Tab
No one said how difficult it was to date a football player on the down-low. My phone is a frenemy in the making. Oh, how I love her when she gives me notifications from Levi, and how much I want to shake her when she doesn’t.
Right now, he should be on the way home from an away game. Now that Raeann has loosened the reins on me, she decided to go watch Micah while I stayed behind. That’s the thing about keeping our relationship a secret, I can’t whisk off to different cities and act like I care about seeing a game when I didn’t before.
“Cheer up,” Jace says as Sunny sits, dropping off our drink orders with a smile. I’m really not supposed to drink at all with my meds, but one little one couldn’t hurt.
“I’m cheery,” I counter, taking a big sip of my drink.
“You’re attached to your phone, even though you try to hide it. You’re distracted. You’re being very cagey about all the gifts you’ve been getting. Every day, we see you in a different outfit or a different purse or designer shoe.”
“If you will recall,” I say, “I was in a fire where I lost all my stuff.”
Honestly, it’s a good freaking excuse. But it’s a lie. Levi has decided he’s going to replace everything I owned plus some…on his dime. I keep reminding him that I can hold my own in the money department, but when he told me how much he makes, I let him do it. I’m not at that level yet, that’s for sure.
Sunny kicks Jace under the table. “Ouch,” he exclaims. “I was just saying.”
I laugh. “No, it’s fine. I’m not mad, but I do have to replace all my stuff.”
Jace eyes me, then shrugs, glancing away. I already know the look. He likes to do this a lot when he thinks he knows something. In this case, he’s probably guessing correctly, but I can’t tell them, even though I am dying to. “I just thought some of the things you got looked like stuff you never would’ve bought yourself.”
“I don’t know what you mean. I love Louis Vuitton’s.”
“Love them so much you wore them for half an hour before you kicked them off and borrowed a pair of dog slippers from stock?”
I was trying for Levi, but it turns out he only wants me to wear them during intimate moments anyway. Unfortunately, the opportunities have been drying up for that, too. Now that I’m back at work, our schedules don’t always match up.
The easiest thing would be to tell everyone we’re seeing each other. I fret over my lip. I told myself I wouldn’t get my heart involved, and I’ll die before I admit that I might have let my guard down a little too much. He’s just so fun. Sexy. He makes me laugh.
I take another drink of my vodka soda. This wasn’t the plan.
My phone buzzes, and I swipe it off the table quickly, holding it just below the surface so Jace and Sunny can’t see.
Levi: Did you watch my game?
I smile, and Jace makes an “uh-huh” sound. I flip him off and write Levi back.
Me: I had the score up on my phone. Does that count?
Levi: You’re killing me. I made an epic play.
Levi: You really have no interest in watching my games at all?
My stomach twists. I actually do. I didn’t think I ever would, but it’s different watching someone you care about play a game. It means you have an invested interest in pretty much everything. But I can’t exactly say any of that, can I? People—especially Raeann—will call me out in a heartbeat.
Me: You sound wounded. Don’t worry, I’ll kiss it better later.
Levi: I might need more than a kiss.
“Alright, if you hold her arms and I grab the phone, we might actually figure out who this guy is.”
I glare at Jace. “Don’t you dare.”
He stands up, and I squeeze the phone to my chest. Sunny rolls her eyes. “Stop teasing her.” To me, she says, “We just want to know the guy who makes you so happy.”
“I’m not any happier than normal,” I protest.
“You didn’t come out of your apartment for over a month.”
