Page 41 of Hitting the Gap

Gonzo sighed. “Bailey, this is Lourdes Hernandez.” He flicked his hand toward her. “Hernandez, this is Bailey,”

“Nice snag in the third,” Bailey said.

“Thanks.” Hernandez puffed out his chest at the compliment.

Brandon Sims stood off to the side with his hands buried in his jeans pocket and a slightly annoyed look on his face. Win or lose, Sims always looked like he wasn’t sure he wanted to be out at the bar with the team. “And you’ve already met this grumpy bastard,” Gonzo told Bailey.

“I’m not grumpy. I’m just not a fucking golden retriever like you.”

“I’m not a golden retriever,” Gonzo scoffed. “If you’re gonna compare me to a dog, at least compare me to something badass.”

“What’s wrong with golden retrievers?” Bailey asked.

Was she serious? Who the hell wanted to be called that? “There’s nothing sexy about being a golden retriever.”

Bailey smirked at him. “Got to be honest with you, Gonz. There’s nothing sexy about any dog, so I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Haha.” He scowled. “You know what I mean. No guy wants to be compared to a golden retriever.”

“Right, because what woman would like a loving, sweet, fun guy that’s always there for her, no matter what?” Bailey shook her head. “That sounds awful. Who’d want to date that? Blech.” She glanced over at him. Their eyes held and he felt that same little blip in the pit of his stomach.

Brandon cleared his throat and he tore his eyes off her. Whatever this was, he needed to rein it in ASAP. He wasn’t going to fuck up his friendship with Bailey just because his dick had decided it wanted a starring role in their relationship.

“So who’s winning?” Brandon asked.

“We’re just getting started,” Ryan said as he walked up to the tape line.

Bailey glanced over at him. Her eyes dancing with amusement and said, “But apparently we established Gonzo’s in the mood to go down.”

Ryan sputtered out a laugh. Kendall threw her arm around Bailey’s shoulder. “Oh my god, I love you.”

And Gonzo’s dick twitched against his zipper. So much for getting his dick on board with the whole just friends thing. Because yeah, the more he thought about it, the more he realized Bailey was right. That was exactly what he wanted to do. Shit.

He picked up his beer and downed the rest of the glass.

“You okay, dude?” Brandon asked.

“What? Yeah, of course.”

Bailey walked over and picked up her drink while Ryan lined up for his shot.

“How long have you two been together?” Hernandez asked.

“We’re not together,” Gonzo replied.

“Obviously.” Bailey snorted. “Can you imagine?”

Why did she make it sound like the idea of dating him was so ridiculous? Women all over the place would love the chance to date him. What the hell was her problem? “Why’d you say it like that?”

Bailey glanced over at him, then her brow wrinkled in confusion. “Look at the women around here.” She waved her hand to encompass the bar. “And look at me.” Her left eyebrow rose as she scrunched her face into a look that said, duh.

“Wha—?” he grunted. At the same time Hernandez said, “Huh?” Good to know he wasn’t the only one that didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.

Bailey rolled her eyes, then smirked. “Case in point.” She nodded her head toward the two women in Hawks’ jerseys coming toward them like a heat-seeking missile.

The women stopped in front of them. The blonde stepped up so close she was practically touching him. “Hi.” She batted her heavily made-up blue eyes at him. “You guys were great today.”

“Thanks. Were you at the game?”

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