Page 50 of Play For Me

“You’re lucky. Bunch of girly shit.”

His laugh is a soft rumble that goes straight to my chest.

“What about you?” I ask. “Will you be helping out at your grandpa’s again?”

“Nah. I have a paper due next week and Jay is dragging me to some lame party tonight, so I’ll need to get it done tomorrow.”

“You not a fan of parties?”

“I’m not a fan of the kind of parties that Jay likes to go to,” he mutters, sounding put out. It makes me smile.

“Then why’d you let him talk you into it?”

He sighs, releasing my ankle and tapping the side of my other knee so I lift that leg. “It’s a deal we have. I’m supposed to let him pick an activity for us at least once every other week.”

“Pick an activity?”

“Yeah, something social. Like a sporting event or a show or something.” I see his lips twitch out of the corner of my eye—since I’m working to not look at him directly. “Or a frat party filled with crazy girls who kick the balls of their cousin’s exes and throw punch on innocent bystanders who are just trying to help.”

“That sounds terrible,” I say drily. “I’m glad I don’t know anyone that disruptive.”

He makes a low noise in his chest, something I can’t quite identify and don’t want to think about for too long. I clear my throat and push on.

“That kind of sounds like the set-up to a Rom-Com, you know,” I say. “Jay picking a social activity for you guys every weekend.”

“Every other week,” he corrects, and then sighs. “Might as well be a Rom-Com. I’ve long since accepted the fact that the two of us will end up as platonic life-mates. There’s no way he’ll ever get a girl to stick around long enough to be in an actual relationship, and he’ll guilt me into moving in to keep him company.”

That makes me snort with laughter. “There are worse ways to live, I guess.”

He scoffs. “Have you ever shared a bathroom with Jay?”

“So what was this deal you made that says he gets control of your social calendar?”

He’s quiet for a long moment. Nothing overtly changes in the way he’s touching me, but I feel tension seeping over us, and I wonder if I asked something I shouldn’t.

“I have a tendency to self-isolate,” he finally mutters, his voice tight. “It can, uh, be a problem.”

I mull that over. It’s not exactly relatable to me—I can’t remember the last time I was without a cousin or sibling or teammate for more than a few waking hours. But Ash can be the same way. If left to his own devices, the guy could stay in his room for weeks on end. But we never leave him to his own devices. We learned our lesson with that a long time ago.

“Then I’m glad you have Jay,” I say softly, mind still on Ash and scary moments I wish I could forget.

“Yeah,” he says, voice sounding intentionally light. “I would usually agree. But I really hate frat parties.”

“We’re having people over tonight,” I say, and immediately second-guess myself. I’m supposed to be keeping things professional. But he brought me to his grandpa’s ranch. We can be professional and still be friendly, right? It doesn’t have to mean anything.

I swallow. “Not a huge party, just some friends. You’re more than welcome to come over.”

His hands still. “I…Um.”

“I mean, no pressure,” I hurry to continue, hating the heat I feel coming to my cheeks. This was definitely a mistake. “I just thought you might like it better than a frat party, since it will be more low-key.”

“Are you…your cousins wouldn’t mind?”

I roll my eyes. Violet and Vega will be thrilled—it will give them a new opportunity to tease me about my supposed crush. “My cousins would be happy to have you guys.” I remember who he was with at the last party. “Emery is welcome too.”

He looks down at me, catching my eye. There’s amusement glinting in his. “Why’d you say her name like that?”

“Like what?”