“Then I should have it.”
“Huh.” He frowns, but it’s quickly replaced with joy. “Text me the details. I’ll be there.”
We say goodbye and walk away. Lyla puts her hand in mine again.
“You got his number from my phone, didn’t you?” she asks, eyes dancing when she looks up at me.
“You hung out with him a lot,” I say. “I did what I had to do.”
She laughs quietly, shaking her head, but doesn’t say anything. We’re not near the crowd, so we can stand here without causing a disturbance. I stop walking and hold her hand steady, so she stops walking and faces me.
“If the tables were turned, what would you have done?” I ask, because I’m genuinely curious.
Lyla’s jealous as fuck when it comes to me, and if she says otherwise, she’s a damn liar. It’s not a trust issue between us. I know she’d never be with anyone else and I sure as hell hope she knows I wouldn’t either. Still, the jealousy remains. I think it’s healthy. I don’t really care if it’s not.
“What would you have done?” I ask again. “If some girl was always around me and we spent hours together on the ice.”
She scowls and looks away. For a moment, I think she’s going to say she wouldn’t care. Honestly, I’ll leave it at that because of where we are and why we’re here. But she looks at me again, that fire in her eyes that instantly turns me on.
“I’m not sure what I’d do, but I know she’d wish she’d never met you at all.”
I laugh and dip to kiss her. “I think you may be a little crazy, Lyla James”
“Only when it comes to you,” she says, smiling.
I’m stuck on that smile for a long time, until I remember something. “Is your mic on?”
She pulls the material of her dress forward, checks, and looks mortified when she meets my gaze again. I burst out laughing.
“What, you don’t want people to know you’re so crazy about me that you’re jealous?” I grin, as I pull her toward the doors.
“It’s not funny.” She scowls, then drops her head to speak into the mic. “Please ignore that little lapse of judgment.”
I laugh again. I can only imagine them back in the SUV. They must be laughing their asses off. They’re used to serious jobs, so to them, this feels like a very well-paid vacation. My smile drops when we walk inside when I spot Jameson. I have never hated a person so much in my life. I’ve never been this angry. Even when my father didn’t show up for us when I knew he could, I didn’t feel this way. I remind myself to keep my face impassive. He glances up and waves when he sees me, a forced, fake smile on his face. I don’t even bother returning the greeting. By now, he has to know I know. Still, I can’t fucking believe the nerve of him saying hello to me like that.
The smile instantly drops when his eyes shift and he sees whose hand I’m holding. Cold eyes and hardened features immediately replace the cordial look on his face. I’m going to fucking kill him. He blinks it away and tries cordial again. I tear my eyes from him and squeeze the hand not holding Lyla’s into a tight fist. She hasn’t noticed him. If she had, she would have squeezed my hand. She looks over her shoulder and stops walking. I’m not sure what she sees on my face, but she turns around and faces me immediately. The second she does, I pull her into my arms and kiss the fuck out of her, making sure it’s clear that she’s mine.
CHAPTER55
LYLA
I don’t knowwho came up with the idea of sitting a group of strangers together at social gatherings, but it may go down as one of the worst ideas in history. Obviously, my father loves it. He thinks it’s great networking. I think it’s an extension of hell. I’ve been talking to the Fairview volleyball coach for ten minutes now. Lachlan is speaking to the NFL player next to him, but he’s tense and hasn’t let go of my hand since we sat down, even though I’ve tried to take it back three times. I know this means he saw Jameson, but I’ve swept the room twice and have yet to see him. I saw my dad. Well, I see my dad. He gave a quick speech in the beginning and thanked everyone for being here. Now, he’s sitting a few tables over with his back to us. The curious thing is that Marie is nowhere in sight. My phone buzzes in my purse, and Lach looks at me. This time, he lets go of my hand and keeps talking to the guy. I didn’t set it on airplane mode, in case of emergency.
“Excuse me a moment,” I say to the volleyball coach, as I take my phone out.
Marissa: update pls
Me: at luncheon. Haven’t seen him but i think lach did bc he’s acting weird
Marissa: shit. Be careful
Me: i know <3
Marissa: Coop asked ab you
Me: what’d you tell him?
Marissa: that you had a fam emergency and went oot
