“So, will you be watching the game on Saturday?” He picked up his wine and drank it. “Damn, this is good. Flavors of oak and citrus, just like the menu said.”
“Yeah?” I raked my gaze over his large frame. It seemed unlike him to make such a comment. I let out a soft laugh.
“What’s so funny?” He tilted his head, taking me in from head to toe.
“Nothing, it’s just comical watching a guy like you enjoy a glass of wine.” I sipped the wine, the flavors he’d described gliding across my tongue. “Damn, thatisgood.” It was nice to share this with him.
“I appreciate the nicer things in life.” He sniggered and drank more of his wine. “There’s more to life than football.”
I stared at him. Had he really said that? Evan would never say that about hockey. “Oh, really?” I relaxed into the couch.
“No, not really. Football is pretty much everything to me. At least right now.” He freed a sharp laugh. “Once I’m drafted andget an NFL contract, then I can relax a little.” He swirled the wine in his glass. “Speaking of football, you never answered me. Are you watching the game on Saturday?”
“Of course. Evan wanted to go to a bar in Tempe to watch it. We’ll see.” And I had agreed to see Sara beforehand. My heart sank. “I’m, uh, I’ll be meeting Sara for lunch.” My gaze crept to his.
As his nose wrinkled, he leaned away from me. “So, she weaseled a second date out of you after all?”
“It’s not like that. I thought I could use the time to come clean with her.” Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it. But not telling him felt wrong. Why though? It wasn’t like we were dating. Fuck, my mind was so messed up right now. With a huff, I poured more wine into my glass and drank it. A warm buzz played through my body.
“You’ll tell her you don’t want to date her anymore on Saturday, then?” He peered at me.
“Yes, that’s the plan.” I dared a peek at him. I hadn’t dated since I’d gotten here and now, I had two people wanting to date me? One I didn’t want and one I…shit. Iwanted.
“Have you seen her since you last saw me?” His forehead wrinkled.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve been busy. She sent me all those new students, remember?” I huffed a chuckle. “Tomorrow, I have two sessions before you come over.” It would be a busy day.
“You better not be tired when I get there.” As a smile grew across his lips, he bumped his shoulder on mine. “I might be a handful.” He waggled his brows at me.
I opened my mouth. What could I say to that? Was it meant to be a flirtatious comment?
The server set our food on the table and walked off.
“Don’t worry, the other students have easier classwork to discuss.” I sipped my wine and then pulled a slice of the pesto bruschetta onto a small plate, and some sauce slipped onto my finger. “Oh, shit.” I sucked my finger into my mouth.
Travis squirmed next to me, fixating on my mouth. “Damn, you’re such a tease.” He adjusted himself.
“What?” I freed my finger with a wet pop. “I had pesto…” How was I a tease? I glanced down.
The outline of his hard cock stretched toward his hip inside his jeans. With his teeth raking across his lower lip, he said, “I can’t stop thinking about what happened the last time we were together.”
Need shivered up my spine, and my dick jerked.
SEVEN
TEX (TRAVIS)
Might as well own it. Concealing a boner in these damn jeans was impossible. They showed everything. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
His gaze darkened, and his plump lips parted. “We…can’t.” He swallowed hard and picked up his bruschetta.
“I know, but I can’t stop my body from reacting to you.” Shit, if I said any more, he might tell me we couldn’t hang out again. I’d done my best to keep this in the friend zone. After placing a slice of the artichoke bruschetta on my plate, I stared at it. I half expected him to say he needed to go home soon. Had I fucked this up already?
“Yeah, okay.” He ate his food and then wiped his mouth with a linen napkin. “Who are you playing on Saturday?”
“Iowa State. You didn’t look it up?” I stuffed food into my mouth and chewed. He’d changed the topic to football. Nice move.
“Not this time. I was a little busy getting new students scheduled.” He glanced at me and then placed a fresh slice of bruschetta on his plate.