When we reached the steps to the deck, I said, “Excuse me.I need to use the powder room.”
“I’ll come with you.I need to hit the head too.”
It was all I could do to stop myself from stomping my foot.Was he some kind of psychic?
Huffing out a sigh, I led the way around the end of the bar and through the front door.The heavenly smell of frying meat set my stomach rumbling.Through the wide serving window between the kitchen and the great room, I saw the house chef expertly flipping burgers, while a couple of pledges walked in from the back of the house to grab bags of buns and chips.
“Hello!Is there a picnic here tonight?”Cash asked as he followed me inside.
“The frat hosting the tournament always provides beer and dinner.”
Before he could engage me any further, I veered into the guest bathroom down the short hallway to the left of the front door.When I closed and locked the door behind me, I leaned against it and let myself breathe.Since the moment I arrived and discovered Cash Donovan standing in the middle of the usual group of football players, I’d struggled to regain my equilibrium.The fact I’d played reasonably well after Piper’s shenanigans in pairing us up should have made me feel better.
The problem was my intense awareness of Cash all afternoon.The two of us being paired up for the tournament hadn’t helped, but it was more than that.Even after we dropped out of the bracket, he’d stayed with me instead of hanging with the other football players.He hadn’t crowded me, yet all I could feel was Cash’s arm brushing mine, his eyes on me heating my skin, the way I fit perfectly against his side as he used my reaction to his living arrangements to haul me in close to him.My responses to him made no sense.He was just another random football player, nobody special.Why was I all hot and bothered?And why were my panties so damp?
I took care of business, washed my hands, and patted some cold water on the back of my neck.After checking to see my makeup still looked decent, I exited the room and nearly smacked into the middle of Cash’s broad chest.
“Sorry.”
His hands closed over my shoulders, steadying me and simultaneously sending sparks down my spine.“Easy there, speed racer.”A chuckle rumbled deep in his throat.
I hoped my makeup disguised the heat climbing my cheeks.“Your turn.”
Though I made to step out of his hold and around him, he gave my shoulders a tiny squeeze and said, “I’m good.Used the head upstairs.”
Something like a challenge flashed in his eyes, and I couldn’t decide if he was daring me to remember the last time when we were both upstairs or if he hoped I’d have followed him this time.Either way, I wasn’t taking the bait.
Raucous laughter drifted in through the kitchen door when someone came in to grab the pan of hamburgers the chef had warming in the oven, giving me an out.
Deliberately shrugging from his hold, I said, “Sounds like the party has moved to the backyard.If we want food, we better not wait around.”
Without a backward glance, I headed toward the kitchen and the back door of the house.
“Hey, little sis, do you mind taking this bowl of salad out with you?”the chef asked as I stepped into the kitchen.
“Sure.”I slid my hands under the massive stainless-steel bowl filled to the brim with potato salad, but before I could lift it, it disappeared from my hands.
“I got this,” Cash said with a wink.
“Great.Thanks,” the chef said, utterly oblivious to the glare I sent Cash.“Here—you can take this one with you.”He stuck his head back into the industrial-size fridge and tugged out another stainless-steel bowl filled with greens, handing it to me.“Appreciate it.”
Without another word, he returned to flipping burgers on the restaurant grill opposite the fridge.
With a smirk that said he knew exactly what he was doing, Cash shouldered open the door and held it as we exited the kitchen to walk the salads over to the long tables set up in the back yard.Ignoring him, I made my way to the back of the line of SCRs, Sigma Nus, and assorted guests who were waiting for AJ to give the signal the food was ready.AJ nodded to a group of SCRs, including Dalton and Taco, who were holding the house cup in triumph, and once they’d set it on the pedestal someone had helpfully set up beside a second keg of beer at the end of the tables, the line started moving.Within minutes, the mounds of hamburgers and brats the chef had spent the afternoon preparing were down to a few stragglers.The bowls of salads were scraped clean, and loud conversation and laughter filled the back yard.
After filling my paper plate, I headed over to where Piper, Bax, Callahan, and Jamaica were sitting together on the grass in the shade beneath an ancient oak.When I lowered myself to the ground beside Piper, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and there was Cash, seating himself right beside me.
Couldn’t he take a hint?
Yes, we’d spent a little time kissing in a hallway once.It didn’t mean anything, even if my body kept trying to make a big deal out of meeting him now, for real, rather than as a fantasy behind a Mardi Gras mask.We weren’t a thing.We weren’t going to become one either, even if we were sitting in the grass like a couple with my friends and their Wildcats players.
Chapter Ten
Cash
“Ican’t believe Dallyditched me like that.Especially right after he invited me to room with Dalton, Taco, and him,” I said as I followed Saylor to her car.“I appreciate you giving me a ride back to my truck.”
She shot me a look over her shoulder like she didn’t buy my story, which was funny with me sounding my most sincere.No way could she have caught me crossing my fingers behind my back as I tossed my new roommate under the bus.Dally had let me know he was headed out as I dropped Saylor’s and my plates in the trash and grabbed each of us another beer.I’d told him I’d catch a ride with someone.
