I Promise You: Stand-Alone College Sports Romance(35)

“Nana!” I interject as unease spikes. I’m not ready for Dillon to sit across the table with my family and me. Yes, we shared some confidences in the locker room, but… “I’m sure they have places to go—”

“Heck yeah,” Owen says. “I’m starving!”

“I’d love a home-cooked meal,” Sawyer murmurs.

Dillon studies my face, frowns, then says, “Thank you for the offer. Some other time, Nancy. The rookie and I have a meeting with the quarterback coach anyway. Sawyer, you need to watch game tape.” He pauses. “I’ll see you at the next game?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

He hesitates, as if he might say more, then moves past me, his hand briefly brushing against mine, and my traitorous eyes track the slope of his broad shoulders, his trim hips, the flex of his long muscular legs—

“Are you really going to let that hot piece leave?” Nana hisses as soon as he’s out of earshot.

“Yeah,” Romy says under her breath, adding her two cents as she slides in next to me. “You haven’t had a man in eighteen months, and I, for one, am tired of you harassing my love interests because you’re jealous—”

“Of Tree Boy?” I hiss. “Please. He gave you a hickey!”

“His name is Liam, and I prefer love bite. You should see the one I gave him.”

“He has braces! Doesn’t that hurt? Never mind, don’t answer that,” I mutter. “If I was Daddy, I’d snap a switch off the tree he climbed down and tan your hide—”

“You’d never,” she snips. “You don’t approve of corporal punishment, and you hate to see me cry.”

True.

“‘Spare the rod, spoil the child,’” I quote. “Starting to see the value in that.”

“Be quiet, both of you. The football players are leaving, and I think you need to be polite and give a proper thank you to that handsome young man,” Nana says.

She isn’t wrong.

“Wait!” I call out and dash over to Dillon, and he pauses before opening his door. He turns to look at me, and my breath feels rushed as I speak. “Thank you for the battery. That was kind and it’s been, um, a while since someone did something that sweet for me. You never said how much it was…”

“Nah, I don’t want money.”

“What do you want?”

An uncertain look flits over his face. He stares at me long enough that my face grows warm. “A kiss. Promise me a kiss.” He dips his head, hiding his eyes. “Um, is that okay?”

“One?”

“Maybe two.” His gaze rises to find mine.

I trace the sensuous curves of his mouth and my breath hitches. What’s the harm? “Okay. Now?”

“Later.” He gives me a lingering look then gets in his car and cranks it.

Owen crawls in the back and rolls his window down, his gaze sliding to Romy, and of course, she’s checking him out, lashes batting. I lean in. “She’s jailbait, Sinclair, and has a boyfriend.” Tree Boy is on my shit list, but a college boy is the last thing I need.

Owen flashes a sly smirk. “Looking doesn’t hurt.”

“With her, it does,” I say as I reach into the car and thump him on the forehead.

“Dude!” Owen calls, rearing back from me. “Your women are crazy, Dillon.”

“I’m not one of his women!”

“Hard to believe, but true,” Dillon muses.

“Then why are we running past her house every morning?” Owen says.

My eyes flare. Aha!

Dillon gets a wide look in his eyes—caught—and flushes red. He rolls his window up, our eyes holding through the glass.

Sawyer walks to the Escalade and meets me in the yard. His gaze flicks to the car. “You know, I think he can be kind of shy when it comes to you. Odd.”

He chuckles and murmurs goodbye and gets in the car. Dillon throws up a wave, and they drive away.

“Blue hair is hot,” Romy murmurs as we watch them disappear down the road.

I glower at her. “Remember Liam?”

She chortles. “Oh my God, his face when you said rectal issues….”

I throw an arm around her and press my lips against her temple. “You’re a minx. You know I’m grounding you, right? No phone, video games, or Liam for two weeks. Then, we’ll talk and reassess.”

She shuts her eyes briefly. “Please, Serena. I invited him to the tryouts. You know how anxious I am about it.” She’s mentioned some of the other girls are catty.

“Fine, he can come, but that’s it for two weeks.”

She releases a long sigh. “I won’t let him stay again, Serena. I promise.”

We walk back inside, and my mind is on Dillon and the kiss I promised him.





12





Wearing my gray tie-dyed leggings and a cropped pink workout top, I head into the student center. As I’m taking the steps to the upper level, my phone rings and I snatch it up without looking to see who the caller is.

If I’d known, I never would have answered.

“Serena.” Vane’s voice dances down my spine, and I inhale a sharp breath, ready to hang up, but he jumps in, “Baby, baby—wait. Come on, now, don’t hang up, not like last time. Just for a few minutes, let me talk to you. Please.”