I dipped my head down when he met my gaze. He was being so sweet. I didn’t deserve it.
“What the hell, Emmy?”
Silas’s voice made me stiffen. He wore a look of confusion mixed with anger. Now,that’swhat I deserved.
“You must have a death wish. Tyler’s pissed.”
The guy next to me straightened at Silas’s warning. His gaze turned to me and he asked, “Need me to stick around a little longer?”
There was an unmistakable protectiveness in his tone.
“Who is this?” Silas jerked his chin towards the guy.
“He’s…” I shook my head, trying to remember a name I didn’t know. I was too drunk to realize I hadn’t even asked. “He helped me in the parking lot when I…”
“Wreaked havoc? Yeah, I saw as much,” Silas filled in for me. “Look, man, she’s fine now. I’ll get her home.”
The guy didn’t look away from me, waiting for my permission to leave.
“Thank you. I’m good,” I promised with a nod.
“You sure?” He raised a brow. “I don’t mind hanging around a while longer if you need.”
I smiled, “I’m sure.”
“Alright, then.” He got up from the bench. “I hope you feel better soon. Try not to be too hard on yourself. This’ll be a funny story to share with a stranger one day. Promise.”
He winked when I smiled and started back towards the parking lot. I stared after him as Silas went on a rant about what I’d done and how much trouble I was going to be in.
“Emmy.” Silas snapped his fingers in my face to get my attention. “Are you listening? You realize you smell like a bar, right?”
“I fucked up,” I agreed, tearing my gaze away from the stranger.
“I’ll say.” He blew out a breath, “Jeez. Even when you fuck things up, you seem to find the hottest guys. Who was that?”
I shook my head, glancing back at the parking lot in hopes I’d catch another glimpse, but he was gone. “No idea.”
Silas sighed, mourning a missed opportunity along with me. My friend held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s get you as far away from here as possible.”
“I’ll figure something out,” I swore as I took his hand. “This won’t happen again.”
“Yeah, yeah, come on. You know, the word of a drunk person isn’t the most believable. I should know being a frequent flyer myself.”
“It won’t,” I promised, determined to keep it.
Chapter 2
One Year Later
Ahousefulloffootball players was the last thing I wanted today. I holed up in my room as soon as I saw the first car pull in our driveway.
Beginning of the season dinners were Dad’s staple. Everyone got an invite, including assistant coaches and their families. I used to love being around so many people. New faces were my everything, but lately, I couldn’t deal with over two people at a time without getting a headache.
“Still moping?” Kai asked. My brother so happened to be walking down the hallway when I peeked my head out of my room.
“Checking if the coast is clear,” I explained. “I need to get something out of my car, but I don’t want to change. Are there a lot of people in the foyer?”
I didn’t want dinosaur pajamas and fuzzy, brown house slippers to be part of my first impression. I’d sworn off men, even so, it was the principle of the matter. I wanted them to see me as hot and unattainable as they were. It was only fair.
