Page 9

ARES

I threaded my fingers through Brielle’s and led her away from the table of vipers.

Questions formed in my head, and I quickly dismissed them.

It wasn’t my business why she hung out with those girls, nor was the comment about her family not having money.

The evening had taken a turn for the better, and I couldn’t stop replaying that kiss, wondering if she would let me do that again, because she did not like me.

I only got that close to her because she needed a way to save face and an out where those girls were concerned.

We wove through the crowd, almost to the edge, the scent of beer and the heavy, thumping bass receding the farther we got. Her small hand remained in mine, and I warred with the current version of her against the condescending teacher who’d threatened to recommend Preston for expulsion.

No matter how much hate had pulsed around us before, I couldn’t ignore a girl in distress.

I’d come to my older sister’s rescue a few times when we were younger and she’d gotten pregnant in high school.

Aside from the accident that had ended her life, it’d worked out between her and the father—my brother-in-law—surprisingly well.

Living with two women had ingrained chivalry I couldn’t dismiss, not even for the judgmental authority figure Brielle had appeared to be at our first meeting.

Aside from her mean-girl problems and our obvious hate-to-want-you moment, I needed to suck up to her for Preston’s sake.

We cleared the patio’s edge and moved onto the sidewalk with our hands still linked.

Once we were clear of any possibility that her so-called friends would see us, she tore her hand from mine.

My stomach growled. “I was serious about getting something to eat. There’s a Mexican restaurant nearby.”

She shrugged, her gaze fixed straight ahead, and I wondered if she regretted the fake boyfriend thing.

Probably because it complicated things with her being P’s teacher, or it would if anyone at Linwood found out, specifically my nephew.

The good thing about running into her was that I could hide my anger by charming her so she would go easy on P.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” A breeze lifted a few strands of her honey-blond hair, and she pushed it back from her face. “I could eat, and tequila sounds fantastic since you spilled my only glass of wine.”

“Didn’t trust yourself to drink around those girls?”

She snorted. “Would you?”

“They’re not my type, so no. But that doesn’t explain why you went out with them if they’re not your people.” We arrived at the restaurant, and when I opened the door, the noise distracted her from my question.

Inside, the restaurant buzzed with energy, and we got in line for the hostess stand.

A group of five stood in front of us. Soft lighting highlighted Brielle’s high cheekbones and full mouth.

A few inches of space existed between us, which was for the best. She was gorgeous, and the attraction I felt for her was confusing.

I didn’t want to want her, not with how bitchy she’d been.

Besides, I’d sworn off women, right? Right.

I needed to keep that in the forefront of my mind, ignoring the whispers in the back about Coach wanting me to get serious with someone.

It didn’t take long before we were seated at a cozy table for two, silently perusing the extensive menu. I’d been there many times and knew what I wanted, but Brielle’s brows scrunched. The waitress headed our way, and my stomach was eating itself.

I tried to move things along. “See anything that looks good?”

With a sigh, she set the menu aside. “I don’t know. I’ll probably just have tacos.”

I went with it, and when the waitress asked for our order, I relayed both along with drinks.

“Two shots of tequila, too, please,” Brielle added before she left.

I raised my brows. “Are those both for you?” I wasn’t drinking that. During football season, I allowed myself a beer or two tops. That was it.

She pursed her lips. “Are you judging me? Because I wouldn’t be surprised, minus the save at the bar.”

“You mean the favor you asked of me—saving you from the mean girls?” I kind of liked that I had some leverage.

Her arms crossed over her chest, and something sad seemed to swim through her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She waved away my concern with a swoosh of her hand and a sigh. “Yeah, it’s… nothing. Just family stuff and school, I guess.”

I leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Want to talk about it? I’m a pretty good listener.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why? So you’ll have something else on me?”

“Defensive much?” The corners of my lips twitched. Riling her up was fun. The waitress arrived with our drinks, and after she left, I pushed my shot toward Brielle. “Yours?”

My body tightened as she held my gaze, touched the shot to her lips, tilted her head, and downed it in one gulp. The slender curve of her neck working as she swallowed had me shifting in my seat, imagining more than she would probably want to know.

“Yep. Don’t judge. I had to put up with my frenemies tonight. I need this.” The second went down as quickly as the first had. “I’m not up for a round with you, either, so let’s settle on a truce for tonight.”

I couldn’t stop the grin if I wanted. “That’s your second favor”—I shrugged—“but sure. I can get on board with that. What are the rules, then? Lay ’em on me.”

Her lips twitched. “No talking about what I was doing with those girls. And definitely no talking about my job or your delinquent nephew.”

And there was the reminder of why I had to play nice. “Deal. But then you owe me two favors.”

She shook her head. “One.”

“Fine.” That was all I needed for Preston anyway. Or it had better be, so long as he’d listened when I’d told him to get his shit together and stop acting out.

She tapped her nails on the table, her gaze sweeping the quaint if not jam-packed restaurant.

I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been there before or if she liked it as much as I did.

Our waitress set chips and salsa between us, and we passed the time talking about mundane things like classes we were taking at Fall Lake U—which I learned she attended as well—and what teachers were difficult.

Our food arrived shortly after, saving me from trying to think of a topic of conversation. I knew nothing about her other than that she was a substitute teacher and, therefore, an education major.

We dug into our meal in silence. I would’ve been worried about the tequila she’d downed if she hadn’t been eating.

The food was good and gave me a break from feeling like I mooched off Aurora’s cooking.

Since she took over, I swore I had more energy and my performance on the field was at the top of my game.

Liam, Kylian, and I tried to help where we could—which was mainly emptying the dishwasher and trash and cleaning anything she’d left to soak, and we chipped in for groceries.

Still, going out was nice. And I hadn’t ordered too far off what I needed to eat during season either.

Or at least, I was convincing myself of that and doing a damn good job.

“So.” Brielle set down her taco. “I heard you guys won today. Congratulations. How did you do?”

She wanted to talk football? “Yeah, thanks. It was a great game, and I scored two of the touchdowns. But I can’t take all the credit there. Kylian’s an amazing quarterback. He makes it easy.”

“I hardly think anything is easy when playing against the other teams.”

“Do you go to the games?”

When she shrugged again, her icy-blue eyes lit like a snowy winter’s night—which wouldn’t be a bad thing with the hot September weather we were experiencing lately. “I try to, but today got hijacked by the thing we aren’t talking about.”

“Unwanted responsibilities. Got it.”

“But yeah, I like the games. They’re exciting. Hockey too.” Her lips curved into a full smile. “And Maverick Davis is hot. My roommate has a secret crush on him.”

I laughed. “You like Mav, huh? Maybe I’ll introduce you. Just don’t mention his name around my roommate Liam.”

She laughed. “First of all, what makes you think I’ll ever run into your roommate? And I heard about the fight. Not surprising, as they’re both rumored to be hotheads.”

I grunted in response because no one knew what it was about—not even me and Kylian.

The fight had started because of Calvin Fucking Matthews, a second-string quarterback on our team and also Mav’s cousin.

But the ferocity behind how Liam and Mav had reacted to each other spoke of something else.

Liam hadn’t wanted to get into it, so we’d dropped it .

“And second… you know Maverick well enough to introduce me?”

Her eyes sparkled and danced, and a jolt of jealousy hit me out of the blue. “Well enough. But if I introduced you to him, you would owe me another favor.”

“Eh, not worth it. I don’t have time to date anyway.”

“I hear you on that.” Nor did I want to date.

What I did want to do was ask her why she’d needed me to be her fake boyfriend and why it mattered so much around those girls.

An idea hit, and I leaned forward, my half-eaten burrito momentarily forgotten.

“I bet you’ll have to interact with those girls again.

” I held up my hand when she opened her mouth, a protest probably sitting on her tongue.

“I know we weren’t talking about them, and I’m not asking for any explanation about why you needed my help.

But I wonder what you’ll do for the wedding.

” I’d seen the giant rock on the one girl’s hand.

“Crap.” Brielle leaned back and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

“I might need another favor, hotshot. The wedding is in a few weeks on a Sunday. And if—and that’s a big if—I decide to cave to my mom’s demands and go, I’ll need you there and in full fake-boyfriend, I-only-have-eyes-for-you costume. ”