Page 78 of Delay of Game
“You would what?” I prodded.
“He asked if I might introduce myself. Take you out.” He ducked his head. “Which I would have done anyway, now that I met you.”
A knot formed in my stomach, and I struggled to keep my face impassive.
Ethan read it like a book. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think he was asking for you.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, inhaling and forcing my shoulders down.
“I mean, from what I know about Rob, he doesn’t like many people. And he doesn’t know what to do when he does like someone.” Ethan metered out his words carefully. “I also think, based on how hard he’s glaring at us, he regrets asking me to talk to you.”
I kicked my feet in the sapphire blue water. A cloud covered the sun and cooled down the afternoon. “Does that mean you’re going to back off?”
He picked up his beer and took a swig, his lips puckering into a pout as he stared out over the pool. He shook his head. “Nah. I think we could both use a friend.”
“You want to be my friend?” I asked, oddly touched.
“Yeah. I’ve only been here for a couple of months, and I don’t have any. I left them all back in Alabama.”
“That’s a long way.” My heart tugged. “I’d really like that. I can tell you all the things you’re missing out on by playing in the NFL.”
“The mouthy kids and the lack of discipline?” he teased.
“The ridiculously small paychecks and the standardized tests.”
“I thought kindergarten teachers avoided tests.”
I shook my head. “Don’t I wish.”
“Hey, Astrid,” Rob called to me from the other side of the pool, Mila in one arm, a bag in the other. “We’re getting ready to head out.”
I licked my lips, not quite ready to go.
“Don’t worry, Captain!” Ethan boomed. “I’ll get her home.”
Rob’s face shuttered into a glare.
“He doesn’t look happy about that,” I said under my breath.
Ethan shrugged. “Give him a reason to miss you.”
Rob’s neck tensed, his body turning rigid. Mila straightened in his arms, surveying her dad with a frown.
“Let me just grab my bag out of your car,” I said, pushing myself off the ground and swiping Ethan’s empty beer on the way up. “I’ll grab us another round on the way back.”
I followed Rob around the house and back to the cars. He buckled Mila into her car seat while I grabbed my bag out of the passenger seat.
“You sure you don’t want a ride home?” he asked after shutting Mila’s door. He folded his arms over his chest, leaning on the driver’s side door while I waved goodbye to Mila.
“Yeah, my place is out of your way, anyway.”
“Barely,” he grumbled. “Should I come by later tonight? We need to do something about that back door, the one in the kitchen.”
My chest fluttered and I bit back a reflexive, “yes.” Despite asking to come over, he brought me to the barbecue intending to pawn me off on Ethan.
“No, not tonight.” I forced a laugh. “I’ll look for a key. Maybe Aunt Mercy just stashed hers somewhere and forgot.”
He pursed his lips. I took a step away from the door and gave him a half-hearted wave. “Maybe you could come by tomorrow instead?”
