“Hmm?” he said, spreading his legs further so his thigh rested fully against mine. The worry lines around his eyes hadn’t lessened since his dad got here, and I could almost feel the stress radiating from him.
“We can use this.” I slid the ad toward him. “Give it to the waitress if you’re worried about him paying.”
“Am I that obvious?” he said, his voice strained. “He doesn’t have the money. He shouldn’t be doing this.”
“He wants to treat his son. Let him. You’re being a real grump about it, and it’ll be twenty bucks.”
His frown deepened. “I’m being a grump?”
“Yes, more so than usual. Relax. I would’ve thought after this morning, you’d be less of a… stick-up-the-ass.”
His eyes heated for a second before he let out a loud, barking laugh. “Damn it, Ry.”
Ryagain. The nickname was personal and intimate, and before I could respond, his dad came back wearing a grin. “That was quite a cackle, J. Haven’t heard that in a while.”
“Ryann is just…she said I have a stick-up-the-ass attitude.”
“You do.” His dad hit the table and laughed. “She’s absolutely right.”
“Okay, no ganging up on me.” Jonah held up his hands in mock surrender, and my heart fluttered in my chest. I liked him. It was undeniable at this point.
“It’s so easy though,” I said, getting an approving nod from his dad.
The waitress showed up, and we ordered iced tea and were about to head to the buffet to cover our plates with ten different kinds of pizza, but before she walked away, Michael and two other guys on the team walked in. The bell above the door jingled at their entrance. My pulse raced at what this looked like.
Me in a booth with Jonah, meeting his dad. I froze.
It wasn’t like I could slide into the booth and hide. No, his dad would notice for sure. As Jonah lifted his gaze, he tensed too. Michael was looking right at us with questions swirling in his eyes. He wasn’t wearing his usual grin, and I cleared my throat, needing to come up with an explanation. I couldn’t tell if his shoulders were tighter than normal or if the reason he had a fist at his side was because he wanted to punch Jonah or not. The tensing of his jaw made my stomach flip flop in a horrible way, and my tongue felt four sizes too big as he neared.
It’s not what it looks like,I wanted to say, but wasn’t it? Wasn’t it exactly what I promised I wouldn’t do?
He got a foot away from the table, his nostrils flaring like he wanted to yell, before Jonah’s dad stood up and said, “Michael Reiner in the flesh. Big fan, man. Loved seeing you play the past three years.”
Michael forced a tight smile and slowly dragged his gaze from Jonah and me toward his dad. “Thank you.”
“I’m Jonah’s dad. It’s a real honor to meet you.”
Michael shook his hand, but he didn’t look happy. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, when Jonah’s dad scooted over and waved the waitress back. “Join us, please. I insist.”
Michael waited half a second, his left eye twitching as it always did when he was pissed, before nodding and moving into the booth. The other teammates joined us with extra chairs. That was how I found myself at a table with four guys on the team and Jonah’s dad.
I wasn’t the only one tense. Jonah turned into a statue when his dad started to order more pizzas, meaning Michael, Tate, Patrick, and Paxton were staying to eat with us.
This couldn’t be good. I played with the straw wrapper and tore it to pieces when I felt Michael’s stare hitting me. I glanced up and swallowed as he tilted his head to the side and jutted his chin toward Jonah, one brow arched. His expression was clear.Why the fuck are you sitting so close to him?
I shrugged as a bolt of guilt and annoyance had me find my bearings more. I would’ve joined Jonah and his dad with or without sleeping with my roommate, so I needed to stop acting guilty and play it cool. Michael didn’t need to know how much I was sweating or how fast my pulse raced.
Patrick entertained the group with a story about hazing Jonah as a freshman, and Jonah’s dad liked it too much. He slapped the table with his hand and returned the favor. He shared stories from Jonah’s youth and made the guys howl. My roommate’s ears turned red, and his smile was so awkward it hurt to see.
But then the atmosphere changed. We got our plates of pizza, and Jonah relaxed as Michael ribbed him a bit about practice. Tate joked about a prank that happened in the locker room, and Jonah’s smile loosened. My shy roommate was opening up to his teammates. I covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from smiling. It was only when Michael caught my gaze that I sat up straighter and focused on the conversation.
His pointed stare told me enough. He knew something was going on.
“I gotta say, I’m real glad you two ended up as roommates,” his dad said halfway through eating the pizza.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“You Reiners seem like great people. It makes me sleep easier knowing he has a good roommate and teammate on his side. I like knowing my son has people. That’s all. When his mom pulled that crap—”
