Page 10 of Trick Play
His blue eyes darken, that smirk drawing up the corners of his mouth. “Oh, baby, you have no idea.”
My breath catches, and my entire body erupts in flames. Poof. Just like that, I disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Except I don’t. That would be too easy and put me out of my misery. Instead I gulp. Audibly.
Cal leans in so his face is only inches from mine. “You’re going to lose our bet, and when you do, I’m going to show you exactly how bad I can be.”
I’m in so much fucking trouble.
So. Much. Trouble.
* * *
“Hey, Piper,” Dani says as she makes her way around the couch and the bodies of football players littering the floor. “I need your help with something.”
I pop out of my seat, setting my plate with only a few crumbs, a dab of salsa, and a half eaten brownie on it on my chair, only too happy for a chance to escape Cal and his smoldering gaze and heated promises. “Sure. What do you need?”
She gestures into the kitchen with her head, and I follow behind. But once we’re in the kitchen, she grabs my hand and tugs me down a hall and into a bedroom, where she shuts the door behind us.
I glance around at the clothes scattered on the floor, the rumpled bed, and the football gear in the corner. “Uhh, you need my help in one of the guys’ bedrooms? Why?”
She rolls her eyes, her hands on her hips. “What’s going on with you and Cal?”
A flush creeps up my face, but I pretend like I can’t tell. “What are you talking about? Nothing’s going on with me and Cal?”
She huffs. “Yeah, right. He’s barely taken his eyes off you since we got here. And he bought you hot chocolate or something? Why didn’t you tell me?”
I wave a hand, trying for airy indifference. “It was nothing. It’s not what you think.
Dani’s not buying it, though. “Bullshit,” she says succinctly. She points a finger at the door. “You weren’t here last year, so you don’t know how he operates. I do. Eli was on the team last year too, and I was around just as much then as now. Tell me what happened.”
Shrugging, I bite my nail and look away. “I bumped into him on the way to class one day, he offered to buy me hot chocolate since it was cold and I hadn’t dressed warm enough. I declined. When I left class, he was waiting at the door to Kent Hall.”
Dani’s eyes grow wider as I recite my tale, and she whacks my arm. “Dude. You have to tell me these things.”
It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “First of all, I don’t, actually. Second of all, there was nothing to tell. Nothing happened.”
“Ouch,” she says, a flicker of genuine hurt in her eyes that makes me feel bad.
“Look, Dani—” But she cuts me off with a wave of her hand.
“No, you look. I know we’re potluck roommates and not BFFs or anything, but I thought we were friends.”
“We are,” I insist. Sighing, I rub my forehead. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I just don’t like being told what to do. It’s nothing personal. My auto reaction to being told Ihaveto do anything is to say, ‘No, I don’t.’ As far as Cal goes, literally nothing happened. I saw him waiting before I got out the door, turned around, and went out the other side of the building.”
“Dude,” Dani says, her voice heavy with disbelief. “You had one of the hottest guys on campus flirting with you, and you ran the other way?”
All I can muster in response is a shrug. She shakes her head slowly. “So what’s the deal today?”
I bite my nail again, really not wanting to answer.
“Piper,” she says, her voice a mixture of cajoling and warning that shouldn’t work, but somehow it does.
Dropping my hand, I sigh in frustration. “Fine. We somehow made a bet that if I can make it through the day without staring at his mouth or admitting I’m attracted to him, he’ll leave me alone. But I can’t do it by avoiding him.”
Dani’s eyebrows climb her forehead. “And?”
“And what?”
