“I-I do?” My brows swept up. I knew plenty of models, but had never considered?—
“You do, you know that?” With a warm grin, Malik’s gaze met mine, and he brushed his fingers along my jawline. “You’ve got great cheekbones.”
His touch tingled down my neck, and warmth spread in my chest. “Thanks, man.” Clearing my throat, I sipped my beer and then said, “I, um, I’m from New York City. Grew up in Manhattan.”
Carrie tightened her hold on my arm. “Really. What part?”
“Uh, the Upper East Side.” My gaze swung to hers as my side leaned against Malik. Blue…She had blue eyes.
“Are your parents wealthy then? I’m from Paradise Valley. My dad’s a VP with Avnet.” She gave me a smug grin.
Oh, fuck. She was just like all the others back home. A spoiled rich girl. It was no surprise that she was attracted to me. Did I give off a rich-boy vibe or something? “I see.” Would she have heard of my family? “My dad’s the head of, uh, Moore Enterprises.”
“His last name is Moore.” Pointing a thumb at me, Malik chuckled. “I’m just a regular schmuck from New Mexico.”
“But you’re a talented football player. You’ll be heading into the NFL, right?” Riley’s eyes twinkled at Malik.
“I…yeah, I’ll be in the draft.” With a smile, he nodded and then shifted his attention to me. “But Grey will be in the draft too. You watch.”
Carrie leaned in and whispered, “I want to give you my number. I know about your family. We have things in common.” She leaned back, giving me a knowing look, slipping her phone from a small designer handbag. “Tell me your number.”
Shit, I didn’t want her calling me, but what the hell. I could always block her later. Unless she was in one of my classes. Fuck.
I quietly gave her my number while Malik prattled on with Riley, and she called my phone to verify it. Stuffing my hand into my pocket, I fished my phone out and clicked the ringer off.
“Oh, exchanging numbers? Way to go, my man.” Malik tagged my shoulder.
The server dropped off our drinks, and the women picked theirs up.
“Yeah…” I slumped against him. I’d wanted to meet real people, down-to-earth people, when I came here. People like Malik. I glanced at him, going on about his Navajo heritage.
“So, my aunt, I call her Shimá. She’s exceptional. She’s what we call two spirits. It means she has the spirit of a man and a woman inside her. She’s a healer on the reservation. My dad left all of that behind him when he married my mom. She’s just Irish.” He freed a quick laugh.
“So, your dad is half Navajo?” Riley propped her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, fixating on Malik.
Damn, she had it bad for him. I glanced at Carrie, also watching their conversation. She didn’t strike me as the threesome type. I had a feeling our original plan wouldn’t happen.
“Yep, half, which makes me a quarter.” His gaze flicked to mine. “But we’re probably boring Grey here. He’s heard all this shit.”
“And I’ve met your shimá. She’s an amazing person.” I flashed him a smile. Where he had his aunt to confide in outside of his parents, I had my nanny, Julie. In fact, I was closer to Julie than to my parents. Shit, I owed her a call. I clenched my jaw.
“Well, that’s all very interesting.” Carrie sighed, and her gaze caught mine. As she brushed a lock of hair from my forehead, she said, “What do you say we finish our drinks and go back to our place? We’re renting a house close by.”
“Yeah? Sure.” Malik took a few gulps of his beer.
I glanced at Jenny. She had said little. She’d become the third wheel. “Okay.”
After our hookups,Malik with Riley and me with Carrie, I’d ordered an Uber, and we climbed inside the back seat. Jennie, the poor girl, had gone to bed after we’d arrived at their house. It was too bad, because I might have gotten along better with her. But now I’d never find out.
Malik shifted to my side and leaned against me. “Dude, I’m wiped out. Fuck, what a night.” He laid his head on my shoulder.
“Yeah? Too bad we couldn’t get a threesome going.” Though I’d heard Malik through the wall, so it was sort of like a threesome. I’d pictured it in my head, Malik getting a BJ while I went down on Carrie. Hell, it had made my balls ache. I was pretty sure we came at the same time too, judging by all the moaning through the wall on his side. Yeah, hearing him made me blow one hell of a load. Too bad Carrie didn’t fucking swallow. Couldn’t have it all. “Did Riley, uh, swallow?” I snickered. I sounded juvenile.
“Sure did.” He brushed his cheek against my shoulder as he snuggled into my side, wrapping his arm around mine. “This is nice. I’m so fucking glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” As warmth grew in my chest, I nuzzled his hair. It always seemed so natural with him. I was never this affectionate with another guy, but Malik? He brought it out of me. I became a different person when he was around. A better person.
As the car stopped in front of our house, we stepped out, thanked the driver and strolled arm in arm to the front door.