Mercifully, the server arrived with our usual round of mimosas and to take our orders.
I sipped my lovely beverage.“How big of a mess was the house in this morning?”
“Not bad considering the size of the crowd last night,” Jamaica said.“Now stop changing the subject.Are you going to break Cash’s heart?Because speaking for Wildcats fans everywhere, we’d all rather you wait until the end of the season if that’s your plan.”
“I think I liked you better before Callahan educated you on the game of football.”I shifted a little further into the corner of the booth.
“It’s a valid question, considering you and Cash aren’t on the same page,” Chessly said.
“Who says we’re not on the same page?Neither of us has asked for nor offered more than having a good time together.When graduation rolls around, we’ll go our separate ways, no harm, no foul.”I shot her a level stare over the rim of my champagne flute.
“When no one could find you guys early on at the party last night, Dalton mentioned something about the two of you going to dinner with Cash’s parents.That sounds like Cash is in this ‘non-relationship’ of yours far more than you are,” Piper finished, her air quotes giving off a sarcastic vibe all on their own.
I blinked at her.How would Dalton know where we were and with whom?Then I remembered the grin on Cash’s face as he’d returned a text right before we left the bar.
“It wasn’t that kind of situation at all.We all needed to eat after the game, so we shared a meal together.NBD.”
“He takes you out to meet his parents, and you’re saying it’s no big deal?Oh, girlfriend, you’d better catch up quick.”The seriousness in Chessly’s tone snapped my eyes to hers.“That boy’s got it bad for you.”
The arrival of our breakfast interrupted the interrogation for a minute, but my friends’ relentless questions, combined with inconvenient feelings I was terrified I was forming, served to turn my otherwise lovely eggs Benedict to sawdust in my mouth.Cash and I were only fooling around.It wasn’t serious.We were in agreement on the finite nature of our situation.
The more I tried to convince myself about the truth of those statements, the more hollow they sounded in my head.Because another thought kept crashing around in there.Even though I’d been deliberately keeping Cash at arm’s length—outside the bedroom anyway—I was still in serious danger of catching feelings for the man.Or worse, I’d already caught them.
My heart dropped into my stomach, leaving no room for my breakfast.I’d let things go too far.Now what was I going to do?
“What happened to you last night?I thought the plan was to celebrate together after the party.”
“Hello, Slick.Nice to see you’re upright and coherent.How’s your head?”I asked as I opened the door to my apartment wider and stepped aside to let Cash enter.“In case no one told you, your roommates carried your very fine ass across the alley to your place and poured you into bed.You were in zero shape for more ‘celebration,’ trust me.”
I closed the door behind him, returned to my couch, and gathered up my notebook, iPad, and assorted pens, stacking the works neatly on the coffee table beside my laptop.
“You didn’t need to leave.”He pouted as he dropped his backpack on the floor, slipped out of his tennis shoes, and tossed his hoodie over a chair.
“I don’t sleep over, remember?Especially not when one of us would be better off sleeping on the floor.”Catching his scowl, I asked, “Would you like something?Water?Ibuprofen?”
“A kiss.”
Without giving me a chance to react, Cash snagged me around the waist, wrapping me in his arms as he lowered his lips to mine.He tasted of minty toothpaste and his dark, masculine self—an essence that turned me on every single time.Damnit.
After brunch with my girls, I’d had a long think, and I’d come to the conclusion I needed to spend less time with a particular Wildcats player.Then he’d showed up at my door unannounced, swooped in and kissed me like he’d been starving for me for weeks, and all my smart intentions and valid arguments for why this was such a bad idea had evanesced into thin air.
When he finally tore his mouth from mine, his mood was marginally less surly.“Good to know you missed me last night too.”
The doorbell rang, and I stared at the door in surprise.“Who in the world could that be?”
“Take-out.I ordered on my way over.”Letting me go, he sauntered over to the door and accepted a couple of bags of food.After handing them to me, he tipped the delivery guy and then led me over to my dining table.“I came over directly from the facility, so I haven’t had lunch.Figured you could do with some too.”
Helping himself to my kitchen, he laid out plates and utensils then filled two glasses with water from the tap and set them beside our plates.
“I was in the mood for Mexican.Hope that works for you.”
Doing his best magician impersonation, he magicked two dinners from the bags.His was a combo platter of burrito, enchilada, and three tacos.Mine was a chili relleno, an enchilada, and a taco.Then cartons of sides appeared: refried beans, rice, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and chips.In a matter of seconds, a feast awaited me on my table.
“Obviously, you’re starving.Do athletes have some kind of superpower for overcoming hangovers?”I asked as I seated myself across from him.
“I’ll grant I was pretty smashed last night, but my roommates poured about a gallon of water down me before they put me to bed.Woke up fine,” he said around half a taco he devoured in one bite.“My parents made it back to SoCal okay.They say hello.”
“That’s good.”
