Page 31 of Undeniable Love

This was utterly ridiculous and she was ending it right now.

“I’m going to Bruno’s with or without you. And just to put your simple mind at ease, I promise not to run to the nearest hotel with the first guy who smiles at me, okay? I’ll keep it in my pants until we’re back home and you’re not around, Saint Tyler.”

His gaze was dark and she had a feeling there was maybe a little more to this, and just when she was about to push, he blurted out, “There’s a woman I usually…you know…see when I’m here.”

Her eyes went wide, but she couldn’t seem to think of a word to say.

“And—no offense—hanging out with my little sister is going to make things a little awkward when I want to leave with her. There. Happy now?”

Lucy knew her smile was far too bright for this conversation, but she kind of loved knowing that this wasn’t all about her trying to sleep with any football player. “As a matter of fact, I am,” she said sweetly. “And I promise not to do anything to get in your way and I’m fine taking an Uber back to Jax’s, okay?”

With a roll of his eyes, she knew she had him. “Fine, brat. Let’s go. It will probably take some time to get out of here and we’ll still get to the restaurant before the team.”

So rather than rush to join the throngs of people, they relaxed in the suite for thirty minutes and chatted with some of the other people who were still there too. It turned out that they were the only guests of Jax’s; everyone else was a guest of Travis Reid and Declan James. Lucy knew they were Jax’s best friends, so it only made sense that they went in on a suite like this together. But out of all of them, she and Ty were the only ones going to Bruno’s.

When they finally left the suite and made their way toward the exit and parking lot, there weren’t any crowds and it was kind of nice. Lucy kept looking around expecting to see Jax, and was constantly disappointed when she didn’t.

Hanging out with him the way they had this weekend had really been eye-opening. She’d only been a kid when Jax left for college and she didn’t really know him. But now that they were spending so much time together, she had to admit that she genuinely liked him. He was charming and funny and, more than anything, he seemed like a good guy and a solid friend to her brother.

And he was hot.

So very, very hot.

When he came out and joined her in the hot tub Friday night, she thought she was going to embarrass herself because she couldn’t stop staring at him. Luckily it was dark and he didn’t seem to notice. Then, last night, she waited until Ty had gone to bed before pulling her bathing suit on and stepping outside—while making a little noise to let Jax know she was out there.

Just in case he was curious.

And when he stepped outside to join her, she’d practically gotten tongue tied at the sight of him.

Just like on Friday night, they didn’t talk about anything deep, but the conversation never had a lull. She’d told him all about the places her brother had taken her to while he was at practice, and he told her the things he loved most about Wichita and what he missed most about South Creek and why he was looking forward to opening the camp and moving back there.

It boggled her mind why he would be excited by that. Every day she wished she could move away to a place that had more to offer, and yet here was a guy who could have everything he wanted and yet he wanted to move to a town that offered nothing.

Weird.

When they’d said goodnight and Lucy had gone to her room, she lied in bed, stared at the ceiling, and wished she weren’t alone.

So maybe Ty wasn’t that far off in his thinking…

There was no way she was going to do anything with one of Jax’s teammates. That would just be awkward.

But if it was Jax…

Yeah, she wasn’t going to think about it.

She couldn’t.

They were just barely becoming friends, and even though he wasn’t as responsible for the accident that nearly killed Ty, his father was.

Ugh…stop looking for trouble! Everyone else has moved on, why can’t you?

Good question.

When they pulled up to Bruno’s, the parking lot was already pretty packed and she had to wonder if they were late or if this many people were the norm after a game. Honestly, she hated that she had to go home tomorrow. It would have been nice to have a full day for the three of them to hang out. The players seemed to always have the day after a game off, and now that she wasn’t so full of rage toward Jax, it could have been fun to have an extra day.

Glancing over at her brother, she decided to test the waters. “Too bad we can’t stay another day, huh?”

He shrugged. “It is what it is. I’ve got to get back for a meeting.”