Page 42 of Tight Spot

And I had actually come to her tonight instead of texting because we needed to talk. We’d done a lot of that, but none of it is what we needed to talk about.

“I have an event to go to next Friday. Can you be free to come with me?”

“What?” She blinked, still coming down either from her orgasm or my denial to get her hand on me, so it took a second before her gaze cleared. “Friday?”

“Yeah. Cole, the quarterback on our team, hosts a summer camp for kids every year. It ends on Thursday and then there’s a dinner and dance after the last day to raise money for next year’s camp.”

“Is it…like fancy? Black tie?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”

It occurred to me I still had her back pressed to the bookshelves and stepped away.

“I can buy my own dress, that’s not why I asked.”

She probably could.

“Yeah, but this is last minute, and you’ll be busy, but you can come with me? Media will be there, and my coach.”

“And the team’s manager?”

“And owner,” I confirmed.

It’d be my first night out doing what he expected of me. Figured by now, we at least knew each other well enough we wouldn’t look fake.

“I’ll make it work. So yeah, I can be there.”

“Good.” And because we were still close, and I couldn’t help myself, I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I really do need to get going. Thanks for a good night, Hailey.”

“Thanks, for, um, you know…” She waved her hand in a circle in front of her, that blush returning.

“You haven’t seen anything yet. Trust me.”

I grabbed the book I’d tossed to the couch, and she walked me to the door.

“Make sure you lock up behind me. I’ll text you the details about Friday once I confirm them.”

“Okay.” She licked her lips, looked too damn sweet for me and oh so perfect. “Night, Dawson.”

I turned and left before I did what I really wanted to do, which was take her back to her bed and spend the rest of her night teaching her everything she wanted to know about pleasure and everything she hadn’t considered yet.

* * *

The sun beat down on me, even standing in the shade. It was hot as hell outside, and I still couldn’t figure out why I agreed to head up to Marysville to play cornhole with Cole and Davis and one of Cole’s friend’s, Scott, but there I was, sipping a beer, tossing around a bean bag and removing my ball cap every few minutes to wipe away the sweat.

Good news, which was the only kind of news I was focusing on, was the general manager’s text I got this morning with a screenshot of Hailey curled up to my side at Margo’s. All Rick said wasNice to see. Will I meet her next weekend?

I responded with a simple yes and promptly turned my phone to silent, only looking at it again when I got the thank you text from Hailey about the details for Friday’s event. By the time Cole told me to get my house in his hometown to be his fourth for cornhole with Davis and a local guy they’d become friends with, Scott.

I didn’t particularly enjoy cornhole.

But I liked the fact that since we were in the small town where Cole and Eden grew up, people mostly left us alone. There was always the occasional camera out and pointed our way, but if one of the workers saw it, they stopped it.

Since it wasn’t my turn, I was hiding in the shade along with Maggie, who was not only visibly pregnant but planning her wedding to Davis, sitting with Eden and Scott’s wife, Cassy.

“You in need of a plus one to the fundraiser next week that Eden’s been stressed to the max about?” Cassy laid her hand on my arm playfully. “I’ll go with you. Always wanted to hobnob with the who’s who of Nashville.”

I peeled her hand off mine and gave it a friendly squeeze. Cassy was laid-back, living her dream with her husband and in their first year of starting their own small farm. I knew this because she was constantly talking about the treehouse Scott built for her and the goats she wanted for her homemade goat’s milk and cheese.

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