One, there isn’t a League mandate saying we aren’t allowed to hangout outside of work hours.
Two, there is no clause in either of our contracts that prohibits us from dating if the situation were to arise.
Which prompts the question, would getting caughtreallybe all that bad of a thing?
My father’s wrath excluded, of course.
FOUR
FORTUNE
“Alright,give me your car keys. You’re going to go in now, and I’ll wait five minutes, then come in behind you.” Lea turns toward the driver’s seat to face me with her hand stretched out and her palm facing up.
Despite her brain working in overdrive, she’s got an easygoing manner about her I find comforting. Almost as if we’re two old friends hanging out after work. She always seems to have wheels turning in her head. Much like she is now, twisting up different narratives of the most minor interactions.
I find it cute. Endearing, even.
Because she’s not thinking about herself right now, she’s thinking about me. The shit I’d get in the locker room from my teammates, and the inevitable interrogation from Coach if he catches wind of rumors of us showing up to a party like a couple.
It’s sweet of her to look out for me.
Too bad I don’t give a damn being seen walking in with her, or the aftermath that might ensue.
All I give her in response is ayou’ve got to be kidding melook, which makes her eyebrows raise to her hairline. A second passes before she rears back, letting those distracting, heart-shaped lips of hers drop open. “What? You didn’t think we were going to walk in together, did you?”
The blank stare I continue to give her is proof enough that’s exactly what I was thinking. Because people assuming we’re a couple all because we walk into an event side by side is absurd.
“If we walk in together, people will think we’re…together together. You don’t want to spend the entire night fighting off speculations of the two of us dating, do you?”
Most people wouldn’t jump to conclusions, but I know these guys well enough to know that some of them would be stupid enough to make assumptions about something so small. Especially considering Lea and I have hardly interacted at work in the last few years unless it was a group setting.
“No one is going to speculate that we’re ‘together together.’ Everyone will be too busy in their own little worlds to notice we’re slipping in late to begin with, let alone that we’re walking in with one another.” Lea stares back at me with her palm still up, waiting for my keys. She can spend all night trying to talk me out of walking into that damn party with her, but it’s either that, or I'm not walking in at all. “Come on, let’s go.”
Pulling the door handle, I take a step out, but when I glance over my shoulder at Lea to see if she’s following, she’s not. Instead, she’s staring at her phone in her hand. “You go ahead. I have to send an email real quickly. I’ll only be a few steps behind you, promise.”
“Lying doesn’t look good on you, Sterling.” The corner of my lips turns up playfully. I’ve got a feeling this girl is going to give me a run for my money before we even make it to Tommy’s backyard.
She’s so worried about getting caught together, yet she had no problem riding here with me or talking to me out in the open at the facility earlier, where anybody could have seen us. What’s the difference now?
“I didn’t lie,” she replies defensively. “I genuinely do have to send an email first. I promised Roxanne I’d send her that article about Tennyson tonight, remember?”
“Great. I’ll sit here while you send it, then we’ll walk in together.”
She twists her head toward me so quickly I’m surprised she doesn’t have whiplash. “I find it suspicious that you’re being so persistent about this.”
I settle back into my seat and close the door before turning to face her. Admittedly, getting closer than two coworkers should get. Only a couple inches separate my mouth and hers, and as tempting as it is to drop my gaze to those perfect lips of hers, I’ve got to stand my ground.
“I find it suspicious that you’re dead set on showing up alone. Got something to hide?”
She scoffs while locking her phone, but keeps her attention zeroed in on me. Both of her eyebrows raise, giving me the kind of look a parent gives their kid when they’re back talking. I rarely got that look from my mom as a kid, but my sister, Georgia, she’s a smartass. No one else can say that, though. Only I can since I’m her big brother. If I had a dollar for every time G got one of these glares growing up, I’d be a damn billionaire by now.
“What if I don’t want to walk in together because I have a boyfriend you don’t know about? Don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression or seem unfaithful.”
I laugh.
I can’t help it.
Try as I might, the chuckle rumbling in my chest breaks past my clamped lips.
