Page 38 of The Playbook

“Only the best for my future best friend.” I grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes at me but didn’t snark back.

“I don’t know. Cinnamon and sugar? Caramel? Ranch? Garlic Parmesan?Jalapeño?” She lifted the jalapeño and ranch canisters up and cocked her head at me. “I’ve never had either. And since we’re both two mismatched people, it only feels right if our popcorn is. Care to live dangerously?”

The way she said it had my heart racing.

“Absolutely.” I rose to the challenge.What did sweet Grace have in mind?

“Let’s try them all. Maybe we’ll become popcorn experts.”

I grinned at her idea. It sounded lame and totally fun.

“Deal,” I said, going to the fridge and pulling it open. “What do you want to drink? We have soda, water, juice, beer.”

“I’ll take a beer,” she called out.

I froze and looked back to find her grinning widely at me.

“I’m kidding,” she snickered. “I’ll have a water.”

“I’ll give you beer if you want it, Gracie.” I shrugged. “But Coach will fucking kill me if I bring you home shit faced.”

“In that case, I’ll have two beers.” She winked at me, causing me to grin again.

I didn’t think I’d ever genuinely smiled this much with a girl before. I snagged a couple of waters and handed her one. She sipped it, her eyes locked on mine. Something about the way she looked at me made my mouth go dry. The girl was all over the place. I could never read her.

“Did you pick a movie?” I asked, clearing my throat.

“I—” she started, but the ringing of my doorbell silenced her. A look of pure panic spread over her face.

I frowned as I moved past her to get the door. “I’ll be right back,” I said, wondering what her issue was.

Yanking open my door, I was greeted by Ryan, Dax and three girls I didn’t know.

“Hey, guys,” I greeted them. “What’s up?” I stood aside so they could step inside.

“Nothing much. Sorry I didn’t text first. We were in the area and figured since your parents were out we’d come hang out. You do have a hot tub and pool.” Ryan peered past me into the house.

“I see.” I laughed.

“Is it cool if we hang out?” Dax asked.

“Uh. . .” I didn’t want to turn my friends away, and Dax was giving me a pleading look. “Sure. I guess for a little bit.”

“Awesome.” He grinned. “By the way, this is Jenna, Avery, and Mandy.” He pointed to each girl as he said their names.

Jenna was the blonde who wasn’t latched to one of the guys. Mandy was with Ryan while Avery was with Dax. It was plain to see that was how this was working.

“Jenna here loves football,” Ryan explained, nodding to the girl who was eyeing me.

“Yeah? Cool. I play,” I said with a smile.

“Ryan and Dax told me.” She giggled.

Shit. My stomach twisted as I remembered Grace was in the kitchen, waiting for me.

“Uh, you guys can head out to the pool if you want. It’s heated. Or there’s the hot tub. I, uh, was just in the kitchen making some popcorn.”

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