Derek: FYI, had to tell Bailey the financial situation had improved. Didn’t tell her why. Leaving that up to you.
Chase: Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
Well, shit. I’d been hoping to delay that talk, but now I’d probably have to come clean before she put the pieces together herself.
But maybe I could delay a little longer. Guess I could gauge the mood when I saw her.
“You still coming for dinner?” Ty asked.
“Yeah, just have to head out after to pick up James.”
Halfway through my chicken club sandwich, Penner slid into the seat next to me at O’Connor’s.
“Carter, haven’t seen you out in ages.”
“I saw you last weekend. Remember?” Maybe he didn’t. He was blackout drunk with his tongue down Kristen’s throat. When she wasn’t making eyes at me, that is. Penner didn’t seem to notice that part. Hopefully James didn’t either.
I wished I could go back and erase everyone I’d slept with before her. It would simplify my life immensely.
His brow furrowed. “Oh yeah. Your girlfriend is fucking hot.”
“I know.” I picked up my pint glass and took a sip. “What about you and Kristen? Is that serious?” Please say yes so she gets off my jock.
“We’ll see. Keeping it casual right now.”
Yeah, good luck with that. I tried to do that too, and she went Fatal Attraction on my ass.
His attention slid to the door, where she’d just walked in. Speak of the she-devil. A group of her friends at another table across the room called her name, waving her over. With any luck, they’d stay over there. At least until I bailed.
“I’d better go,” he said, “but we’ll see you at the gala.”
“The gala?”
Penner nodded. “Yeah. We’re at your table.”
I schooled my expression, pretending like I knew. I did not. And I was not pleased about this development.
“Oh, right. See you then.”
As Penner walked away, I stood up, slid my plate down a few seats, and eased into an empty chair beside Ty.
“What the fuck, Ty? Penner was the only person you could come up with?” I hissed under my breath.
The table for eight cost five grand. It was for a good cause, so I didn’t particularly mind. But with the steep ticket price, not all the guys could go, let alone bring a date—which made filling the last two seats at our table tricky. Ward and I let Ty handle it, and he said he would. But Kristen? Had Tyler lost his mind?
Ty set down his burger and raised his eyebrows, evidently miffed at my combative tone. “What?”
“Don’t you think that’s going to be a little awkward for me?” I stabbed my french fry into the ketchup and bit into it.
Guilt creeped into his expression. “Fuck, man. He didn’t tell me she was his date.”
Tyler paid approximately zero attention to the love lives of other people, so this excuse checked out.
Gripping my glass, I sucked in a breath. “Look, I know you don’t do the whole dating thing, so you don’t understand. But for future reference, sharing a table with someone who still tries to fuck you isn’t ideal. Especially when your girlfriend will be in attendance too.”
Should I warn Bailey about Kristen ahead of time? Or play it cool and pray? If I warned her, she’d be on edge all night. If I didn’t, she might wonder what the fuck the deal was.
“Sorry.” He let out a long breath and looked me in the eye. “I just wanted to unload the tickets. Do you want me to see if I can get them to switch with someone?”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. That’ll make it into an even bigger issue.” Biting into my sandwich aggressively, I chewed and swallowed before continuing. “Truth is, I’m worried Morrison will be there too. He came last year. Between the two of them, I’m scared the night will turn into a clusterfuck.”
It almost made me second-guess going. But the tickets had already been paid for and, in theory, it would be a nice night out with Dallas and Shiv, plus Ty and whoever he dragged up. As long as those other things didn’t go off the rails.
“It’s a classy affair,” Ty said. “I think everyone will stay in line. But did you hear…” His voice grew quiet, and he furrowed his brow, dark eyes darting around the table to check for anyone listening.
“Hear what?”
“It’s probably just a rumor. But someone told me Los Angeles was talking to him.”
I almost blacked out.
What. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck?
“You’re kidding me.”
Los Angeles did have a need for some bodies to fill the fourth line. I sure as hell wasn’t going to be playing down there.
But Morrison? If I ended up on the same team as that dipshit, I was going to get kicked off or arrested. Maybe both.
OceanofPDF.com
BAILEY
Two exams, one massive essay, and one disastrous group project later, I’d almost survived the week. Unfortunately, it meant I had barely seen Chase. We were both feeling the strain of that. His constant stream of spicy and sweet texts said as much.
My phone buzzed on the table in the Callingwood Daily office.
Chase: I’m going to strip off your clothes and devour you later.
Bailey: Is that a promise?
Chase: Absolutely.
Bailey: Can’t wait to see you.
Chase: You have no idea.
Chase: Wrapping up dinner with the team. Be there in half an hour.
Biting back a smile, I shook my head and locked my phone, then flipped it facedown. I still had to finish a few tasks before I could let my mind wander in that direction. Even though the tug between my legs said other parts of my body already had.
I missed those big, strong hands. Those demanding lips. That low voice in my ear. That wall of muscle pressed against my body…
Oh god. Get it together, Bailey.
“Here.” I clicked send, and my laptop chimed, letting me know the email had left my outbox. “I sent you the art show piece for your review, Noelle. I think it should be pretty clean, but let me know if it needs any edits or trimming.”
“Thanks, B.” Noelle didn’t look up from the newspaper layout she was finalizing. When she was in the zone, she didn’t switch gears for even a second. She raked a hand through her blunt, midnight bob, thick hair falling perfectly back into place.
I reached over and grabbed my now-cold coffee and gulped the rest of it back. I’d pushed through the week fueled by excessive caffeine, sheer determination, and copious amounts of unhealthy food. Probably pushing the upper limits of safe caffeine consumption at this point, but I needed to be functional for a few more hours.
I could start healthy habits another time—like after graduation.
Checking the time, I did a quick mental calculation and determined I could submit my internship application before Chase arrived. I already had a current resume because of the scholarship package, so all I had to add was a quick cover letter. After writing that up, I crossed my fingers and held my breath, then submitted it to the email address listed. Then I let out a heavy sigh, trying to calm my nerves. Between the internship and the scholarship, maybe one of them would work out.
Before I knew it, an innocent kiss hello turned into a full-on make-out session in the parking lot.