I shoot her a glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She rolls her eyes. “A date with no dinner? Straight to the afterparty? Typical playboy behavior.”
I grind my teeth so hard, I’m surprised they don’t crack. “What, are you jealous? Would you rather I spend the evening with you and the fuzzball?”
She furrows her brow in annoyance. “I’d rather eat a Carolina Reaper pepper. I don’t care what you do or who it’s with… I have a date tonight myself, so I won’t be around to watch you crash and burn.”
“You have a date?” Jayce exclaims. “Damn, girl! You just got here?”
“Who is it?” Wilder demands to know. “We need to vet this guy. Make sure he’s not a creep.”
Rylee waves her hand dismissively. “Guys, calm down. It’s just a date. No need to freak out.”
Wilder and Jayce argue their points, but I can only stand there and stare at her, irritation boiling within me. A date? Already? Jesus, where’d she even meet the guy?
Fuck, is it someone on the team? Who else has she interacted with since she got to Denver?
I realize I’m spiraling and jealousy is making my fists clench. I don’t have any reason to be jealous, though. Rylee’s a pain in the ass, nothing more!
“Well, good,” I snap at her. “I’ll be home late tonight, but I’ll wait for you tomorrow for our run and interview.” Looking at the guys, I snarl, “You two coming or not?”
Jayce and Wilder stare at me with wide eyes, but I just turn and angrily skate toward the tunnel and to the locker room.
CHAPTER TWELVE: DATE NIGHT
ZANDER
“All right,you two, don’t get into too much trouble tonight,” I tell Wilder and Jayce outside of the diner with the best goddamn meatloaf in town. We’ve just finished eating and are parting ways - them to the bars, me to… I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.
“You too, Romeo,” Wilder chuckles, smirking and stroking his beard in a way that makes me cringe. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“Which isn’t much, honestly,” Jayce chuckles, nudging me with his shoulder. “Just remember, consent is sexy and always use a rubber. We don’t want any little Zanders running around before you’re ready.”
Good lord. I roll my eyes so hard, they almost go to the back of my head.
“Okay, go away now,” I grumble, waving my hands at them in a shooing gesture. “I have somewhere better to be.”
“Yeah, you do,” Wilder declares and throws his hand up for a high-five. I glare at it, refusing to engage, so Jayce gives him the five instead as they both cackle.
“Uh, bye.” I groan, turning to stroll away.
“Bye, Zander!” Jayce calls after me.
“Remember to be a gentleman!” Wilder adds.
I throw them both the bird without looking back. They both laugh and I shake my head with a grin.
“Come on, Wilder,” I hear Jayce exclaim. “Let’s go get bottle service at that new club downtown. On me.”
“Always happy to help you spend your family’s money,” Wilder replies, his deep voice reverberating through the night.
When I reach my car, I climb in behind the wheel, but don’t turn it on. Shit… I’m only now realizing I don’t actually have anywhere to go for my “date.” I could go to a bar, I guess, but I don’t want to be that random guy tucked away in a corner on his laptop all night. Plus, it’s too easy to get distracted in a public place like that and I don’t want any of that.
I want to giveClickTeaseall my attention.
I have my computer with me - much easier to do the virtual dates on that than my phone - so that’s not the problem. My car is an option. I could go park somewhere and use a hotspot, but what happens if the battery goes low and dies? Can’t go back to my place - they’ve been locking the building down at night so residents can’t try to sneak in when no one’s around.
Damn it, this would be so much easier if I could just go back to the apartment, but that’s totally off-limits. If Rylee comes back and sees me home so early, she’ll never let me live it down. She’ll likely think I was either lying about the date, or that it was a bust, and if I try to explain that the date is virtual… oh, God. I can almost hear her relentless mocking now, telling me I can’t get a girl in real life and I’m going to end up getting catfished by some creepy guy who gets his rocks off scamming people online…
