Defending Hayden (Second Chances #7)(33)

“Who’s Jax?” I asked.

“Our kicker. He got in trouble with Evan last season, and it put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. Basically, the team shunned him. I don’t like the guy, but he’s one hell of a kicker. He needs our support.”

I nudged him in the side. “Sounds like you have your work cut out for you.”

“No shit,” he said. When he opened the cellar door, all I could see were stairs leading into a dark abyss. Derek chuckled and grabbed my hand. “It’s just the wine cellar. I promise nothing’s going to jump out and grab you.” Taking the lead, he started down the stairs. With each step he took, the lights overhead started to come on and light our way.

I could finally see the cellar, all lit up, made out of stone, with bottles of wine everywhere. “Oh, wow, this is awesome. Although I never pictured Chris having something like this. I figured he’d be a beer-and-liquor kind of man.”

“Oh, he is, but he likes to show off for the ladies,” he informed me.

“Is that the kind of stuff you like to do, too?” I questioned. He hadn’t with me, and I liked that, but that didn’t mean he didn’t do it with others.

He shrugged. “Not anymore. I haven’t really found the need.”

“Why? Because they all fall at your feet?”

His gaze turned serious. “No, because I haven’t cared about f*cking around. You’re the only woman I’ve been around in a long time.” He guided me toward the wine, clearly ready to change the subject. “Pick a bottle so we can get some fresh air.”

I studied the bottles and found the Riesling that I wanted. He carried it up the stairs and grabbed a corkscrew and wineglass from the kitchen before guiding me out the back door. There were people all around, even swimming in the pool and hollering out his name as we passed. He simply waved and kept walking.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

He pointed to a pair of trees with a hammock connected between them. I prayed we weren’t going to sit on the hammock. When he stopped in front of it, I groaned. “You okay?” he asked.

I sighed. “The last time I tried to sit in a hammock, I fell out and landed on my face. I broke my nose.”

“Holy f*ck, are you serious?” He tried to hide his smile and failed. “That must be why your nose is crooked.”

Cheeks burning, I smacked his arm and covered my nose with my hand. “It’s not crooked, jackass.”

Chuckling, he pushed me toward the hammock. “I’m just kidding. I promise I won’t let you fall out.”

“If I do, you’re paying my medical bills,” I joked. The last thing I wanted to do was fall on my ass in front of him.

Setting the wine and the glass down on the ground, he slowly got into the hammock and beckoned me forward. “Take my hand.”

I did as he said, and he helped me get in, but I sat the opposite way so I could face him. That way I wouldn’t be so close to him and be tempted to kiss him. It took a while for the hammock to steady, and when it did, he opened the wine and poured me a glass. I wasn’t the type to get drunk, but I did enjoy a couple of glasses every now and again.

“Thanks,” I said, accepting the wine. “You don’t want any?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t had a drink in months.”

I took a sip of the wine, which tasted so good it slipped right down my throat. “That must be why you didn’t take the shot.”

“Yep. I used to be a heavy drinker. It got me into a lot of trouble.”

“I bet.” I laughed. “I can totally see you getting rowdy with all your friends.”

He shrugged, his piercing blue eyes staring right at me. “That’s not important to me anymore. I used to think partying was the best time of my life, but I was wrong.”

I drank my wine and he poured me another glass. “I never cared much about parties. I had Michael and Emily; we were always together, getting into our kind of trouble.”

“Which was?” he asked, lifting his brows curiously.

Thinking back on those memories made me smile. “We used to skip school together back when we were teenagers. Other than that, we mainly went to the movies, raced go-carts, or went hiking. I was a nerd in school, so academics were very important to me.”

His lips pulled back into a smile. “Let me guess…you were valedictorian?”

“Close. I had the second-highest grade point average in my class. We were only a half a point away from each other. You have no idea how pissed off I was about it.”

Guffawing, he rested his hands behind his head, the muscles in his arms flexing with the movement. I wanted them around me so achingly bad. “You are a nerd, aren’t you?”

I shrugged. “Hey, at least I can say I’ve done something with my life. I’ve run into plenty of my classmates back home, and not many of them can say they’ve done the things I have.”

He nodded in agreement. “You’re a dedicated woman, Hayden. I’ve never met someone with your kind of drive.”

“Thanks. I want to make a difference in this world, even if it is just rescuing animals.”

The wine had already made me feel warm and fuzzy, so I carefully set my glass down on the ground, hoping like hell I didn’t fall out. When I sat back, the hammock swayed in the wind. It was the most relaxed I had felt in a long time.