Page 76 of Forged By Sacrifice

Georgie turned an even deeper shade of red, and that pissed me off. That he’d embarrassed her.

“We have the court until eight, Thomas,” I told him with a glare.

“We know,” Bee said, coming in and joining him. “Just wanted to watch you warm up, see where your latest weak points are.”

“Honestly, Mac, let them play. Or warm up with them, because tennis and I aren’t really going to happen.”

“No. It’s our court time.”

“Don’t be an ass, Robbie,” Thomas said.

Thomas was never my favorite person, and calling me an ass when they were encroaching on my court time wasn’t going to win him any points with me. I looked over at Bee, trying to tell her with my eyes what I was going to do with her husband if he didn’t get off my court.

“Since when do you think you have a chance at a spot on the team, Thomas?” I asked with plenty of sarcasm.

Bee bristled. “We’ve been playing a lot this year. Wait till you see his serve.”

“I’ll see it after eight,” I told Bee.

She rolled her eyes and dragged Thomas from the court. I made my way over to Georgie. “Don’t worry about them.”

“I see why you don’t like him,” she whispered to me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Yep,” I told her. “Here, let me show you how to hold it.”

I wrapped my arms around her, grabbing her wrist that held the racket, and then swinging it with her. Having her body tucked up against mine was not any better than seeing her in the bed in the Blue Room. My hand tightened on hers, and I couldn’t stop myself from placing a soft kiss on her jawline. She didn’t stop me. I slowly kissed my way down until I reached the corner of her lips, and she turned ever so slightly as if she was going to meet my hungry mouth with her own. As if we’d finally be able to recreate the moment on my boat in July.

“Holy bejesus, Robbie. You just left her bedroom. We really need the court for practice; you two can do that anywhere,” Bee hollered from the doorway to the courts.

Georgie pulled away, and I flipped Bee the bird. She just laughed, picked up the towel she’d left by the sidelines, and left again.

Georgie turned to me. “Really. I think…maybe this would be better another time.”

“I told her it wasn’t what she thought—me coming from your room. But older sisters never, ever believe you.” I sighed.

She smiled. “It’s okay.”

“It is?” My eyes lit up at the thought of it being okay for me to be coming from her room.

“I didn’t mean that as an invitation. I just meant I get it. But really, all I want to do is go finish my coffee, have another muffin, and break out my textbooks.”

“I’ll hardly get to visit with you again until dinner,” I told her.

“Perfect time for me to catch up on my classwork, then.”

I left the court reluctantly, not wanting to let her out of my sight yet, wondering if this had been the right weekend to invite her home at all. It was going to be tournaments all day today and then all day tomorrow. It wasn’t exactly the best time for her to get to know me.

Bee saw us leaving the court and raced toward it just as Gabi and Dani headed toward it. My three sisters collided at the doorway, but Bee had her foot inside. “Dibs!” she called out in celebration.

“Ugh! You cheat,” Gabi threw out.

“You’re getting slow in your old age, Cheetos Breath,” Bee teased.

“Don’t even start, Granola Fart,” Gabi retorted.

“Wow,” Georgie whispered, but she had a smile on her lips.

“You’re giving Georgie the complete wrong impression of our family,” I hollered back at them.

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