Page 34 of Personal Foul
Chapter Twelve
Rush
“Red’s a good color on you,” I whisper in her ear. “Although that dress looks way too good on you to be worn to dinner with your parents.”
She chuckles, batting her eyelashes, staring up at me. The glimmer in her eye is one that’s testing me, but we just pulled up in front of Rosalina’s restaurant. While I’m not opposed to another car rendezvous, the last thing I want is to get caught by her parents this time around.
“Let’s get inside before I decide it looks better on the floorboard of my car.”
She grins, tucking a strand of her long auburn hair behind her ear and reaches for the door handle. Before she pulls the lever, she glances at me over her shoulder, her lips covered in glossy red lipstick as she whispers, “Yes sir,” earning her a low growl from me.
Her laugh this time is harder, throatier. I reach my hand out to swat her ass, though she dodges my attempt.
“You look really good yourself, all dressed up,” she compliments, her voice cracking at the end.
“Behave,” I warn as we reach the front of the restaurant.
It’s easy for us to spot her dad standing near the front by the doorway, choosing to wait for us rather than being seated.
“Oh, honey,” her mom sings as soon as she spots Sydney. Coach smiles broadly when he sees her. Dropping my hand from her lower back, I walk beside her to the restaurant.
Sydney has mentioned how close they are, and how with everything that’s happened since she moved back to Miami, she hasn’t had a chance to spend time with her mom. Seeing Mrs. Carr for the first time, I notice their striking difference as the petite woman hugs Sydney. Her arms wrap around her, holding her face as she tells her daughter how much she has missed her.
“Colson, this is my mother, Susie. Mom, this is Colson.”
“Colson, thank you,” she cries, holding her hands out to me. “I feel like I owe you my life for what you did for our Sydney. Thank you so much.”
I nod, returning her hug as a way of greeting, before clapping my hand in Coach’s. The edge of his mouth curls, telling me it’s good to see me.
“Happy Birthday, Mrs. Carr. I should be thanking you for inviting me to join you tonight.”
“Nonsense, we thank you for what you did and are so grateful to have you joining us. Truly, we appreciate it. Please, call me Susie.”
Pressing my hand against Sydney’s back, she leans into me, peering up at me with a soft smile. We hadn’t talked about how tonight would go, but I notice how Coach’s eyes bounce from me over to his daughter, examining the close proximity between us, before his eyes find mine again.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carr, we have your table ready. Is your party on their way?”
“No, they’ve just arrived,” he says, gesturing to where I’m standing.
The host looks from me, over to Coach, then back to me. The second glance has his jaw unhinged, practically gaping.
“Holy shit,” he whoops before he’s able to stop himself. “Colson Rush. I’m sorry, I can’t believe it. Wow, I can’t believe you’re here. I’m such a huge fan.”
He holds his hand out to me, wide-eyed like he’s afraid I’d disappear if he were to blink.
Chuckling, I say, “Hey, man. Good to meet you. Thank you, I appreciate it.”
He grins, shaking my hand with enthusiasm.
“I’m sorry, forgive me. Let me see you to your table.”
He takes a step back, tripping over his own feet beforebumping into the hostess stand.
“Jesus, Kevin, what the heck?” another hostess, who looks like she can’t be more than eighteen years old, scolds him under her breath. He mutters my name to her, motioning with his head over to where I’m standing.
Judging by the look on her face, she isn’t as impressed as he is.
Sydney bumps her hip against me. “Look at you. It seems like everywhere you go, someone loves you.”
