“Stay,” Blue ordered as he exited Stella’s driver’s side door and stepped onto the concrete driveway.
“You don’t need to?—”
He hopped out, jogged around and opened my door. Then he leaned down, offering me a hand. “I have four years of chivalry to make up for.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he cut me off again with a raised brow. “Don’t you think Sophie Dupree would want me to do that for her daughter?”
Once on my feet, we paused, taking a beat. He wrapped me in his arms. “How’s my future vet doing?”
“Fine,” I murmured.
The tip of his nose ran along my cheekbone. “Congrats on getting an interview spot. I’m so proud of you.” I’d just gotten an email that Monday from the vet school at Virginia Tech.
“Thank you.” I smoothed the front of his dress shirt. I chewed on my bottom lip for a second. “You know, I don’t expect you to try to make up for lost years. It’s okay just to start right now and forget about what went wrong.” I pushed up on my tiptoes and left a kiss on his lips. “Just forgive each other and move forward together.” I straightened his tie.
“Yeah. Okay.” He kissed me again. “But I’m still opening your doors.” His hands were clamped around my upper arms. “Babe, why do you feel thinner than last week?”
My brows furrowed. “School is just stressful.”
“And social media?” His eyes narrowed. “Are they still tagging you with that stupid Backwoods Barbie hashtag?”
I didn’t know why he was asking. Blue was a prison guard over my Instagram and TikTok feeds, trying to single-handedly bat away all the trolls. There had been an increasing amount of them the longer we dated. For every fan of Blupree, there were two haters. Almost always female and always with a comment on my appearance or singing abilities thanks to Ford’s fifty yard line stunt.
I dismissed Blue’s concerns with a wave. “It’s fine. I’m going to be fine.”
His forehead crinkled, clearly not believing me.
“Let’s just have a good day.” I pushed his bangs to the side and looked over his shoulder at the McMansion where we were eating Thanksgiving dinner. “You think they’ll like me?”
He turned to look too. “Oh, they’re gonna love you. No doubts.” Then he stepped back and reached for my hand. “The guys have all been talking about how pretty you are. Brion thinks he’s gonna steal you from me.”
I laughed, still crazy nervous. I’d spent a little time with some of his teammates here and there. Mostly when they showed up at his apartment to see if the rumors were true. “A girl finally tamed Blue Bishop,” Brion had guffawed like he didn’t believe it. Now they were all going to be here, in one place, with their plus ones, scrutinizing me. Along with the coaches and their families.
Blue rang the doorbell, looking completely at ease. He twined our fingers together, but then he scowled. “Your hands are shaking.”
Before I could respond, the door flew open. Three massive guys I’d never met greeted us. “Bishop’s in the house,” one of them hollered over his shoulder. “Party can begin.”
Then they started in on their bro hugs, pulling me in too.
“Guys.” Blue gestured at me. “This is Anna. Anna, this is Tyson, DeShawn, and Finau.”
“Nice to meet y’all.” I gave them a wave.
“And Brion,” Brion said, busting through the crowd to get to us. He looked at me, wearing a flirty grin. “Anna,” he said like he’d been waiting for me to arrive. He curled his finger in a “come here” motion. “Good Lord.” He sucked his teeth. “You are something to look at.” His arms came around me in a tight hug. Then he jokingly laid his head on my shoulder, stroked my back and led me in a side to side swaying motion. I smiled but looked to Blue for help. Oh my word.
“Quit objectifying my girlfriend.” Blue pried Brion off me. “Get your own.” His hand slid possessively around my hip, pulling me tight against him like an undercover spy trying to extract his asset from a sketchy situation. “Coming through,” he said. Once we were untangled from the mass, he whispered, “Sorry about that.”
We moved from the foyer into the kitchen. This place was packed. Older couples clinking their glasses of wine. A cluster of girls my age were standing by the sliding glass door leading outside, their buff, jock boyfriends on either side, each on their phones. The amount of people in this house was surely against the fire code. It was definitely against my Anna Avoids Crowds At All Costs code. My heart rate was climbing. Fast.
Blue’s dad was standing by one of the coaches, engaged in a heated debate. Probably about Blue’s future NFL career. He gave us a tightlipped nod and went right back to throwing his hands out and half-shouting.
“I thought your dad would be with Colt for Thanksgiving.”
Blue grunted. “You would think.” Then he cocked his brow like I’d done something naughty. “From now on you’re not allowed to hug any guys but me. Got it?”
I huffed. “He huggedme.”
He pecked me on the mouth, eyes narrowed. “No more. I don’t need to be going all fisticuffs with my teammates. Coach Whitlock will kick us out and we don’t want that.”
The image of Blue body slamming someone over a hug made me laugh. “Are you sure? Because I think the two of us could take this party back to your place, ifyouknowhatimean.” I flicked my brows up, hoping he’d take the bait. I didn’t know how I was going to manage three hours of being smashed up with all these strangers.
