Page 52 of Trick Play
I turn, holding my hands up, planting my douchiest smirk firmly on my face. “Sure, sure. I can’t promise she’ll stay away from me, though.”
He surges toward me, an almost incoherent question on his lips, but Trey’s big palm slaps his chest, holding him back. “Leave him alone, Gray,” he says quietly. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of you. And you’re giving it to him.”
Kilpatrick subsides, or at least he stops coming at me enough that Trey’s hold loosens, even if it doesn’t completely relax. “I mean it, McAdam. She’s not some groupie for you to mess around with. Leave her alone.” Kilpatrick grits out.
Shrugging, I turn to the living room, making a big show of looking around for an empty seat before parking myself right next to Piper in her spot on the floor, leaning in close and bracing my arm behind her. It’s subtle, casual, but clear I’m staking a claim.
She glances at me, her eyebrows drawn together, but turns back to the conversation she’s having with one of the underclassmen and the girl he brought with him. Jacobsen? Jensen? Something with a J. He’s deep on the defense bench. We don’t have a lot of overlap, so I don’t know him well enough to remember his name.
As the conversation progresses, Piper leans against me, more comfortable with me here with her, accepting my presence, my claim. I participate in the conversation, tossing in my two cents when appropriate, but my attention is mostly split between paying attention to the growing crowd in the room and theLord of the Ringsmarathon that’s on TV. My mom loves these movies, so I’ve seen them a few times over the years. We’re somewhere in the second one, and I’m half watching so I don’t miss my favorite scene when the Ents destroy Isengard.
There’s a change in the air before that happens, though, and Piper stiffens beside me, pulling away. Looking around, I see her brother glaring at both of us. Raising my eyebrows, my eyes never leaving his, I reach out and pull Piper against me, making it clear to anyone watching—and specifically to Kilpatrick—that Piper and I are clearly comfortable enough with each other to touch casually like this. Like a couple. Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to use that word to describe whatever we are to each other, but he doesn’t need to know that. Right now he just needs to see that Piper and I are something to each other, and no amount of warnings from him will change that.
Except Piper stiffens, pushing away from me. “Stop it,” she hisses, drawing my attention away from her brother at last. She’s looking between him and me, her brows drawn together. “What are you doing?” she asks in a low voice.
“Spending time with you. What does it look like?”
She rolls her eyes and huffs. “It looks like you’re in a dick swinging contest with my brother, and I am not here for that. Back. Off.”
Holding up my hands in surrender, I scoot away from her, giving her the space she clearly wants, refocusing on the movie. After a moment, my frustration bubbling over, I get up, because I can’t stay next to her and not touch her. Not just because I want to rub it in her brother’s face that she lets me touch her—and I do want to do that—but also because I just have to touch her when she’s near me. Period. Whether there are people watching or not.
Needing to move, I pick my way to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water from the cooler, cracking it open and sucking part of it down. “Need any help, Brandy?” I ask after a moment.
She glances at me over her shoulder, her eyes amused. “How are you with carving a turkey?”
“Uhhh.”
“That’s what I thought,” she says with a laugh. “Trey always gets all nervous. His dad carves a perfect turkey, he says, and he feels like he’s butchering it. Plus he gets all squeamish about popping the legs out. Says it reminds him too much of the sound of a knee going out.”
I shudder at the thought.
She chuckles again. “Yeah. Just like that.” She shoos me away. “Get outta my kitchen. I got it. If I need help, Trey knows his way around. You’d just be asking me seven thousand questions and getting in my way.”
“Fair enough.” My eyes immediately find Piper when I look over the overflowing living room. She glances my way and holds up her phone, jiggling it back and forth at me.
I pull mine out and find a text from her.
Piper: Sorry. I just don’t want to rub Gray’s nose in anything.
Unfortunately, I do. But I’ll respect her wishes. It’s enough that Gray knows now, at least as far as I’m concerned.
Me: You’re forgiven. But I expect you to make it up to me later.
Her eyes widen and find mine when she sees my response, and I give her a sexy smile. “Tonight,” I mouth.
Her cheeks turn just a little pink, and the girl she’s talking to looks around, her eyes landing on me, clearly putting together that something’s going on between us.
Good. If some random chick can figure it out, anyone with eyeballs surely can. And that’s all I need.
Glancing around, I see there’s an empty spot on the couch next to my sister, so I go and claim it, ignoring her squawking protests.
With a rumbly chuckle, Simon picks her up and deposits her on his lap. “Better?” he asks her.
Huffing and glaring at me with annoyance, she nods. “Yes. Now Cal won’t elbow me in the head, at least.”
Simon drapes his arms around her and resumes his conversation. I poke her knee. “You having fun?”
She widens her eyes and looks around the room, laying a hand on her chest dramatically. “Moi? Are you actuallyspeakingto me? In a room full of your friends and teammates?” She leans forward, perching on the edge of Simon’s leg so she can place the back of her hand on my forehead. “Are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever? Do you need Tylenol?”
