Page 32 of Undeniable Love

Hmm…

“So you’re saying in this day and age that you can’t do a video call? That just seems lame.”

Ty parked the car and twisted to look at her. “Are you trying to tell me you want to stay another day?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Letting out a long breath, she faced him. “I never get to go anywhere, Ty. This is the first trip I’ve taken in years! Sure, I’ve gone to the coast or taken day trips around North Carolina, but this is the first time I’ve gotten on a plane in almost ten years! And that last time was when we to visit Aunt Dolly and Uncle Ed.” Shaking her head, she laughed softly. “Most boring trip ever. The flight was the best part.”

“Yeah, I know. I know you were excited about your honeymoon trip because…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t, okay? But I know what you’re saying. And believe me, I know that Wichita isn’t Aruba, but…it’s just nice not to be home. And one day isn’t really going to kill you, right?”

“Lucy…” he whined.

“Tyler…” she whined right back. “Please? Just think about it. But not too long because we’ve already checked in for our flights.”

He didn’t respond right away, but he also wasn’t shutting her down, so she took that as a good sign.

“And you did mention this girl you see whenever you’re in town. All the more reason for us to maybe extend our stay. You can have an entire night away if you’d like without worrying about catching a flight tomorrow.” Pausing, she nudged him playfully. “Just…something to think about.”

With a huff, he climbed from the car. When Lucy joined him and they started walking toward the restaurant, he didn’t look at her as he said, “If Jax doesn’t mind us staying another night, then I’ll do my best to change our flights.”

“Yay!”

“But,” he quickly interrupted, “If there’s a huge fee for changing flights or if anything else pops up or makes things too difficult, we stick to the plan. Got it?”

She nodded, but was way too excited to believe anything could go wrong. Although, Lucy was also desperately trying not to look too closely at exactly why she was so excited to stay another night.

Could I really justify another late night in the hot tub?

Silly question. She already knew the answer.

Inside the restaurant, it was crowded and a bit loud, but ultimately after a brief conversation with the hostess, they were led toward the back where there was a private room reserved for the team. Lucy knew she was looking around like she’d never been out in public before, but this all just felt so…wild!

“Holy crap, Ty! We’re at a private party for the Warriors! This is insane!” she said giddily.

With a stern look, he murmured, “If you’re going to act like it’s your first day out around people, we’re leaving.”

Groaning, all Lucy could do was shake her head. “Dramatic much?”

“I’m just saying…”

Fortunately, he never got to finish because the team started arriving. Within minutes, the room was filling up, drinks were being served, and food was being passed around butler style. Lucy helped herself to a seafood stuffed mushroom and hummed with delight.

“Hey! You guys made it!” Jax said when he joined them. “You never really said if you were going to be here or not when we talked about it yesterday.”

“Well, I was going to take Lucy to dinner and do a little more sightseeing, but she talked me into it,” Ty told him.

Jax smiled at her and she felt a little flutter in her belly. “Good choice. You can have dinner with this guy anytime. How often can you hang out with a winning football team?”

The giggle was out before she could stop it, and she wanted to kick herself for sounding so lame. “That was my thought exactly,” she told him and prayed she wasn’t going to start batting her eyelashes or rubbing up against him.

“Smart girl,” Jax said with a wink. “Come on, let’s go grab one of the tables and order some food. I’m starving!”

“I’ll bet!” she said as she followed. “That game was insane! Other than the high school ones you guys played, I’ve never been to a live game. It’s so much better in person than just watching it on the TV!”

“She was the loudest one in the suite,” Ty added with a laugh.

“Nothing wrong with cheering loudly,” Jax said, grinning, and Lucy felt that smile like a caress.