“Bullshit.”
“You know, you guys seem to know each other pretty well,” Fiona said, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Am I missing something?”
“It’s my charismatic personality,” I deadpanned, earning a quick lip quirk from Brooks.
“You tend to hate baseball players?—”
“No, I don’tsleepwith them,” I corrected. “I love Brigs and even have a soft spot for your man. Keep treating her right, and we’ll get along just fine.”
Gideon and Fiona laughed like I meant them to, but Brooks narrowed his eyes in my direction. He had no right to look at me with that much heat, and I thought about taking a swig of Fiona’s beer to cool myself off, but it wouldn’t work with my schedule this afternoon. The harsh reminder of school, shifts at the restaurant, sleep cycle that was my life forced me back into the moment.Flings, no feelings.It was all I could afford to escape the shitty life I was born into.
It was rare that I had a Sunday morning off, and I wanted to enjoy it, not spiral about what was fair or not. I had a goal and I’d stop at nothing to achieve it. “I’m golfing, with or without you famous dudes. I don’t get a lot of time away.”
“I’m with you,” Fiona said, eyeing the approaching crowd. “We’ll play out of order to mess with them.”
“Fine by me.” Brooks got in the driver’s side this time and patted the seat next to him. It seemed innocent enough to anyone else, but the fire roared behind his eyes. “Come on, wedding date.”
With a heavy sigh, I joined him and did my best to lean against the bar so as to not touch him, but he took a sharp turn, forcing me to slide into his massive body. “Brooks, what the hell?”
“Just avoiding potholes.”
“On a paved pathway? Not likely.”
“Don’t trust yourself around me, eh?” Brooks said, elbowing me with a cocky grin. His voice was pure amusement, but his eyes held something deeper—a challenge. “Afraid of your attraction?”
I fought the smirk, keeping it to the barest twitch of my lips before looking away. Damn him. He was too good at this, at getting under my skin. At reminding me of things I had no business remembering.
“No,” I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. “My attraction to you was never the problem.” I let that hang for a beat, then added, too softly, “Definitely not.”
The air changed.
Brooks stopped the cart so abruptly I had to grab the side rail to keep steady. He turned toward me, one arm slung lazily along the back of the bench, but his posture was too tense, his nostrils flaring just enough to show I’d hit a nerve.
“Don’t say things like that,” he murmured, his voice quieter now, deeper. “Unless you’re ready to talk.”
I felt the weight of his stare, the pull of something old, something unfinished, but I refused to let it show. Instead, I tilted my head, playing indifferent.
“You’re the one flirting with me, Brooks.”
“Shit.” His jaw ticked, but then he nodded past me, his voice all business now. “Don’t turn your head, but we’ve got company.”
I knew before I looked.
Two women, standing off to the side, phones up, cameras pointed directly at us.
I exhaled hard. Of course.
Brooks shook his head, lips pressed together. “Let’s roll.”
He accelerated down the pathway, whistling for Gideon and Fiona to follow, cutting over to hole nine. I checked over my shoulder.
“They’re still following,” I said, gritting my teeth.
I never understood this part of his life until I met Fiona and Gideon. The constant scrutiny, the lack of privacy, the insane lengths people went to just to get a picture.
Hiding in hotel rooms.
Stalking social media.
