Page 119 of Playbook
He grins like he knows exactly why I’m parched, but doesn’t comment as he leads me to an open spot with two fingers on my lower back.
The bartender looks our way instantly. Ah, what it mustbe like to get this kind of service everywhere you go.
“What can I get you?” the guy asks.
“Usual for me and she’ll have…” He looks down at me.
“Diet Coke.”
The guy nods and gets started pouring our drinks.
“I’m laying off alcohol for a very long time,” I say by way of explanation. Ever since the bachelorette party, hard alcohol makes my stomach churn.
“Mhmm…until someone breaks out the champagne.”
My mouth goes suddenly much drier. The cheap champagne I brought to his party was opened and drunk…mostly by us in his new amazing bed…and let’s just say that a cheap champagne hangover is not on my list of things to repeat. Sex in that gigantic bed though…yes, please, forever.
With our drinks in hand, we go to a table where some of his teammates are sitting.
Tripp lifts his chin in greeting as Brogan pulls a chair out for me. “Hey there, gorgeous.”
The man behind me growls, and I look back in time to see him glaring at his friend.
Tripp chuckles. “What? You don’t think your girl is gorgeous or don’t like that every other guy in here is looking at her? It’s kind of hard not to notice how pretty she is. Especially when she’s standing next to your ugly ass.”
“I think…” He sits next to me and drags my chair closer to him and farther from Tripp. “She’s the hottest woman in the universe, but I’m not letting you, or any of these other fuckers, steal her away from me.”
He grins and holds up his hands. “Wouldn’t dream of it. You lose this one and it’s all on you, Six.”
“I’m dumb, but I’m not that dumb.” Brogan drapes an arm around the back of my chair, and I lean into him.
In the time we’ve been hanging out with his teammates at parties and events, I’ve gotten to know a little about their personal lives and they don’t ignore me or talk around me. I feel like one of the guys around them. I chat with Merrick about his recent adventures in dating apps – he’s been matched with some real losers but since half his profile is a lie, it’s hard to feel sorry for him. I force Slade out of his shell by asking him about the game even though I understand very little of what he says in return, and I help Tripp look for women in the crowded bar when Brogan gets up to get the table another round.
While I’m scanning the bar for “his type,” which is very vague and basically includes all women between the ages of twenty-five and forty, I see a woman stepping up next to Brogan at the bar.
He’s oblivious to her until she invades his space. I watch in amusement as he takes a step away from her. His mouth moves so I know he says something to her, but as soon as the bartender sets the drinks down in front of him, Brogan practically runs away from her.
When he gets to the table, I smirk at him. “Trouble at the bar?”
“You saw that, huh?” His grin is wobbly and nervous. “I told her I was happily in a relationship and that my girlfriend didn’t like it when people put their hands on me without permission. Except in football, although it’s the rules of the game so it’s sort of like they have permission.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing.
“Are you mad?” he asks. “I’m sorry. See, this is why you need to come with me everywhere I go. I need a bodyguard.”
“You called me your girlfriend.”
“Yeah,” he says slowly. “Is that okay?”
“I’ve just never heard you say it since it’s been true. I like it.” I like it a lot.
“Oh yeah?” He leans in and my stomach flips around as his dark eyes glitter with mischief. His lips ghost across mine. “Girlfriend.”
A thrill shoots through me. I am totally in love with this man. Ridiculously, hopelessly in love with him.
“Boyfriend,” I whisper back.
“Ooooh. That is nice,” he replies before kissing me harder.
