about. The Backwoods sounds like fun. As long as Dex is in, I’m in.”

“Oh, so this is going to be one of those two-for-one deals?” August teases.

“No, he’s my ride to the bar because he drove me to the stadium.”

“Yeah, I’m in, if you’re up for it,” I tell her.

She grins. “Yeah, I think it will be fun. I wanna go and celebrate with the girls.”

“Great, well, then I will see you all there in a bit. I have to check in on a few things, and I’ll meet everyone there,” August says before leaving the office.

“How was it being in the team room?” I ask her. I could tell when I drove her across the field and Watts told her he expected to see her in the room, that she didn’t love the idea. But she went anyway.

“It was actually nice. Such great energy and happiness in there. I’m glad we won. I think it would have been harder if we’d lost because then I would have felt like there was something that I could have done to make this a win.”

“Makes sense. I’m glad it was a win too. It was a good game.”

“It sure was,” she says, smiling brightly at me. “So, tell me, what are the rules while we are out with our friends? Am I allowed to hold your hand? Lean on you or kiss your lips in their presence, or would you like me to be more restrained.”

I smirk and walk over to her, take her face in my hands, Ilean and, kiss her gently. “I would like you to do whatever you are comfortable with, Amelia. I am not ashamed to say that I am with you. I will proudly let you kiss me, hold my hand, or, fuck, you can mount me on the bar if you would like. Just be careful, peach, because getting up there with your knee could be tricky.”

Her cheeks flush and I feel her lean into me. “Oh really, is that something you’re okay with, me mounting you on the bar?”

I chuckle, “Well, most of them are your friends, so I don’t want to embarrass you in front of them. But if mounting is acceptable by all parties, then let’s do it.”

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun,” she giggles. “I think I’m going to like bringing you around everyone.”

I follow her out of the office when she stops to adjust her crutch, I lean down and whisper into her ear, “Do your worst to me, Amelia. I’m all yours.” I see her shudder at my words. I like that I have this effect on her. I can’t wait to see how she responds to me when I put my lips on somewhere other than her mouth.

We make it into the Backwoods, and I can see that August, Jase and the girls are at a table. August sees us first and waves us over.

“Come on, guys, we have some beer and a bunch of apps coming,” he calls over the crowd.

“He’s always the life of the party,” Amelia says, laughing as she makes her way through the crowd.

“He always has been,” I tell her. Ever since I met August, he has always had a crowd around him. People are often drawn to him like gravity. It’s nice to see that the August I knew in college still exists even if sometimes his father wished it didn’t.

When we reach the table, I help Amelia sit down beside Hendrix, and I take the seat beside August. Thankfully, those seats are next to each other.

“Is she taking pills or can she drink?” August asks, holding up the bar glass.

“I can have a beer or two,” she tells him. Before August pours he looks over at me. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, he is not my mother. Just poor the damn beer.”

The girls all howl with laughter and August shakes his head. “Just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to mess her up with a beer.”

“Appreciate it, man,” I tell him.

I sip on the darker amber liquid that August poured me. “Let me guess, you selected this one?” I say, turning to Jase.

“Dark beer is the only type of beer to drink. This light shit tastes like warm piss.” He shakes his head. “I’ll educate the table if it’s the last thing I do.”

I nod and tilt my glass in Jase’s direction. Cassie is sitting close to him, and I see her arm wrapped around his, keeping him close. It’s cute. Poor Mac is sitting alone between Cassie and August.