She rolled her eyes in that way Jamar had come to expect when she couldn’t force him to see things her way. Sometimes he only pretended to have an opposing view in hopes of eliciting that pout. He fucking loved that pout.
It killed him that she had yet to acknowledge their kiss on Mount Bonnell. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d had to stop himself from forcing the issue this past week, but what would he say?I know we agreed that this whole dating thing was just a ruse, but you’re funny, and you sincerely care about other people, and you’re hot as fuck, so why don’t we just forget about pretending?
Yeah, that would go overrealwell.
Taylor stabbed another brussels sprout and pointed it at him. “You never told me about Hou—”
Her words were drowned out by an eruption of cheers.
Jamar glanced at the fifty-two-inch flat screen mounted above their table and discovered why. He took a long pull on his beer, washing down the mix of longing, nostalgia, and jealousy that collected in his throat as he watched UT’s running back eat up yardage on his journey to the end zone.
The foot stomping and overall chaos from the people surrounding them caused the walls of the Tavern, one of Austin’s oldest sports bars, to vibrate with unrestrained excitement. As with the previous three touchdowns, a host of fans came up to Jamar and Taylor’s table to offer high fives.
He reminded himself that interacting with the public—having them see him out with Taylor—was the main reason they chose to come to this bar to watch one of the most anticipated games of the season. Though tempting, asking Taylor to move to one of the more secluded tables would defeat the purpose of their being here.
“I guess the Longhorns did something good,” Taylor said once the volume in the sports bar had returned to just below jackhammering at a rock concert decibels. She propped both elbows on the table and leaned toward him. “As I was saying, you haven’t mentioned your trip to Houston. Is everything okay?”
“It is now,” Jamar answered. “Well, except for the fact that I walked in on my parents in an . . . umm . . . compromising position on the kitchen counter. I’ll never be the same again.”
“Oh, God, no. That is the worst! It happened to me when I was eight. My mom said they were wrestling, so I ran in the bed and joined them. Needless to say, it didn’t end well. And I’m sorry to confirm it, but you’re right, you will never be the same.”
“I’m trying to put the entire ordeal out of my mind.”
She barked out a laugh. “Good luck with that.”
“You’re having too much fun at my expense,” Jamar said.
“I’m laughingwithyou,” she said. “So what was the point of your trip to Houston, other than an impromptu visit to surprise your parents that went horribly wrong? I thought it was an emergency. You sounded . . . I don’t know . . . unsettled when you called to cancel our session.”
“I was a lot unsettled,” he said.
He glanced up at the screen just in time to see Texas Tech’s kick returner get clobbered in a bruising tackle. Jamar winced, recalling with painful clarity how it felt to have 260 pounds of muscle crashing into him at twenty miles an hour. That was one thing hedidn’tmiss about football.
“A friend—no, more than just a friend,” he corrected. “A man who is like a grandfather to me suffered a fall and ended up in the emergency room. He’s the grandfather of my best friend from high school.”
“Silas Cannon?” she asked.
Jamar’s shoulders stiffened with shock. How did she know about Silas?
As if she’d heard the question in his head, she continued.
“My friend Samiah is from the Houston area. She told me about your friend Silas and, well, what happened to him. You should have told me,” she said in an accusatory tone. “I had to find out the full story from Google.”
“Or you could have called or texted me,” he said with a casualness he didn’t feel. He was still trying to process the fact that she knew about Silas and hadn’t said anything. “In the future, if there’s anything you want to know, that’s all you have to do. I’m a much better resource than Google.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “Google is how I discovered that you ran track in high school. You should have told me that too.”
“It sounds as if Googling me is now a favorite pastime for you.”
She laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself, Twenty-Three. After witnessing the way people go crazy over you, I had to find out what all the hype was about. It was obvious that I was missing something.”
“Ouch.” He slapped a hand to his chest as if covering a wound. “You know, as my trainer, you can do a slightly better job at pumping up my ego instead of taking a sledgehammer to it.”
“You hired me to build up your muscles, not your ego.” The amusement glittering in her eyes dimmed as her soft smile sobered. “I’m sorry about your friend. It must have been so hard to lose him.”
“He was my brother in every way but blood,” Jamar said. “I know there are things I may face in the future that would possibly be harder than losing Silas, but it’s hard to imagine them.”
It wasn’t lost on him just how rare it was to talk about his Houston ties with anyone. He recognized the shift it signified in how he regarded Taylor. He’d never discussed Silas in even the most superficial way with any of the women he’d dated in the past.
