Page 65 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

How about the night after I met your family?

She felt her cheeks pink at the memory, knowing the alcohol was making her overconfident. She deleted the text she’d started writing, which detailed their night a bit too clearly.

Colton

Jesus.

How is that not anti-boundaries?

She smiled at his use of her words. Her friends’ laughter reminded her where she was, and she tucked the phone back into her dress.

Her friends continued talking about everything from the season to Jenna’s precious children to Devin’s wild parties—at which point Isa promised she would try to make the next one. Lucia was glad Isa was getting along with her other friends, her chest aching as she remembered that she only had her for a day.

After they’d had perhaps too many glasses of champagne, they staggered out of the pretty bar as a group.

“Everybody have a ride? Rudy’s coming to get me and Leigh if anybody needs to be dropped off.”

“Colton’s getting me,” Maya responded sleepily.

Lucia frowned a little, worried about her. Maya had barely smiled all night, and toward the end, she’d had a couple more glasses than the rest of them, her eyes closing and her head resting on Lucia’s shoulder until they’d gotten up.

“We’ll order a car,” Lucia added.

That seemed to wake Maya up. “Colton won’t like that at all. You can come with us.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay. We don’t mind.”

Maya shook her head. “Yeah, that’s not gonna work. I feel like you know my brother well enough to know he’s not gonna go for that.”

Lucia sighed, exchanging a glance with Isa, knowing Maya was right. “Okay, I guess we’re going with Colton, then.”

Jenna clapped her hands together happily. “Great! Rudy will be thrilled to see how absolutely wasted his wife is.”

“You deserve it. You take care of the munchkins more than anybody.” Leigh patted her best friend’s shoulder, though the motion was awkward since they were leaning against each other for support.

Jenna sighed happily, a loving smile on her face. “True.”

Rudy was there quickly, helping his alcohol-addled wife into his passenger seat and Leigh into the back simultaneously. He'd sat in his car until Colton's ridiculously overpriced car found them.

If Lucia thought the alcohol had warmed her against the December chill, the feeling that flooded her as Colton’s eyes looked her up and down set her ablaze. She watched him swallow as they landed on the slit of the dress that exposed her leg, made longer by her tallest heels. The feeling that was beginning to become far too familiar found its way behind her navel, desire to feel his warm, calloused hands all over her body, caressing her in places she hadn’t even known she’d liked until him.

Isa nudged her, and Lucia realized Maya was already in the back of his car. Colton tried to help Isa into the back, but her best friend nearly snarled at him as he opened the door for her.

“I see Isa’s still not my biggest fan,” he whispered to Lucia as he helped her into his passenger seat, his hands warm on her waist, searing through the fabric of the dress.

She tried to think of something clever to respond but found herself giggling instead. Perfect. Colton had once said she and alcohol and heels didn’t mix well, but she was starting to wonder if it was actually her and alcohol and his presence that rendered her brain into mush.

The car was quiet as he drove them to her house, the only noise coming from a snoring Maya.

Finally, Colton broke the silence. “Did she seem okay? I’m really worried about her, but she won’t tell me what’s going on. And she never drinks like this.”

Lucia remembered the forlorn expression on Maya’s face at their Thanksgiving dinner, which had only seemed to vanish when she’d been near Cooper. It’d been there, subtler, all night tonight, and she wondered if maybe she did know why.

“We didn’t get to talk about it, but something tells me it’s got something to do with a guy.”

Colton’s hands tightened on the wheel, his veins becoming more prominent, sending Lucia’s heart into a jackhammer. They didn’t speak for the rest of the ride, and Lucia felt Isa’s eyes flicking between the two of them.

When they reached Lucia’s house, Colton walked them both to the door, keeping his hands on or near Lucia at all times. When she finally managed to get the door unlocked and open, Isa said, “Luc, I’ll meet you inside.”

---