She’s down the stairs and halfway to the table before I pick my jaw up off the floor and blink away the haze. Hannah is here.
“How did you know I was here?” I ask her, still a little shocked. Should I stand up and greet her? Go hug her? Am I overthinking this?
“She’s here for me,” Ruby says, linking her arm through Hannah’s. “We’re going out.”
“No,” I say, more adamantly than I thought the word in my head.
Ruby and Hannah share identical haughty expressions.
“You can’t,” I go on. “I’ve barely seen you, Ruby-Doo! Nick said you had questions for me.”
She looks from me to her boyfriend and gives him a veryYou were supposed to be discreet!scowl.
Nick brings both shoulders up to his ears and gives her a sappyI’m an idiot but you love me anywaysmile.
“And we want to get to know Hannah,” D-Low adds.
I mentally thank him and take back my plans to kick his ass and never hang out with him ever again. I’m still going to challenge him to a shoot-out next practice though.
“Penn brought you another bottle of champagne,” Nick tells Ruby. “It’s in the fridge upstairs.”
“Ever since I bought you that sparkly bottle, I keep getting ads for others. This one is hand-painted, flowers or something.” Penn talks about it so dispassionately like he didn’t drop several hundred dollars on what’s basically a gag gift. A tasty one at least.
Ruby and Hannah share a look while my stomach flutters like I swallowed a butterfly. I haven’t seen her all day. Last night she hung out with me and Aidan for a bit. We played Mario Kart World. Aidan dominated both of us. Hannah kept driving off the track, and I was distracted watching her. It was fun, though. Each little interaction with her only makes me want a million more of them.
“Fine,” Ruby relents. “But I’m on Nick’s team.”
“No teams,” D-Low says. “Nick’s doing just fine on his own.”
“He knows you’re my lucky charm.” Nick winks at Ruby.
“Let the couples team up,” Shep interjects. “It’s easier to take Nick and Trav’s money when they’re distracted.”
“It’s not Trav I’m worried about. He’s already distracted,” D-Low mumbles so only I can hear him.
He might be onto something though. My chips are quickly disappearing.
We add a couple extra chairs for the girls. Ruby goes upstairs to get the champagne, and Hannah takes a seat next to me.
“Hey.” I’m aware that the jerks I used to call friends are staring at us, but all my attention is on Hannah. She’s wearing makeup, specifically some kind of lip gloss that makes her mouth shiny and pink.
“Hi.” Her lips part and pull into a small smile. “What are we playing?”
It takes a moment for me to process her question and longer to answer because what even am I doing here at this table besides staring at her?
“Texas hold’em,” D-Low says before I can. “And your husband is stuck.”
Husband. Fuck. I’m someone’s husband. I already knew this, of course, but damn…
“Stuck?” she asks me.
“I’ve already lost half my chips,” I confess.
“Oh good. No pressure then.”
She smells nice. I’ve gotten used to her scents—the body wash and hair products she uses and even the fabric softener sheets she placed in the laundry room. Tonight though, there’s a new faint sweet scent that I think must be perfume. I like it. It makes me want to lick a line from her collarbone to her?—
“Trav?”
