“Yeah.” He turns and forty-five minutes later, we’re walking to my SUV.
“Should I come for like backup?” Knox asks, looking to Kirby, who is looking around and avoiding looking our way.
“We’ll be fine,” Jaxon assures him and gets into the car.
“If you guys aren’t at the bar in twenty, I’m going to be pissed,” Knox warns. “We don’t have the kids tonight, and the last thing I want is to drag out the night fixing other people’s shit.”
“It’ll be fine,” I state, getting in and turning my key into the ignition. “Are we good?”
“I promised Ariella I would be on my best behavior,” Jaxon says, “and I don’t break my promises to my girl.” I nod, waiting for a but and then he starts it. “You better be fucking sure of this.”
“Only thing I’m actually sure of,” I admit, pulling out of the parking garage, “is how I feel about Victoria.” He nods. “She’s one of a kind.” I grin, thinking of her smile. “There is no one else on this earth I would protect more than her. Not even myself.”
We pull into the parking lot of the bar and I get out, followed by Jaxon. Kirby and Knox park next to me. “Good, no blood was shed,” Knox reports, making us all laugh. “I’m literally going in there, getting Kylie, and taking her home where I’m going to do lots of?—”
“If you finish that sentence,” Kirby warns, “I’m going to throat punch you and you won’t be able to do anything.”
I pull open the door and step in, seeing most of the players are here. Aaron is at the bar leaned in, talking to Eric. I do a sweep of the room and see my girl standing to the side talking to the others. She must sense I’m here because her eyes fly up and meet mine.
She gives me a smile and then holds up her hand, not coming to me. My eyes are trained on hers as I zigzag through people, giving a couple of them chin lifts. “Hey, Coach,” Aaron calls from the bar, “come over here.”
“In a second,” I reply, not stopping in my tracks as I make it to her. “Hey, baby,” I greet her and then it’s as if everything in the bar goes silent. Or maybe the only thing I can hear is the beating of my heart. My arm wraps around her waist and I pull her to me. “You look beautiful,” I say before my lips softly touch hers.
thirty-four
Victoria
I hold the glass of wine in my hands nervously, waiting for Zane to walk in the door, not sure what is going to happen. Then he’s standing there, wearing his blue suit with a white shirt. I hold up my hand, not sure how to play this. If maybe he’s changed his mind. I don’t want to force him to do something he doesn’t want to do. At this point, I love him, he loves me, and who knows or doesn’t know is of no importance to me.
My eyes go to the buttons of his shirt, the tie he was wearing during the game is gone. I see him giving a couple of the guys a nod, and then Aaron calls him over, but his eyes never leave mine. He makes his way to me. “Hey, baby.” His voice is low and sounds like a growl. Everything is stuck in my throat when he wraps one of his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. “You look beautiful,” he compliments and then his lips touch mine.
I swear I hear a couple of people say, “Holy shit.” Meanwhile, a couple more say, “Fuck me.”
His lips let go of mine. “Good game,” I say, lifting my free hand and wiping the gloss off his lips. “You hungry?”
“Yeah,” his eyes twinkle, “but not for food.” I shake my head, hoping my cheeks aren’t beet red, feeling them light up.
“Well, then,” Eric says, coming to stand next to us, “this is a surprise.”
“To everyone,” I reply as Zane steps beside me and his hand slips into mine, “including me.” I look up at him.
“You just going to let him date your sister”—Eric looks over at Jaxon—“and not say anything about it?”
“Oh, there were words all right,” Knox declares, making the circle of us laugh. “Some were even the F-word.” His arm hangs around Kylie, who wraps her own arms around his waist. “This was fun. I guess now that the cat is out of the bag and there isn’t a brawl,” he looks at Kylie, “we’re leaving.”
“Bye, everyone.” The smile on her face goes from ear to ear. “Congratulations to the happy couple.”
“We’re dating, not getting married,” I mumble, making Eric chuckle.
I sit at the table with Ariella and Jaxon for a bit before they get up and get home to the sitter. “Lunch tomorrow.” He points at me, and I nod my head. “You bringing that guy?” He points over to Zane, who is talking to Aaron and Eric at the bar.
“Why would you ask her that?” Ariella snaps out. “If she invited me to her house and said don’t bring Jaxon, what would you say?”
“I wouldn’t say anything,” he retorts. “It’s my sister’s house, I’m going.”
“Exactly.” She pushes him out of the door. I sit back in my chair, looking around and seeing that most of the players have left. I get up and make my way to Zane, who catches me walking to him and looks over at the table, seeing that no one is left. “Hey,” I say when I get close enough.
“I’m sorry,” he apologizes. “We were?—”
