“You’re freakin’ me out, man. What’s going on?”
I turned, leaning back against the basin. “You know, you’re the last person I kissed.” His brows shot high, eyes widening. “Do you think that’s weird that I haven’t been partying much and getting laid?”
Straightening out his features, Sutton cleared his throat. “Season’s been busy. I don’t think many of the guys have been partying.”
I nodded. “True, but they’ve been complaining about not having the time. Me? I haven’t wanted to.”
“Okay?” He dragged out the word.
“So you don’t think it’s weird I haven’t been interested?”
Sutton’s gaze was as uncertain as it was unwavering. “Look, Jay, our season has been shit, and I know I’m pretty much responsible for that.” He didn’t need to clarify. “We haven’t talked about it, and honestly, with your accident and how we’re just sort of moving on, I wasn’t sure if we needed to.”
I opened my mouth to speak but stopped at the shake of his head.
“Listen, I’m sorry, okay. I got lost in my mind this season, got caught up with shit, and that’s on me, not you. I kinda surprised myself at my reaction, truth be told.” He stopped speaking and leaned against the doorframe. While he gathered his thoughts, I couldn’t help but agree with the last thing he said.
Sutton was a certifiable genius. But more than that, he was confident, and while he wasn’t cocky and talkative, he spoke his mind and wouldn’t dream of holding back when it came to defending the injustices of the world. So him shutting down had apparently surprised us equally.
Before I could censor myself, which I knew I really should, I did the usual and asked the random shit on my mind. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Have you been hooking up this season?” I held my breath and couldn’t even pretend that I didn’t know why. If Sutton said yes, there was no doubt jealousy would rear its ugly head.
That shouldn’t be so surprising, as I coveted our friendship and was a needy fucker. Seriously, I’d threatened to take out more than one player if they tried to hang out with my friend without me. Sutton was my best fucking friend, and everyone knew it. There was so much wrong with my behavior. I wasn’t a complete narcissist that I didn’t recognize that, but still, there was no denying the green-eyed monster would be a cockhead if Sutton answered yes.
As clear as day, I could tell he was considering not answering. The swell guy I was, I quirked my brow at him in challenge. He narrowed his eyes at me, replying, “No.”
My shit-eating grin was as immediate as it was bordering on psycho levels on par with the Joker.
“Just shut the fuck up and come and eat.” He turned and left me following, a legit bounce in my step and curiosity thrumming through my veins. Did I want to kiss Sutton again? More to the point, why did that question fill me with a thrill of anticipation rather than dread?
CHAPTER8
SUTTON
We fished again,cooked marshmallows over open flames, went for short walks, and even went to Bill’s house for a barbecue. We’d also visited the small medical practice and had Jayden’s stitches on his face removed. They’d left a scar, which apparently made him look like a badass—his words.
The past week in Mitchell had been the escape we needed, but after one of Ryan’s calls letting us know the press were no longer camping outside his home or milling around the area, it was time to head back.
We just had one more night before we’d be dealing with the fallout of my declaration. And that would mean lying to two of our closest friends.
“Why can’t we at least tell Ryan and Nate?” Jayden asked for the hundredth time.
Our conversation was playing out like a game of tag. Frustrated, I tugged the pillow from under my head, pressed it against my face, and groaned. A moment later, Jayden’s fingers wedged into my side, my squeak drawing a laugh from him. Returning the pillow to under my head, I angled to glance at him.
“What?” His lips twitched.
In the low lighting from the bedside lamp on Jayden’s side of the bed, it was hard to look at the man sharing a bed with me without my breath catching. Every time I thought I’d got a hold of my emotions and controlled my reaction to him, there he went, looking so peaceful and sexy. Add in the lines between his eyebrows as he shared my own frustration about our deception, and there was something most definitely endearing about the way my friend focused on me.
After taking a deep breath, I spoke. “We’ve discussed this to death, and just when I’m not sure, you remind me why we should stick to our original plan, and then we go back around in circles.”
Still on his side facing me, Jayden grunted and huffed out a breath. Warmth settled over me, along with the scent of mint toothpaste. “It sucks, and I feel like an even bigger dickhead.”
My fingers itched to stroke away his frown, but being in bed together would make that action far too intimate. Instead, I nodded. “We both feel crap about it, but we agreed to go all in.”
Nothing about our plan made sense, and we both knew it, just like we knew we kept backing ourselves into a corner.
