“What are you observing him for?” Kevin wondered.
“I was only curious.” David held up his hands as if he didn’t enjoy being attacked. “I’m sure I’m not the only person here who was.”
My face warmed when David’s gaze fell on me.
“Alright,” Kai said in an authoritative tone. He rubbed his jaw, embarrassed about sexual jokes in reference to me. “Let her hit so we can move on, okay? I’m practically begging here.”
The guys laughed at Kai’s plea. I smiled because he’d gotten them to laugh at something. I tried to refocus. My cheeks still burned a bit because Ididknow that Dakota was more of a ‘give it all’ kind of guy.
After taking a breath, I willed my attention back to the task at hand. Taking Dakota’s advice, I reframed from tapping the ball with brute force — despite my instincts telling me to put power behind the swing. The ball cleared both hills. We all watched the pink ball in silence as it rolled. It stopped only a foot away from the hole.
“Nice!” Dakota held up his hand for a high-five.
“Get it in one more stroke, and we’ll keep our steady lead,” Kai informed.
I smiled and skipped over to my ball to nail my final stroke. Yara placed her hands on her hips. Now that she was free from her mini-meeting, she looked ever more determined to beat us.
When everyone else got distracted by watching her team tackle this hole, Dakota reached for the edge of my jacket and tugged me close.
“Are you coming to the away game next weekend?” he asked, eyes on mine.
I smiled up at him, feeling special by how focused he’d been on me tonight. “It’s against Riker Tech, right?”
He nodded. “Some of us are staying over for the night and…”
“And?” I prompted, not at all willing to make this easy for him. He chuckled when I gave him a knowing smile. There was a barely noticeable red crawling up his neck.
“You know, I’m not used to making guys nervous,” I admitted in a whisper.
“Liar,” he teased. “I think you’re quite the professional.”
I shook my head. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Please.” Dakota nodded. His hand traveled under the jacket, finding my waist. I took a deep breath because of how natural it felt whenever he reached for me.
“I’ve never been asked out,” I said. “I’ve always, always done the asking. Until you.”
“You’re joking.” He smiled but stopped when he saw I was serious.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “It’s partly because I like to talk, so I usually get to the asking out part first. But also, it’s because the guys I like don’t like me back, I think. They just settle.”
He frowned at the word ‘settle.’ “The more I learn about your past relationships, the more I want to be there to punch someone for you.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry, I do a decent job of taking care of myself.”
“Good,” he said with enough force to let me know he meant it but still wasn’t satisfied. “Together, we’d both give your ex something to remember.”
My cheeks hurt from smiling at his promise. “I could get used to having back-up.”
“Consider the position filled, then.” He winked. “Now, will you come with us this weekend? I want you there. After the game, I’ll make sure we’ll have a room to ourselves.”
“If I go, my dad and Kai are going to wonder why I’m not staying with them,” I said.
Dakota shrugged. “Don’t tell them.”
I chewed on my cheek. “Right.”
“Emmy.” His expression fell a bit. “I won’t be offended if you say no. You’re always allowed to say no.”
