Page 38 of Hate the Game
I laughed so hard that I cried and had to hold my stomach as it cramped. One look at Jax’s bright red face made me laugh even harder and then snort. I slapped my hand over my mouth but there was no stopping me. The snort just made me laugh harder. Blaire was right there with me, both of us drawing attention to our booth in the busy shop as we laughed uncontrollably.
“It’s notthatfunny.” Jax grumbled. “I’ve grown a lot since then. For the record.”
Without thinking I grabbed his hand and squeezed. My breath caught in the middle of a laugh when he turned his hand over and interlaced our fingers. I coughed and had to take a longdrink of my milkshake before I could breathe normally again. Still, I giggled sporadically.
“This is why I don’t hang out with you.” Jax’s disgruntled tone towards Blaire made her flip him off.
“You should definitely write about this in your next article. I can see the headline now. Star quarterback has small penis but big dreams. It could work.”
Jax stiffened beside me and withdrew his hand. Cole had gotten a strange look on his face across the table, too. Before I could decipher the change of mood Trey walked in and spotted us. He came over and slapped Jax’s shoulder.
“What’s up, everybody? How come I didn’t get an invite to the party?” He grinned at me. “Texas. You’re looking like a tall glass of water on a hot summer day.”
I grinned back at him. “Georgia. Thank you very much. How were your tacos?”
“They would’ve been better with you at my side.” He covered his heart and sighed. “I see that I should’ve offered ice cream instead of tacos.”
“Nah. They just caught me on a hungry day. Tacos with my favorite Trojan couldn’t be beat.” My eyes went to Jax as his hand found its way back to my thigh, even higher that time. His jaw was stiff and for a second I couldn’t see a single remnant of the golden boy. Then he smiled and the mask was back in place.
“Your favorite Trojan?” Trey wiggled his eyebrows. “Just wait until I tell my momma about this.”
I ignored Jax and laughed easily. “Go get your ice cream, Trey.”
“Yeah, go get your ice cream, Trey.” Cole didn’t sound nearly as nice as I did when I said it.
Blaire met my eyes and made a face. “Ready to go, Vannah?”
I nodded emphatically, eager to get back into a territory I was familiar with. Being around Jax and Cole for that long was too much. “So ready.”
“I’ll find you for tacos soon, Texas.” Trey said his goodbyes as Jax stood up and let me out of the booth.
“Don’t forget, Georgia. You promised me tacos and I expect you to pay up.”
Blaire led the way out of the restaurant and I fell into step behind her. As we neared the door a rush of people came in and we all had to move over to let them pass. I felt both Jax and Cole move closer and rest a hand on my lower back. I froze and then felt them stiffen behind me.
I refused to look back and acknowledge anything had happened. I heard a muffled grunt behind me and rushed out behind Blaire as fast as my legs would carry me.
She looked over at me when I looped our arms. “What?”
I shook my head. “Nothing at all.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You sure about that?”
I cleared my throat. “Nope.”
***Savannah***
It seemed like I could only manage to avoid the guys for a few days at a time. So, of course, when I was starving half to death and rushing into the nearest dining hall, I passed Cole leaning just inside the door. I looked at him, looked at the line that kept growing longer, and decided I needed food more than I needed another moment with him.
“Ouch, Sav. Not even a hello?”
I winked at him over my shoulder. “Hello, Cole.”
He stayed where he was and I moved with the line, slowly bouncing on my toes as my stomach rumbled angrily. I wasn’t sure what I was smelling but it was making everything worse because it smelled delicious.
“You’re killing me.” Cole startled me. He’d snuck up on me without me noticing a thing and he’d gotten close. Close enough to lean in and whisper right into my ear. “All that bouncing is wreaking havoc on every straight man in here.”
I blushed and turned to tell him to shut up but he was already walking away, back to where he’d first been standing. I paidmore attention to my body when I bounced and blushed even harder when I felt how much things were moving.
