“You could drop me off and have dinner with them.We can catch up at the party later,” she suggested.
“Seriously?”I didn’t mean to growl, butcomeon.
Crossing her arms over her pretty chest, she sat back in her seat and stared straight ahead.“You’re can’t be too surprised, which is probably part of the reason you ambushed me with this rather than giving me a heads-up.”
She had me there.
“It’s not a declaration.It’s dinner with the nice people who brought me into the world.”Taking a chance, I reached over and smoothed my palm over her thigh before giving it a squeeze.“Today was a big day.Is it so wrong that I want to celebrate it with people I c—?”I hit the brakes and redirected.“Enjoy spending time with?”
She blew at her bangs and tilted her head toward me.“Fine.I’ll have dinner with you and your parents.Don’t even think about leading them on about me—us.We’re having a good time.We are not a thing.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Saylor
Cash wasn’t wrongabout how nice his parents were.Ian and Mary Donovan were two of the most awesome people I’d ever met.Cash’s sense of humor obviously came from his dad, who sprinkled dry one-liners throughout our conversation.Mary was the one who provided Cash his stunning handsomeness: her eyes repeated in his face, and she had the same raven-black hair and high, sculpted cheekbones.
Though I worried he was going to give them the wrong impression about us, Cash introduced me as the girl he was hanging out with right now, and he managed to keep his hands off me during dinner.Plus, we were celebrating the Wildcats’ win with Cash running the offense and being named offensive Player of the Game, so the conversation was focused mainly on football.
When Mary asked about my major, I shared my summer internship experience and my excitement for making a career out of following and filming major music acts.While I caught his parents exchanging a quick glance as I gushed about my future plans, no one said anything.I let it go, hoping they assumed from the casual way Cash and I were together that we were exactly that—casual.
Dinner lingered into drinks at the bar in The Divide.The bar and restaurant covered the first floor of one of the upscale hotels on main street, which was where I gathered Cash’s parents were staying.At some point, Cash checked his texts and grinned.
“It appears we’re being summoned, babe.”
I shot him a narrow-eyed glare at the endearment—his first slipup of the evening.
“You meanyou’rebeing summoned.I’m just another Wildcats fan,” I said.“Are we late for the party?”I pulled my phone from my pocket, startled to discover we’d spent the past four hours conversing with his parents.
“Apparently.”Cash grinned again.Standing, he slid around the table to hug his mom.“Though we earned a bye over Thanksgiving, we don’t get time off from practice and meetings.I’ll let you know when we can FaceTime,” he said.Then turning to his dad, he hugged him too.“Thanks for dinner.”
“Yes, thanks very much for dinner.It was nice meeting you,” I said as I extended my hand to his mom.
Mary pulled me to her and enveloped me in a hug.“I’m glad we finally got to meet the girl Cash has been talking about since last spring,” she said.“We’re looking forward to seeing you again.”
I had no idea what to do with that, but Ian didn’t give me a chance to process.Wrapping me in a dad hug, he said, “You’re exactly who I thought you’d be.Keep our boy on his toes, Saylor.”His eyes twinkled with mischief.
Before I had a chance to contradict them, Cash grabbed my hand and tugged me behind him and out of the bar.
“You’ve been talking to your parents about me since last spring?”I asked as we headed over to Jock Street.“What the hell, Cash?”
“Right after our rafting date, they asked if I was seeing anyone.”The side-eye he shot me held more annoyance than guilt.“Wearedating, Saylor.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.“For now.”
A growl rumbled deep in his throat, but all he said was, “Today was a great day.Let’s carry that into the night, shall we?Party with our friends—and each other.”
He dropped his voice on that last part, because, yeah.He’d figured out I had trouble resisting him when he let loose with that low, gravelly rumble.
Jerk.
All I wanted was a fun boyfriend-for-now without all the angst and entanglements of future plans.More than once I’d reminded Cash of that, and he’d gone along with me.After the stunt he’d pulled with meeting his parents, and after Ian and Mary’s comments as we were leaving the bar, I was starting to have a bad feeling he wasn’t on board with the plan.
After parking his rig in front of his house, Cash laced his fingers through mine and led me through the back yard, across the alley, and over to the party house where Bax, Callahan, Finn, and Danny lived.Good thing the neighborhood was mostly inhabited by athletes—most of whom were in attendance at the post-game party if the decibel levels were any indication.
“Cash Money!’Bout time you got here!”Callahan shouted across the kitchen as we walked through the back door.
The guys did some kind of complicated fist bump/handshake thing before pulling each other into a one-armed hug.
