Page 100 of Against the Clock

“I think it’s pretty funny,” Ty says.

“Are you going to tell Cameron you saw me?” Jacob asks, and I peek out from Daniel’s arm at him.

“You better believe I’m going to interrogate her about you. And if I find out you did something fucked up…” I manage to pull a hand out from Daniel, shaking it at him. “I’m going to find out where you live.”

“I already know where they live,” Daniel says. “We can egg their house.”

“Eggs are too expensive to waste,” I say. They all look at me like I’ve grown a second head. Right. That’s not a problem they have.

I detach myself from Daniel.

“Can I help you clean up?” I ask, then feel doubly stupid when I see that a crew of people have been cleaning up the party already. “Oh. Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time.”

“We’re good, Kelsey, but that’s really sweet of you. You got a good one, Daniel,” Darius says. “And you do too,” he directs at me. “No QB in the league is a better man than the one staring at you like he’s a fool in love.”

I put my purse over my shoulder, unsure how to answer that.

Daniel’s smile gets even wider. “Then let this fool in love take you home.”

“Okay—aghh!”

He picks me up, chucking me over his shoulder like a fireman.

“Shit, Harrison, your shoulder,” Ty says, and from my perch on his back, which seems really, really high, Ty looks worried.

But Daniel spanks my butt and before I can think too hard about what Ty said, Daniel’s running out of the house with me. My purse flops against his hip as he sprints, and he practically throws me in the truck.

He races around the car, diving into the driver’s seat.

“Are you drunk?” I ask him, blowing my hair out of my eyes. Or trying to. It just settles back on my lips. “I’m a little drunk.”

His smile fades, replaced by a concerned scrunch of his forehead.

“You’re really handsome,” I tell him, stretching out over the console to smooth the wrinkles above his brow. “I think you’re just really handsome.”

“I’m not drunk, but I can definitely tell you’ve had a few too many Darius cocktails.”

He leans over me. “Oooh,” I breathe. “Are we going to get frisky in the car again?”

He pushes the seat heater button. “Nope. Just trying to make you comfortable.”

“Why not?”

“Because you just said you’re drunk. I’m going to make sure you hydrate, and then we’re going to cuddle until you pass out, which… based on the way one of your eyes is slightly more closed than the other, won’t take long at all.” He opens up the center console and my eyes widen as cold air spills out of it.

I peek inside and it’s full of sports drinks and water bottles. “You have a fridge in your truck?”

“I know.” He sighs. “It’s over the top. But… why not, you know? Gatorade or water?”

“Do you have blue Gatorade? That’s my favorite.”

“You got it.”

“How come I didn’t know this was here?”

“You never asked.” He pulls out a blue bottle, twisting the top off before he hands it to me. “Be a good girl and drink up, Kels. You’re not going to want a hangover for what we’re doing tomorrow.”

I drink as much as I can, living for the approving look in his eye. He screws the top back on.

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