“You’re a goddess,” Lo said, smirking.
Ever since she shared Luca called her a goddess, she dropped the word every chance she had. Rolling my eyes, I elbowed her side. “Enough of you.”
“Luca is pissed at me, thanks to you all.”
“Anger sex is fun though,” Vee said, arching a brow. “Especially with him, I’m sure. He could just throw you around all angry.”
“Why is he upset?” Mally asked.
“The tattoos. I told him we were going with Callum.” Lo snorted and took a long swig of her mojito. “Not sure if its jealousy or what, but I offered to have him come along too.”
“He doesn’t want one of the matching tats? Lame.”
“Still can’t believe we’re doing it this week,” Mally said, looking at me. “Speaking of tattoos and this list, Mallinson, you’ve made progress, and I need every single detail. Who did you go further with? You did all this? Danced in the rain?”
My face heated as my teammates stared at me. I’d prepared for this moment. I’d practiced in the mirror, but sweat pooled on my hands. Glancing at Lo, I cleared my throat. “Uh, well, I told y’all Dean wants in on the list too?”
“Dean Romano?”
“The quarterback Dean?”
“Her brotherDean?”
I nodded. “He said he’s been in a funk and wanted to have his own list to break him out of his headand so we decided to join forces. What I do, he does. So, he’s the person who is my witness to all these.”
There.That’s not a lie. He was the witness… and the person I did them with. Totally okay. I swallowed. “He can vouch for them.”
“What concert?” Lo asked, her brows set in a hard line. That line meant confusion, which was better than anger. Or accusations.
Progress.
“Last night, outside the fair.”
She ran a finger over her stress wrinkle, wiping it away in the process. Her large brown eyes, so similar to Dean’s, softened as she gazed at me. “He seemed really happy this morning. He even whistled while we had breakfast over there.”
Swoop.I couldn’t stop my smile if I tried. My lips curved up so high my cheeks ached, and the warm, gooey feeling in my stomach grew. “Yeah? Did he…talk about it?”
“Oh no. Mack.” Vee rubbed her forehead. “You know better.”
Mally elbowed Vee in the ribs. “Shut up.”
“What? Can we not talk about it?” Vee sighed as she stared at me, a knowing look in her eyes that had that swoopy feeling turning to lead.
Ale winced and adjusted her bangs, a clear sign she was nervy.
“Not aboutwhat?” Lo said, her tone hesitant.
“Dude, you know your brother. He’s hot as sin to most of us, but he’s nothing but heartbreak. A friend of a friend, I don’t really talk to her anymore, but one of her girls dated him this fall, and he turned out to be a total dick to her. I’ve never really brought it up here because I know y’all are close, Lo—”
“You don’t know the entire story,” she fired back. “And half that shit isn’t true.”
“I’m sure I don’t, and your brother is generally a good guy, but this girl was fucked up after they ended. Transferred schools, I heard. Mack’s eyes are all heart-eye emojis right now, and it makes me nervous. I’m gonna mention it even if it’s awkward.”
Lo fisted her hand on the table. “Someone transferring schools is their own choice. Not Dean’s. Let’s stop that bullshit rumor right now.”
My throat closed up. Sweat dripped down my back. This was worse than a penalty kick to end a game. I wanted to ask her about the friend of a friend who Dean was a dick to, but that showed too much interest. Also wanted to pretend this wasn’t happening because what if Lo accused me of using her? I would never. And I wasn’t totally heart-eyed emojis, right? If Vee saw it…then everyone probably did.
My face had to be fire-engine red as I felt them all staring at me. I ripped the straw wrapper in half, then repeated the process as the silence grew to one, two minutes. What would I say? Nothing. I had nothing.
