“I thought it was pretty obvious. I’m getting drunk.”
“And, getting laid.” Devin smarts off without glancing up from his phone.
I roll my eyes. “That’s not happening. My dick is staying in my pants. It’s already caused me enough problems.”
“Thank God,” Devin sighs and leans against the leather booth. “You know I was just talking shit the other day, right?”
“Yes, dumbass.”
“I don’t have the energy to pick up a bunch of chicks. I’m too damn old at this point.”
Jeremiah snorts. “You’re full of shit. You’ve got the hots for Veronica, and you’re afraid Gunner will tell her you were fucking some nameless chick.”
“Shut up. I don’t have the hots for Veronica.”
I study Devin. Does he have feelings for my sister? The two of them have always been close, but neither one of them has ever let on it’s more than friendship.
Would I care? Not at all. Devin’s a great guy. I’d love to see my sister with someone who treats her like a queen and worships my niece.
Our conversation halts as the waitress brings back our drinks. This time, she’s quick to drop off our order and then slips off to the next booth, where her charm is on full display.
“What are you going to do about Dani?” Tony asks.
“Nothing.” I tilt the bottle to my lips and suck down a third of my beer. Tony’s right. I need to slow down, or I’ll play like shit on Sunday. Hangovers and epic vomit fests are for high school guys.
“You need to tell her how you feel.” Tony tips his beer in my direction.
“I don’t feel anything.” Fucking liar. Seeing her move through the gym and not being able to touch her or talk to her killed me. I never expected to get hit in the gut with jealousy over a woman. But seeing her touching Dillon made me livid. All I could see was black, the rage was so intense.
“Right.” Jeremiah snorts. “That’s why you’ve been staring daggers at Dillon since Wednesday. I thought his head would spontaneously combust on the flight here. You do realize he’s your right tackle, and the only thing between you and a mouthful of broken teeth.”
“Don’t remind me.” My shoulders sag. They’re right. I’m playing with fire walking out onto the field with so much anger toward Dillon. One wrong move and I could be out of the game for life.
“You need to stake your claim. Don’t let him weasel in on your woman.” Tony arches an eyebrow and nods his head toward the bar.
“She’s not mine.”
“You need to fix that. Tell her how you feel. It’s obvious she’s hurting.”
My heart skips a beat. Shit. They’re only saying what I want to hear. Don’t ask. Shit. I’m desperate. “How’s it obvious?”
“The way she looks at you.” Tony stares at me like I’m dumb.
“The vibe I’m getting is she wants to castrate me.”
“See. You’ve noticed.”
I wrinkle my nose and lip. “What?”
Tony smacks me in the chest. “You’re stupid about women, but it shouldn’t be a surprise, you’ve obviously not gotten laid enough. She looks at you like she wants to kill you. If she didn’t have feelings for you, she wouldn’t care what you do.”
Fuck. He’s got a point. When I saw her talking to Dillon, I wanted to rip his head off and stab her eyes out with a pair of scissors. Is there a better way to say ‘I love you’ than with blunt force trauma to the face? “Then, why did she break it off with me?”
“When did she say it?”
I drift back to the morning when she betrayed me by ripping my heart out and stomping on it with her bare feet. My hand was slipping between her legs. Everything was perfect – until Tony called. Asshole. “After you called.”
“Dumbass. She probably thought you were mad about being late. And, you did say you were doing something stupid.”