“I liked the ripped jeans, the sloppy neckline of that oversized sweater you were wearing, and the beat-up leather jacket.” I carried on, pretending not to hear her.
She was seething.
It was funny.
“You don’t evenlistento me, so I’ll say itagain, your opinion on my clothing choices does not concern me.”
“You’re really touchy,” I observed casually.
“I swear to God, Dante, you mention my period or time of the month and Iwillbe responsible for punching you.”
I grinned. “I wasn’t even going to go near that, that is so disrespectful to say that to women, but ifyou’rebringing it up—”
She was on her feet, heading to the door. I jumped off the table and caught her arm. She halted, her gaze on my hand wrapped around her golden skin, then up to my face.
“Don’t go,” I said gently. “I’m only teasing you, Sav. You’re funny.”
“So you like laughing at me?” Her gaze flicked down to my hand once more. “Like a bully?”
I gave her my media smile. “C’mon, Sav, we both know I’m no bully.”
“You can flash your pearly whites at me all you want, Ten. It doesn’t distract me.”
“You think my smiling at you is a distraction tactic?” I asked her with surprise. “That’s interesting.”
“It’s notinteresting,” she said simply. “And take your hand off my arm.”
I withdrew it slowly, my gaze on hers, watching as she tried to show it wasn’t affecting her.
I leaned back against the table again, trying to look relaxed even though my head was still running numbers — not the kind on a scoreboard. She’d overheard me the other night. I didn’t know how much, and I couldn’t afford to guess wrong.
It had been bugging me all day;ifshe’d heardeverything, then I didn’t know if she was thinking about what she had heard or, worse, connecting dots.
Or . . . I was being completely paranoid.
“So,” I said lightly, “did you really sneak out of Daddy Dean’s dinner just to see me? I’m flattered.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You asked me to meet you.”
“I did.”
Sav waited. “Are you wasting my time?” she snapped suddenly.
I held her impatient stare, assessing, calculating, filing her tells, like she was the defensive line ready to take me down after the snap.
“I don’t like that you followed me or that you listened in on my conversation,” I told her simply. “What were you hoping to hear when you eavesdropped?”
Savannah looked confused, her brow furrowed, her mouth opened and closed, and then she blurted, “I wasnoteavesdropping on you!” Once more, she squared her shoulders, and I watched her center herself. “Tell me this is not why I’m here.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “I feel like you’re hiding something from me, Sav.” Her cheeks flushed, and I leaned forward slightly. “Tell me, did you follow me back here?”
She looked affronted at the question. “No!” She saw my look and shook her head. “You arrogant shit,no. I came back for my—”
“Your what?” I gave her my signature quarterback smile. “Your chisel? You expect me to believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter what I came back for. I didn’t know you were here, and fine, I shouldn’t have listened.”
“But you did. Why?”
