by Mia Kayla
“Thanks.” I hoped he couldn’t hear the breathlessness in my voice as I tried to keep my crazy respiratory system in check.
“It’s the truth.” He pulled back and tucked an escaping curl behind my ear.
A tingling sensation spread throughout my body at his touch.
I had a strong awareness of my heart pounding in my chest. We stood there, in each other’s arms, locked in a gaze. The air charged with electricity as the temperature in the room jumped higher. When he looked at my lips, I turned liquid in his hold.
He stepped back, breaking our connection. “If I asked you to change, would you?”
His question broke the mood, and I reeled back, confused.
“Why? I have nothing else to wear,” I complained, thinking of the jeans and T-shirts in my closet.
Sensing my nervousness, he just shook his head and laughed. “Never mind.” His eyes took me in again. “Ready?” he asked, his voice a little husky.
I wiped my sweaty palms down the front of my dress and played it off as though I were adjusting the material. “Yeah. Let me grab my purse.”
After I picked up my tiny purse from the counter and slipped it over my shoulder, Jimmy reached for my hand. I wondered if he felt the jolt of energy, the shock, the tingling where we were connected. A part of me hoped he did.
Jimmy intertwined our fingers as he pulled me toward the front of the line at The Underground Nightclub.
He hadn’t said much in the car, making me question all sorts of things. I wished I had super magic powers and could read his thoughts because his face wasn’t giving anything away. I noticed his eyes flickering in my direction quite frequently, and it killed me not to know what was in his head.
His eyes narrowed, showing he was visibly upset, and I wondered why.
“I’m going to get kicked out of the NFL tonight,” he grumbled, squeezing my hand a little tighter.
“Why?” I quirked an eyebrow at him.
He gave me a pointed look. “I’m gonna get in a fight, get thrown out of this club, and get kicked out of the league—all because of this…this dress.” His eyes moved to my chest before he shook his head in frustration.
Panicked, I pulled at my tube dress, trying to hide more of my thighs. “I thought this was what women wore to these things. That’s what Kelly said.”
I was going to shoot Kelly tomorrow, right in the head, for making me wear this scrap of fabric.
He raised his eyebrows, a dubious look crossing his face. “Has Kelly been to one of these things?”
“Well, no.” I nervously glanced around.
The line forming outside the club consisted of women in less clothing than I had on, so I should have felt better, but Jimmy made me second-guess myself.
“Wait—am I overdressed?”
Jimmy let out a carefree laugh and pulled me in. His breath tickled my neck, sending tingles down my spine.
“Just don’t leave my side. And, Boo?”
I peered up at the huskiness in his voice.
“I’m glad you came tonight. I’ll have the hottest date in the whole place.”
Hottest?
My breath caught, my pulse racing, as he pulled us past security and into the club.
So, stepping up my game with the hooker dress was a good idea. Who knew? Maybe Kelly won’t die tomorrow after all.
Present Day
THE DEAFENING MUSIC BLARED THROUGHOUT the club while the flashes from the strobe lights blinded my eyes, making me feel unsteady. Still holding my hand, Jimmy moved us through the clumps of people as if he owned the place. With Jimmy holding on to me, I felt grounded and more confident. I straightened my shoulders, feeling taller, as I followed his lead.
He caught the attention of almost everyone we moved past. The mass of people recognized him, and then a second later, their gazes flipped to me. They were sizing me up, but I didn’t care. Normally, I felt self-conscious and nervous in a crowd, but holding Jimmy’s hand relaxed me.
Random people slapped his shoulder as we passed, and Jimmy gave them nods. He steered us toward the back of the club. I loved his air of confidence. It was something I had always lacked, and I was envious of it. I read the jealousy on other women’s faces, and I gripped his hand tighter. For once, even though he wasn’t, I pretended he was mine.
We stopped right before a red velvet rope, and I took in the tall beefy bouncer wearing a fitted black shirt, showing off the tats on both his arms. When he eyed me, Jimmy sidestepped in front of me, blocking the bouncer’s view. Inside, I swooned. I loved when Jimmy got all protective over me as though he didn’t want anybody’s eyes on me.
Jimmy nodded toward the bouncer, who pulled back the rope to let us in.
I took in my surroundings. White leather couches spanned the area, a glass bar was in the center of the room, and women with very little clothing danced on top of two boxes flanking the bar.
He led me toward the bar and released my hand. “Coke?” He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and then rested his elbows on the bar.
“Yeah, thanks,” I replied, feeling my body warm. I loved that he knew me so well, memorizing my automatic lame drink of choice.
It wasn’t that I was a goody-goody. I had tried drinking in college, but that hadn’t worked out so well. Plus, the taste of alcohol had never grown on me. Caffeine was my only vice. I would drink it like water. If a doctor had to draw my blood, coffee would come out since caffeine filled my veins.
He leaned over to the female bartender and placed his order. She bent a little lower, displaying her perky cleavage, with a seductive smile on her face. If I were Jimmy’s girlfriend, I would have thrown dirty looks her way as she undressed Jimmy with her eyes. But I wasn’t, so I didn’t have that right. That pang in my chest intensified again, the one that stabbed me every time I remembered that someone else could have him and I couldn’t.
I jerked my head toward Jimmy when an arm wrapped around his waist. A very familiar woman with sleek reddish long hair was now leaning into him, giving him a long half hug.
“Hey, Jimmy.”
It was Clarisse and I cringed at their closeness. She touched her cheek against his, greeting him like the European she definitely wasn’t.
“I’ve missed you.”
I stiffened, her words reminding me of my short visit to New York. I’d never forget seeing the two of them outside his apartment. The picture of them entangled in each other’s arms would forever be etched in my brain. My stomach rolled, making me queasy, as I recalled the memory.
Her eyes flipped to mine, and she stood taller, most likely mistaking me for competition. “Jimmy, is this the reason you don’t want to see me anymore?” she asked, venom heavy in her tone. She wore a fake smile that matched her fake nose.
“Nope.” Looking uncomfortable, he squirmed out of her grasp.
Her forced smile faltered. “Well, are you going to introduce me?”
“Nope,” he repeated, turning away in a straight-up rude move, which was so unlike him.
She didn’t give up so easily as she inched closer, trying to get him to notice her. She placed her manicured hand with red-polished nails on his arm. “You’re not being very nice,” she whined in a baby-like tone, going for cute. Her voice jumped an octave higher.
How could she possibly think that talking like a baby was attractive?
“I tried nice, but I don’t think you’ve gotten the point,” he said. “If you did, you wouldn’t have flown all the way to Chicago to be here.” He paid for our drinks and unapologetically shrugged her hand off.
“I’m here for this charity event.” She leaned into him, batting her eyelashes. “And maybe to see you, too.”
She threw him a flirtatious smile, but he shifted toward me and ignored her.
When I tugged the edge of Jimmy’s shirt, giving him the hint that he was being brash, he gave me a small smile, his demeanor changing completely as he looked into my eyes.
“Here, Boo.” Ignoring her exist
ence, he handed the Coke to me. He reached for my other hand, and he pulled me away from the bar.
I glanced back to see her eyes narrowing, focusing on our clasped hands, before she cast me a hateful look, one that Jimmy couldn’t see because she didn’t have his attention. I wanted to shoot daggers at her with my eyes, but I composed myself. If I had anything over her, it was maturity and class. So, I raised my chin, giving her a subtle snub.
“You didn’t have to be so rude!” I yelled above the music when she was out of range. “She seemed…nice.” I wasn’t really complimenting her. I was fishing for information. I’d just seen them together a week ago in New York.
I mustered up all my courage, hoping I wouldn’t get the same shutdown answer I always got when I asked him about his dating life. “Did you stop seeing her?” I asked, keeping my tone level. I sipped on my Coke. I held my breath. I wanted to know the answer, yet I was afraid to hear what he had to say.
His face shifted again, probably due to his thoughts of her. “I never started seeing her. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s a fame-whore, using me to get ahead. Or maybe she’s just not the girl for me.” He ripped his eyes from mine and pulled us through the crowd. “Besides, Boo, you know I don’t believe in that happily ever after shit, not after all I’ve been through.”
I sensed what he was thinking and lightly pulled at his hand. “Jimmy, stop it. Don’t compare yourself to him.”
He shook his head, his expression guarded. He didn’t want to discuss this, not tonight and probably not ever. He remained silent as he led us to the back of the club where the plush white leather couches were, and he drew me down next to him.
When the couch sank on my other side, I turned.
“Hey, Bliss. Great to see you again.” Tommy, Jimmy’s manager, held a beer bottle in his hand and wore a charming smile.
“Hey.” I lifted my glass toward him in a friendly gesture.
I’d met Tommy a handful of times at Jimmy’s games. During Jimmy’s first season, when I hadn’t been slammed with school, I’d come up to watch him on the weekends.
Although all the other guys on the team were friendly with me and Jimmy got along with them, if he had to step away—which was not very often—Jimmy would only trust me with Tommy.
“Whatcha drinkin’?” Tommy asked in his southern twang.
“Coke.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Playin’ it safe? Or not much of a drinker?”
Jimmy chuckled next to me. “Keep any type of hard alcohol away from Bliss. Trust me on that one, Tommy.”
I threw Jimmy a dirty look, but he just smiled, flashing his dimples.
They continued to talk and laugh, trading stories I wasn’t privy to. I held the glass and smiled even though I felt uncomfortable with a herd of unknown people around me. Jimmy kept my drinks coming while he introduced me to everyone he knew, and I tried to retain the names as best as I could.
An hour later, my bladder was about to burst from one too many Cokes. I tapped Jimmy on the shoulder to get his attention while he was still chatting up Tommy beside him.
“Hey, I’m going to the restroom,” I told him. “I’ll be right back.”
He tipped back his beer and rested his hand on my bare knee, halting me from getting up. A jolt of electricity shocked me from his contact, and I bit back a gasp.
“I’ll go with you.” He slammed the beer bottle on the table in front of us and scooted to the edge of the couch.
Really? I can’t go to the restroom alone? “Jimmy, I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl. I’ll be right back.”
His eyes narrowed as he debated if he should come along, but I placed my hand over his hand on my knee. A recognizable warmth spread through me. I wondered if I’d ever get used to touching him or him touching me.
Probably not.
He eyed me for a second, and then he leaned back against the couch. “Okay, but I’m coming after you in ten minutes if you’re not back.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure thing, papa bear.”
After getting up, I pushed through the crowds, found the restroom, and stepped into a stall. I was almost done when I heard a familiar high-pitched voice. I paused, ready to open the stall door, when that voice mentioned Jimmy.
“I don’t know who Jim’s with,” a girl said.
“Please. Did you see her? She has nothing on me,” the familiar voice replied.
Maybe they’re talking about a different Jimmy?
But I knew in my gut that they weren’t.
“Clarisse, you should just let him go and forget about it.”
I peered through the stall to see that very same redhead from earlier. She was reapplying mascara in front of the mirror, standing next to a shorter blonde.
“I can’t.” She used her fingers to remove the excess lipstick from the corners of her mouth.
“You’re Miss December,” the blonde said excitedly. “The hottest it girl. You’ve graced the cover of Sports Athletic. You can have whomever you want. He already told you that he doesn’t want a relationship.”
At that moment, I knew I hated Clarisse. I hated her pretty red hair. I hated her skinny swimsuit-perfect body. But most of all, I hated that she knew Jimmy on a level I never would.
“That’s what he thinks.” Clarisse shrugged her flawless model shoulders. “It’s not just sex with him. There’s a sweetness to him that I can’t shake. He’s not like the other guys I’ve dated.”
I wanted to cover my ears and make loud noises, so I couldn’t hear any more, but they just kept talking.
“Ugh.” The blonde sounded disgusted. “If bringing another girl to this party is sweet when you just had sex with him last weekend, then you need to get a different dictionary, honey.”
A mental picture of the beautiful redhead and Jimmy physically being together had bile rising to the top of my throat.
“I don’t care,” Clarisse dismissed her. “I’m going to land him. You watch.” Her smile oozed confidence as though she knew. She most likely already had formulated a plan.
I fisted my hands at my sides, wanting to burst through the stall door and punch that stupid smile off her face.
Maturity and class, I reminded myself.
More distaste leaked from the blonde’s voice. “It’s more like you throwing yourself at him.”
“He’s taking it though.” She smacked her lips together and wiped at the corner of her mouth to erase any excess lipstick. “I always get what I want, Tracy. Besides, we’re practically together already.”
Her words punched me in the gut, and I groaned internally, feeling my face pinch in frustration. I thought they would never leave, but finally, I heard their chatter disappear into the pound of the bass thumping in the club. In the silence, I leaned against the restroom stall, taking deep breaths in through my nose and exhaling out my mouth.
My heart constricted as everything they’d said still seemed to echo through the room. Were they together, and I somehow never knew?
Jimmy just told me he didn’t want to be with her or anybody for that matter. Would he lie to me about this aspect of his life?
Jimmy was discreet about his love life, and honestly, now that I knew I was madly in love with him, I didn’t want to hear him talking about other women, especially Clarisse.
The thought of them being physical made my stomach hurt, but the thought of them actually being an item made my heart ache. I didn’t know which was worse—the pain in my stomach or the pain in my heart. I guessed a stomach pain could be cured with medicine, but the heart was harder to mend, if it ever mended at all.
I took a deep breath and waited five minutes to compose myself as I washed my hands, staring at the blue-eyed normal girl in the mirror. I let out a long jagged sigh as I reached for a paper towel, dried off, and jolted out the door. Rushing out, I smashed into something tall and lean, losing my footing.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, ducking my head.
He steadied me, his hand grabbing my forearm. “Bliss? Bliss
Carrington?”
I glanced up, looking into a recognizable pair of green eyes. “Evan?” I frowned at him in shock.
I hadn’t seen Evan since high school. Wow, he’d grown up. He was no longer that gangly teenager I once remembered.
“It’s me.” He grinned, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pressed black slacks. “Damn, Bliss, you look amazing.” He took a step back, drinking me in. His eyes traveled up my legs to my form-fitting tube dress and finally rested on my face. “What are you doing here?”
I hoped he couldn’t see my bright blush with the dim lights because my cheeks were on fire. I pulled at my skirt, trying to tug it further down my thighs.
“I’m here with Jimmy.” I forced myself to stop fidgeting and messing with the hem. If I pulled it down any more, I’d expose skin at the top of the dress, giving Evan an eyeful I was sure he’d enjoy.
“Of course you are.” He shook his head like he had asked a stupid question. “You guys are finally out in the open? Finally together?”
“No. We’ve never been together.” I nervously flattened my hands at the hem of my outfit, suddenly remembering that Jimmy had given me ten minutes for my restroom break.
If he saw me with Evan, he’d flip, and it wouldn’t be pretty.
A small smile played on Evan’s lips. “Sure,” he replied as if he were in on some little secret.
By the smug look on his face, I knew he didn’t believe me.
“I’m serious. We’re not together. We’re still just friends. That’s it.”
He narrowed his eyes before an amused grin surfaced. “Is that why he told the whole football team he’d rip our eyes out if we even glanced in your direction?”
I widened my eyes at him. “No way. He didn’t say that.”
“He did.” Evan nodded, crossing his muscular arms over his chest, his blue button-down shirt stretching to the max. “Multiple times. It was kind of like a played-out song, so he could make sure the guys wouldn’t forget.”
I laughed out loud. I wouldn’t put it past Jimmy to do that. “He’s just a little protective.”
