When I got there, I didn’t even see her at first.
I saw Tony and a couple older guys, standing around thesnack table with plates of food, laughing like they were having the time of their lives. I saw two of Duffy’s brothers over by the bartender, still drinking even though I knew they were supposed to stop serving alcohol during the fourth quarter.
I saw a blonde standing near one of Duffy’s brothers, looking pissed, and just as I thoughtWhere is she?, Duffy came through the other door.
Holyshit.
She was wearing black leather pants and a white sweater that looked so soft and clingy, but it was the red lipstick that stopped the breath in my lungs.
“Oh, hey. Nice game,” she said with a little smile, looking surprised to see me.
“Thanks,” I said, clearing my throat. “I like your sweater.”
“I like yours,” she said, gesturing toward my shirt.
“Connor,” Tony yelled, and when I turned around, I saw him and his friends coming over. “Whose idea was the trick play? Was it yours?”
“Oh, God,” Duffy said quietly. “Here they come. There’s no escape.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but that was all Coach,” I said, not looking away from Duffy because I was mesmerized by those lips. “He loves that shit.”
“Do you think—”
“Hold up, Tony, I’m sorry,” I interrupted, taking a step closer to Duffy, “but I haven’t properly said hi to your daughter yet.”
The old guys snickered while Duffy’s eyes narrowed and she tilted her head, trying to figure me out.
“Properly?” she repeated.
“Come on, now, honey,” I said, unable to stop my smile as her eyes squinted even more. “You know what I want.”
It was surprising she could even see with how tightly those eyes were narrowed on me.
Fuck, I love messing with her.
“I told you they’re a thing,” Tony muttered to one of his buddies. “I called it.”
If I hadn’t been watching her closely, I would’ve missed the twitch of her lips at his words. She was happy that the fake-dating ruse was working on her dad, and making her happy mademehappy.
“Come on, give me some sugar,” I said, though the words came out around a laugh. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“I should shake up a can of soda and open it in your face,” she replied, grinning. “That’s the sugar you deserve.”
“For the love of God, kiss your boyfriend so we can talk about the fuckin’ game with him,” one of the old guys said in exasperation. “Pucker up and get it over with, Duff.”
I didn’t want a kiss—I meant what I’d said about wanting our first kiss to be in private.
I was just giving her shit with the “sugar” nonsense.
Thankfully, Duffy was all over it.
“Fine,” she said, reaching out a hand and fisting it in my shirt, pulling me closer. “Have some sugar.”
She was intentionally being obnoxious as she went up on her tiptoes, but the minute those cherry-red lips touched my cheek and I felt her fingertips flex on my chest, I was electrified. It wasa quick peck, but it was like a current zapped through me as the smell of vanilla filled my nose and became my oxygen.
“There,” she said, stepping back and releasing my sweater. “Now please discuss the game with Mr. Machado before he loses his shit.”
The look she gave me, a cocky smirk, did nothing to quell the buzz she’d set loose inside of me.