Page 30 of End Game

Like he’d never go for someone like me.

“She’s just jealous. Portia can’t stand the thought of me choosing someone else over her. That’s all.” He reaches out, settling his hand on my arm. “I’m sorry I put you into that position. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

The moment his fingers connect with my skin, I feel it all the way in the pit of my stomach. Lower even. He streaks his thumb back and forth across my arm, and a shiver steals through me.

I think he felt it. That’s probably why he removes his hand from my arm so quickly.

“It’s fine,” I tell him, desperate to brush this entire moment off. “Seriously. I hope Portia leaves you alone forever.”

“Me too,” he says, but his tone is full of doubt.

Matching the doubt that’s churning inside me.

His phone buzzes, and he reaches for it, reading the text that’s on his screen. “Coop’s at Charley’s. Everyone is. They want us to go there too.”

“Us?”

“I told him we were together.” Nico keeps tapping at his screen. “I let him know we’ll be there when you finish dinner.”

“I have to work tomorrow. It’s my first day at the café,” I protest.

He lifts his gaze to mine. “What time do you have to be there?”

“Five thirty in the morning.” He winces at my answer. “They open at six.”

“Damn, that’s early.”

“I know.” But the pay is good, and I like the fact that the earlier hours mean I won’t have to work late at night.

“Don’t worry. We won’t stay long,” he reassures me.

I smile and nod but don’t say anything. His using the wordweis misleading. There is definitely nowegoing on.

There’s just me.

We walk into the darkened bar fifteen minutes later, everyone greeting our appearance with a constant stream of “Nicooooooo” said in varying deep voices. I take a step back as people surround us, most of them his teammates and a few hangers-on. I shift to the side, eager to move out of the fray, when I feel a hand pulling on mine.

I look over my shoulder to see that it’s Sienna wearing a friendly smile on her face. She tugs me into a quick hug, keeping me close as she murmurs in my ear, “Walking in with Nico, I see. Look at you moving fast.”

I pull away from her to stare deep into her eyes, wanting her to see the sincerity in mine. “It means nothing, Sienna, I swear. He just took me to Hector’s. Insisted I try their burritos.”

“Oh, he loves that place, and I get why. The food is amazing,” Sienna says with a reaffirming nod. “What else is going on between you two?”

“Like I said, that’s it.” I glance around the bar, ignoring the men who are carrying on around Nico like he’s some sort of god. He’s got that dazzling smile on his face, the one that makes everything inside me shiver, and I notice the various women on the fringe of the group are watching him carefully, all of them wearing hopeful expressions on their faces. Probably wishing one of those guys—specifically Nico—would notice them. “I desperately need a drink.”

“Good thing you showed up at a bar.” She hooks her arm through mine and leads me over to a tiny table she must’ve been sitting at. There are at least four empty glasses sitting on top of the table, meaning someone must’ve been sitting with her. “Have a seat.”

I settle in, pushing some of the glasses away. “Did I interrupt you?”

“Not at all. I was sitting with Gavin.” She arranges the glasses so they’re all in a line in the center of the tiny table. “We were just catching up.”

Uh-huh. I don’t call her out on it, though, because I don’t know her that well, and I don’t know enough about the history between them either.

A server appears at our table, a woman about our age, and she smiles at Sienna. “You want another one?”

“Yes,” Sienna says with a firm nod. “And my friend just showed up.”

The server turns to me. “Hey, friend. What are you drinking tonight?”

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