Page 52 of Touchdowns and Temptations

“The pleasure is all mine,” he replies with a smile. “What would you like to drink?”

“We'll both have a beer, right?” Noah gives me a quizzical look and I nod. Beer is not one of my favorite drinks, but here it seems to be the drink of the masses.

We approach the bar together, and Noah introduces me to the rest of the clique. There's Ned, a friend from school, with his girlfriend Kelly and her friend Natasha. And Harry, another friend from school.

Noah introduces me to them and to my surprise they don't notice me or ask me any questions. It's nice to see Noah surrounded by his friends he's known since childhood.

“Alex, Noah!” a woman's voice calls out and I turn around. A beautiful blonde woman is walking towards us. She is tall and slender, her hair falling in soft waves over her shoulders.

“Daisy!” Alex circles the table and greets her exuberantly. Daisy? I look at Noah, who nods weakly as he greets her, too. I stand still, not moving, waiting for her to finish with them. Daisy plants a kiss on Noah's cheek and I bite my lips to keep my mind on something else. For some reason I don't like her getting so close to Noah. She wraps her arms around him like she owns him. Isn't she Alex's ex-girlfriend?

I press my lips together, trying to suppress the uncomfortable feeling called jealousy. I don't want to be jealous because there's no reason to be. Noah and I are not a couple. I'm not in love with him. He's my friend, nothing more.

It seems to me that Daisy has a knack for causing trouble.

“Oh God, Days!” exclaims Noah, shaking his head. “I want you to meet somebody.”

Noah turns and looks at me. I look back at him, and when he smiles at me, my heart skips a beat. His eyes say so much, but there's no way he's romantically or sexually interested in Daisy.

“This is Cara,” he introduces me. “Cara, this is Daisy.”

“Hey,” she says, friendly, shaking my hand. “Nice to meet you. I didn't know you had a girlfriend.”

“He didn't either,” I clarify. “I'm just a good friend. Cara, nice to meet you.”

“Oh!” Daisy looks at Noah and then back at me. “I didn't know, sorry. I'm glad you're here.”

I have to say, she's really nice. Damn. Usually, my first impression isn't wrong. Daisy smiles at me again and turns to Harry and Alex. Noah takes a step towards me and puts his arm around my waist to pull me close.

“Are you jealous?” he whispers so quietly that only I can hear him.

“What?” I squeak, panic spreading through me.

“You don't have to be jealous,” he says. “Not of Daisy.”

“And what about other women?” I blurt out immediately. I guess I'm confirming his assumption that I'm jealous.

“Nope,” he replies, planting a kiss on my temple. “Now come on.”

Smiling, he takes my hand and pulls me back to the bar. No one comments, the group just continues their conversation. In Boston this would be a scandal. Or maybe Noah has women here all the time and they're used to it? Maybe he's the big player here and not Alex. That would also explain why he's never mentioned a girlfriend.

An uneasy feeling spreads through me and I put some distance between me and him. I don't want to be one of many, but I also don't want to be the one. He's a football player, and I don't want to be with a football player.

Jesus, it's all so complicated.

“Do you think her bag is real?” I jump when I hear a female voice to my left and turn my head. Two young women are standing next to us, watching me. I look directly at them, and they give me a challenging look back.

“I don't know,” the brunette says. “Noah must have given it to her because she is spreading her legs.”

I gasp indignantly. What kind of wicked women are they? I'm not going to let anyone give me a Chanel bag for sex.

“Lucky her,” the blonde giggles. “I wouldn't say no to that either. To the bag and to Noah.”

Stupid cows! They're just jealous.

“Don't let them tease you.” I jump and turn around. A young woman with shoulder-length brown hair stands before me. Her curves make her stand out from the crowd of small-town women our age, but not in a bad way. She has great charisma and an incredibly pretty face framed by her long bob. “Oh, sorry. I'm Emily.”

“I'm Cara,” I say. “It's okay ... there are interesting people here.”

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