“Hey,” he said, his voice low. He leaned towards me, eyes intense on mine. “Thank you for that.”
“For what?” I breathed. He was way too close for me to think clearly.
“For inviting Josie to be in your club. I could tell how much it meant to her.”
“I want her to have a good experience in Austin,” I told him. “She deserves to have a great year.”
He stared at me for a long moment, his expression hard to read. Just when I thought I might pass out from the tension, my phone buzzed on the table.
I was so startled I actually jumped. Liam shot me a pleased with himself smirk—he totally knew what effect those blue eyes were having on me—and slid the phone towards me.
A quick glance at the screen showed it was from Peyton. I unlocked the phone and pulled up her message.
Payton:The rugrat tells me you have a hot man with you.
I snorted.
Me:Your son told you he was hot?
Payton:Well, no. But I’m reading between the lines. It’s the hockey hunk, isn’t it?
There was no point lying to her.
Me:We ran into Liam and his daughter. She’s getting along really well with Elliot.
Perfect, she texted back immediately.I raised him well. He’s totally being your little wing-man, getting the other kid out of the way so you can make out.
I couldn’t hold in the snort of laughter. Liam raised an eyebrow in my direction. “What’s so funny?”
“My friend Peyton is a ridiculous human.”
“That’s Elliot’s mom?”
I typed in a quick reply, thanking her for the wingman, then turned the volume off on my phone. Let her make of that what she would.
“Yeah, Peyton is Elliot’s mom. She was the first person that I really clicked with when I moved here. We’ve been good friends ever since.”
“Was she with you that night at the bar?”
I suppressed a shiver at the memory of seeing him that night, after all these years. “The blonde one,” I told him. “She’s a little much sometimes—bossy as all hell—but I love her.”
“And the other one?” he asked. “With the dark hair?”
I was kind of shocked that he remembered my two friends. He’d only met them for approximately thirty seconds. “That’s Rosa,” I said. “She’s amazing.”
I gave him a quick breakdown of my girls, how we met and what they did. “They’re pretty much my family here in Austin,” I told him.
His warm hand slid over mine on the table. I stared down at it, his long fingers fully covering mine, a platinum watch on his wrist glinting in the bright sun.
“I’m glad,” he murmured, his low voice sending goosebumps skittering across my skin. “You deserve to have a family like that.”
I swallowed, overwhelmed by the nearness of him.
“What about you?” I managed. “Do you know anyone else here?”
He slid his hand away and I wasn’t sure if I felt relieved or disappointed. It was a lot easier to concentrate on what he was saying without him touching me, which I supposed was a plus.
“Honestly? I totally lucked out with this trade. I told you Josie’s grandparents live here?”
