“Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself,” I say, stepping forward to close the door behind me.
Except the door bounces back as Levi wedges his body in the doorway, his grin so big it might split open his face, so I growl at him.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Coach Tate,” Levi says, his tone laced with amusement. “Fancy seeing you here.”
I shoot Levi a look that could kill. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Levi asks innocently. “I’m just saying hello to my assistant coach. That’s friendly enough, isn’t it, Landon?”
Landon steps up beside his brother, his expression unreadable. “Very friendly, Levi. So, Tate, what are your intentions with Abby exactly?”
Tate’s face flushes, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck nervously. He glances at me, clearly looking for backup.
“His intention is to take me to dinner,” I snap. “Which is none of your business.”
“Everything about you is our business,” Landon says.
“Oh, is it?” I step closer to Landon, tilting my head up to meet his gaze. “Because last I checked, we are not together anymore. So are you going to stand here and interrogate every man who shows up at the door?”
Levi lets out a low whistle. “She’s got a point, bro.”
“I’m not interrogating him,” Landon grits out. “I’m asking questions. Perfectly reasonable questions about his intentions because Leila would want to know.”
I huff in annoyance and cross my arms. He’s right, though; this is exactly something Leila would do.
“His intention is to take me to dinner,” I repeat, slower this time. “Not to marry me, not to father my children, not to move in and take over the house. Just dinner between two adults.”
Tate clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the situation unfolding in front of him. I can’t blame him. The sexual tension and possessiveness radiating off Landon and Levi is probably overwhelming for someone who doesn’t know them the way I do.
“So how long are you planning to have her out?” Landon asks, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, grabbing Tate’s arm. “Levi, Landon... do not wait up for me.”
“Where are you going?” Levi calls out as I pull Tate down the walkway toward his car.
“Out,” I call back over my shoulder. “Away from you two psychos.”
Landon says something to Levi, but I don’t care to hear what it is because they are intentionally being dicks. I pull open thepassenger door of Tate’s car and slide into the seat, then slam it shut.
Tate climbs into the driver’s seat, his hands clenching around the steering wheel as he takes a deep breath.
“So,” he says carefully, “are they always like that with you?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” I admit, watching him carefully as he pulls out of the driveway. “I’m sorry about that. They’re overprotective and territorial and apparently incapable of understanding that I’m a grown woman who can make her own decisions.”
“It’s fine,” Tate says, but there’s a tension in his shoulders that tells me it’s not. “They clearly care about you.”
“They care about controlling me, apparently,” I correct, but I soften my tone because it’s not his fault the Kane brothers are idiots. “But we’re here and they’re back there, which means we can have a nice night with no more interruptions. Then I can kick them in the dicks when I get home.”
Tate glances over at me, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I was hoping for that. It’s been a while since I have gone out to dinner with a beautiful woman.”
The drive takes us to a part of town I haven’t been to since I was in college, down toward the riverfront where food trucks are lined up along the water. It’s casual—and honestly, kind of perfect.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Tate says as he parks the car. “The food is incredible here.”
“No, I love this,” I say, and I mean it.
We walk along the row of food trucks, looking at the menus written on chalkboards and displayed on the sides of the trucks. There’s a Thai truck, a taco truck, a burger place, and my favorite, a Korean BBQ food truck with a line of people waiting.
