Page 37 of Don't Game Me
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t really get all the details, but it ended with Becca singing at the top of her lungs wearing some guy’s underwear.”
“Was she naked in his underwear?”
“Nowthatis a disgusting image. Eww. I don’t know. God, I hope she wasn’t. Ask her yourself, but getting more details on the event is like trying to crack the code of the secret sisterhood.”
“I got it tonight. No worries. I’ll make sure Reid isn’t successful without beating the crap out of him. I’ll be her designated get-home-safe person.”In my bed though? No promises.An image of Becca under him, naked and writhing, flashed in his head. The room suddenly felt stifling with too many people. He tugged to loosen his tie.
Noah said low, “Thanks. It might actually be a good idea if you were her date tomorrow.”
Shit.“If you need your parents distracted during this thing so you and Tori can have a few minutes alone, let me know.”
“Maybe.” Noah’s gaze settled on his soon-to-be wife. He shook his head and pinched his nose. “No. That’d be wrong. Too many people watching. There are at least three press people around here somewhere.” He glanced around. “I can’t wait for this to be over.”
“I’m going to save Becca from that reporter. Later.” Jake stalked to the memory table. “Hey, Becca.”
The reporter beamed at him, as expected. “Jake Allen, I’m from theNew York Times.” The guy’s gaze darted down to Jake’s chest and then back up. The reporter’s eyes gleamed with the offer of any sort of sex.
“Yes, that’s me.” Jake sipped his cranberry drink, although he wanted to gulp it.Be nice to this guy. Be charming. Press persona.His gaze darted to Becca, who had resumed perusing pictures of Tori and Noah in the album on the table.
The reporter said, “I saw the cover article on you out this week. Great pictures.”
“Thanks. It was an enjoyable shoot in Milan. Becca and I were just going to see her parents, if you’d excuse us.”
“Of course.” The reporter politely backed off.
Jake latched onto Becca’s elbow and steered. He whispered into her ear, “Smile, please.”
She followed his lead with a grin and whispered back, “I thought he was going to ask you out.”
“Me too.”
“He was sweet, even if all he did was ask about you. It was kind of a relief to have a single guy who wasn’t nudged by a relative to ask me out. Do guys hit on you often?”
“Yes, especially at events. Reporters can get vindictive if I’m not nice when they’re interested in more than an interview. It’s a tough line to walk.”
“You lean both ways?”
“No. I don’t have anything against it. It’s just not for me.”
She paused at a photo collage of Noah at the entrance to the banquet hall. She pointed to the middle of the collage. “Noah will die when he finds out Mom used his prom photo.”
“The braces are classic. I’m getting a photo of that.” He pulled out his phone and clicked a shot. “It might make an appearance at our next staff meeting.”
“He’ll die.”
“Well worth it to see him squirm. He keeps showing an embarrassing shot of me in cycling gear in abefore-the-fallandafter-the-fallscenario. I call this payback.”
She sobered. Her eyebrows snapped together. “He makes fun of your accident?”
Laughter shot out of him. “What’re you going to do? Beat up your brother for being mean to me?”
“I am fully capable of kicking his ass, even if he does have a hundred pounds on me. I know his weak spots.”
“It’s all good. I kind of miss cycling. But I was too competitive and kept crashing. After a broken wrist and collarbone, I decided the gym was less life-threatening.”
“I would’ve liked to see you in one of those spandex outfits,” she mumbled so low he almost missed it. She pointed at a picture of Noah as a kid with a dog and smiled. “I remember Bill. He and Noah were inseparable.”
