Page 81 of The Wrong Play

“No touching,” Jace said, voice sharp but smirking, stepping closer to me, his hand sliding to my hip, gripping tight, possessive as hell. I froze, caught off guard, my smile wobbling as Parker raised his hands in mock surrender, still grinning like some kind of otherworldly, gorgeous creature.

Jace leaned in, his lips brushing my ear, breath warm as he whispered, “Parker sometimes has magical powers with women, so we best not risk it,” he said in a low growl.

The gorgeous girl next to Parker snorted, rolling her eyes, and I watched as Parker pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head, looking at her with the same wide-eyed awe that I’d seen before…whenever Jace looked at me.

“I only use my magical powers ononewoman,” Parker commented, sounding a bit growly as he pulled the girl closer to him.

My stomach did its weird twisty thing again.

“Nice to meet you,” I murmured, barely audible over the noise, my cheeks heating up as Jace’s fingers squeezed my hip, steady and sure, staking his claim.

Jace gestured to the girl next to Parker next. She was beautiful, with long, dark hair, sharp cheekbones and big, bright eyes that sized me up quick, not mean, just curious.

“This is Casey,” Jace said, his voice softening a little. “Smartest one here, keeps us in line, and the love of Parkie Poo’s life.”

Parker beamed at that intro, and Casey blushed and looked down at the ground, like she wasn’t sure how such a thing could be true either.

“Hey, Riley,” she said, her voice calm, a little husky, and she smiled—just a small curve of her lips, but it felt real.

“Good to meet you.” I nodded back, my hands fidgeting, feeling a little less lost with her steady gaze.

“Andthisis Matty,” Jace said as a guy with a mop of wavy black hair leaped off the tailgate, landing with a thud that rippled the ground, all lean muscle and swagger in one hot package. Matty had bright blue eyes that were piercing, the kind that’d stop traffic. He was gorgeous—wide and solid, his arms sculpted under a faded UT shirt that clung to every muscle.

There was a pause as he stared at Jace like he was waiting for something.

“Why are you acting weird?” Jace asked. “You’re going to make her think I hang out with weirdos.”

“I’m just waiting for the rest of my introduction,” Matty snapped. “You had a whole bunch of nice things to say about Parker, so where aremynice things?”

“Oh, you’re feeling insecure about the ‘bestilicious number one’ thing,” Jace said with a nod. “That’s only because I met him first. It’s not a ranking thing,per se.”

“Per se…that was a good one,” said Parker.

Jace beamed at him. “Thank you. I knew you would like that one.”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.

“I’m still waiting,” said Matty, sounding very disgruntled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “And I don’t think we ever agreed on the No Drama Llamas thing. I think there were better options. Like not having a name at all.”

“He’s just mad that he didn’t think of the group name first,” Jace whispered—loudly—in my ear.

Matty grunted again, and Jace sighed like he was being very put out. “Riley-girl, this is Matthew. Star tight-end, known for histight endand his missingquarterinch. Bestilicious number two.”

Matty’s face got a little red, and we were all laughing as he stared at Jace like he was going to kill him.

“What’s the quarter inch thing?” I asked.

Matty got even redder.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he said in a weird, high-pitched voice as he waved his hand at me and jumped back on the tailgate.

Last was another girl, leaning against the truck, her blonde hair catching the firelight like it was made of gold. “This is Natalie,” Jace said, grinning again. “Casey’s bff, our resident fireball. She has a mean right hook we’ve learned, but so far she hasn’t used it on any of us.”

Natalie rolled her eyes, but looked very proud at her introduction. She was tall and curvy, her smile wide and bright, like she was ready to charm the whole world. Her blue eyes sparkled as she waved at me enthusiastically, her nails painted orange to match her UT shirt. “Riley! Oh my gosh, you’re adorable,” she said, her voice bubbly and fast, like she couldn’t wait to spill a hundred stories. “You and Jace are the cutest. Do you like Nerd Gummies and football? It’s okay if you don’t like football. We can work on that.”

I blinked at all the hurried sentences falling out of her mouth as Casey laughed, high and sweet.

“You’re going to scare her off, Nat. And then she won’t want to be friends with us.”

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