Page 81 of On His Mind

I let myself smile at that. For the first time, I’ve met a girl and clicked right away.

“—no, but you don’t understand the state of that house,” Gianna’s says while putting down her fork. “My brother lives like an animal. They all live like animals.”

“Which one’s your brother again?” Mara asks.

“Benson.”

“The hottest one on the team,” Mara says as her eyes travel to the photo near the TV.

I find myself looking. Lucy keeps her eyes on Gianna.

Gianna scoffs. “He’s the tall, serious one. He thinks he’s the dad of the team.” Gianna rolls her eyes. “There are five of them in that house, and they’re all — okay, so there’s Benson, and there’s Stanley, who never stops talking, ever. I’ve watched him talk with food in his mouth and a phone to his ear at the same time. Rowan, who’s actually kind of scary, but he cooks for all of them like a housewife. Blue, who looks like a real asshole, by the way. I’ve heard him say maybe four words total—”

Mara scoffs. “How does that make him an asshole?”

“A guy who doesn’t talk is a guy who thinks he’s better than everyone. He just stands there all smug. I don’t know. It’s a vibe.”

“A vibe?” Mara asks with her brows raised and a head nod.

“That’s four boys,” Lucy says from the floor.

“Yeah, and the goalie.” Gianna waves a hand. “Percy, I think.”

My heart leaps at the sound of his name.

She continues, “The quiet one. God, he’s enormous, and he doesn’t say a single word. He just appears out of nowhere and reads a book in French. The guys think he might only speak French, and every time he talks, he’s faking an American accent.”

Mara laughs at that, and my heart flies through the roof at what she’s saying.

French? Fake accent? What?

“How much time are you spending over there, G?” Mara asks, still chuckling. “The goalie sounds like a serial killer.”

I hold my cup, and I sip from it.

“No, that’s the thing, he’s not, he’s—” Gianna tips her head. “I think the guys are full of shit. I’m pretty sure he speaks Englishjust fine, and he’s actually kind of sweet? In a way that makes no sense. But him and Rowan are the ones who clean up after all of them. Benson’s obsessed with him, in a manly way where they’d never say it—” she does a voice, “—that’s my guy, that’s Deveroux — like Benson got him some restaurant job and acts like it’s nothing but he clearly loves him.”

I did not know that Benson got him the job.

“Oh—” Gianna lights up. “Okay, the best thing. The best thing about the goalie. He reads in French.”

My heart flattens. Everything goes quiet in me because I’m clueless about the man I’ve spent many nights with.

“You already said that,” Mara laughs.

Lucy agrees, “You did.”

“Guys, he reads.” Her eyes widen. “Novels!In French! The guys call him Mon Petit Percy.” Gianna does the accent badly. She looks at each of us. “I’m so sorry. Do you guys know anything about athletes? They don’t fucking read books, guys!”

“It’s fake,” Mara nods.

“Yeah,” Lucy adds.

“It’s not fake,” Gianna says, rolling her eyes.

I stay out of it.

Mara shakes her head. “It makes sense. It’s a way of being cool and different.”