Page 97 of Hot Streak

“Round of shots for my guys here,” Connor boasted, tossing a few twenties onto the bar.

“What’s the occasion?” Noel, the bartender, asked as he pulled a bottle of tequila off the shelf. “Weren’t you guys supposed to be playing in South Carolina somewhere tonight?”

“Rainout,” Deke said, grinning.

“That’s what these are for. To celebrate the end of a long ass road trip, and getting to cut it one game short,” Connor said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Noel said. “You gonna go sit in Millie’s section?”

“Yep,” Ro said, nodding over to a few tables that TJ and Kevin were already pulling together.

“I’ll bring the shots over. You want me to keep the tab open?” Noel asked, and Connor nodded.

When he turned to head to the tables, he noticed that Jackson had taken a seat next to Deke, and they were laughing about something, acting like they were fast friends.

He was not jealous.

He was not jealous.

Connor Clark had never been jealous in his whole fucking life, but the truth was, he couldn’t seem to help it.

He wanted all of Jackson’s attention on him.

“Hey, Comet!” Millie called out as she sashayed up, a tray full of full shot glasses in her arms and a bright smile on her pretty face. “I got a surprise for you.”

“Tequila isn’t a surprise.” Connor nudged her playfully, because flirting with her came as easy to him as breathing.

“No, no, not the shots,” she said, grinning back at him. She gestured towards a table full of girls—as pretty as Millie, and all avidly staring at him. “Some friends of mine are here tonight, and they wanted to meet you.”

Right.

For months, he’d been trying to coerce Millie into setting him up with some of her friends. At first he’d genuinely been interested, then when she’d resisted, it had become a challenge, and then when Jackson had showed up and he’d become increasingly preoccupied with the guy, he’d completely forgotten about Millie’s friends.

And now they were here?

For a second, Connor wanted to turn her down, tell her he wasn’t interested anymore. But what was he going to do tonight? Sit here in silence and sulk as Jackson talked to Deke? Hope he would toss him a bone and invite him back to his apartment at the end of the night?

Hell no.

Connor Clark didn’t do that either.

Maybe Jackson could pretend disinterest, but Connor knew, deep down, just how much he wanted him—and it was time to remind him.

“Hey, really? I thought you didn’t trust me with them,” Connor teased.

Millie shot him a look. “I don’t. But Ro keeps telling me under all that pretty fuckboy exterior, you’re actually a good guy. So this is on him, if you do mess them up.”

“I get it,” Connor boasted. “One night with me is enough to mess you up.”

“Right.” Millie deposited the tray of shots onto the table and folded her arms across her chest. Okay, she didn’t look all that convinced. Which was ridiculous, Connor had a reputation. Didn’t she listen to the rumors?

He could forward her a whole bunch of begging text messages from girls who’d been desperate to hook up a second time.

“Just introduce me, and I’ll do the rest,” Connor boasted. He leaned over, grabbed a shot from the tray, and downed it, wiping his hand across his mouth.

She didn’t look particularly convinced, but she did lead him over.

There were four of them, all with the kind of manicured prettiness he expected from girls that age, with eager expressions on their faces as Millie introduced him.