Page 55 of Score to Settle
I was expecting another testosterone-infused, egotistical reply but the humbleness to his answer takes me by surprise. Maybe Gordon isn’t as bad as Jake thinks. There’s obviouslyhistory with the two men but I pegged Jake so wrong when I first met him, I’m done basing my opinions of people on the past.
“So,” Gordon asks as we shift away from the swell of fans and players lining up at the bar. “You and Jake, are you together? Because I’d like to get to know you better if…”
Heat rushes through my body. Images of the night in Jake’s bed flood my mind again. Jake and I haven’t crossed the line since that night, but I’d be lying if I said there was nothing between us. Especially after that look from Jake on the field.
I start to reply, to squash the interest in Gordon’s eyes without admitting anything. Except my gaze is caught on the door as Jake steps through it and a loud cheer breaks out from the players and fans. He grins, setting a dozen fireworks off in the pit of my stomach. My body takes an involuntary step forward, but then I catch sight of the woman beside him. Jake isn’t alone. Hanging off his arm like the cat who got the fucking cream is the redheaded woman who took the selfie with him in here a few weeks ago. I watch as he leans down to whisper in her ear. It’s the same easy gesture he’s done with me a hundred times in the last few weeks. Whatever he says, she giggles, face lighting up, and she swats his arm playfully.
A crushing sensation squeezes my chest. I grit my teeth until the hurt passes. I was a fool to even think Jake was into me. To start to believe for a single second that what we shared the other night was anything more than sex. He’s treating me the way he does every woman. The flirting and closeness I’ve felt grow between us these last few weeks—it means nothing, I realize as a knot forms in my stomach.
I sip my wine, anger burning in my veins as I swallow down the hurt and devastation and turn back to Gordon with a reckless smile. “No,” I reply. “There’s nothing between me and Jake.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
JAKE
FLIC:Stop sulking in the corner and go get your girl.
JAKE:I’m not sulking. And she’s clearly not mine.
FLIC:Bullshit!
JAKE:Haven’t you got drinks to serve?
FLIC:Haven’t you got a win to celebrate?
I shove my phone in my pocket and ignore the pointed glare Flic shoots me from across the room. I’m not sulking. I’m confused and I’m pissed. Something happened in the space of time between stepping away from Harper in the parking lot after the game and arriving at the bar. And now she’s letting a dick like Gordon drool all over her.
What the hell happened?
I take a swig of my beer and watch Harper goofing around with Gordon by the jukebox. She’s wearing a red lace bra beneath the white Stormhawks top. The flash of red strap and the swell of her breasts straining against the white fabric is sexy as hell, and there isn’t a man in this bar who hasn’t noticed. Gordon says something as he leans over the jukebox, and theway she smiles at him has my vision blurring with anger. I’d planned to tell her tonight how I feel—how I want more. I want everything. And now it’s all gone to shit.
My jaw muscles tighten and I drag my gaze away from her. If I thought for a single second Harper needed rescuing, I’d be over there, but even in my fury I can see she’s having a good time.
The bar is filling up. Every seat taken. The music is loud and Billy is cajoling a group into line dancing with him. He’s found a wide-brimmed cowboy hat from somewhere, clashing with the green tartan golf pants he swears are the height of fashion. Somehow, he still pulls it off. If I wasn’t so pissed, I’d laugh. Hell, I’d probably join him on the dance floor.
Across the bar, Cherry is leaning against the wall, drinking a bottle of beer and watching me. She catches my eye, slowing down her movements as her lips slip over the end of the bottle. Her eyes are suggestive and I know when she flicks her gaze to the door, what she’s suggesting. I shake my head and she rolls her eyes.
She looks at Harper and Gordon then back to me. “Her?” she mouths, but I look away. I don’t answer to Cherry. I told her earlier when she’d caught up to me in the parking lot and slipped her arm in mine that I wasn’t interested. I was gentle about it, leaning in to tell her I was seeing someone and thought it could be serious.
Her response was to laugh.Come find me when it’s over, was all she said before moving away. Now it’s like she’s daring me to make Harper as jealous as I feel right now. But that’s not my style. Any fun I once found in the back of my truck after a win disappeared the night on the benches when I watched Dylan bust his knee.
Before I met Harper, I thought I was done with women. Now I realize I was done with the wrong women. It’s a kick in the gutto see the only woman I want flirting with another man. And not just any man, but the biggest sleaze in Colorado.
“Pussy,” a voice whispers in my ear, followed by a hand on my shoulder. I don’t need to turn around to know who that voice belongs to. Flic.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” I say, biting off the words.
Flic fixes me with her pale blue eyes. Like always, she’s dressed in a black tank top and black jeans. Today her long, ice-blonde hair is hanging loose down her back. “Yeah, right,” she scoffs. “Admit it, Jake, you’re too scared to go after your girl because you’re worried your tender little heart might finally get broken.”
I huff, taking another sip of beer. “It’s got nothing to do with me. I just don’t want to see Harper get used by the likes of Gordon. She’s too good for that piece of shit.”
“Spoken like a man who isn’t jealous at all,” she replies, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“You know if you were Chase or Dylan, I’d be telling you to fuck off right about now,” I reply.
She laughs. “Go ahead, Sullivan. I’ve heard worse from you over the years. And since your brothers aren’t here and I am, let me tell you exactly what they’d tell you. You’re full of shit.”
“How do you figure that?” I ask, wishing I hadn’t when I turn to Flic and find she’s looking at me like I’m the biggest dumbass in the place.
