Page 109 of Jaded

He turns, and his green eyes catch mine. His smile turns soft, almost hesitant. So different from the one he shares with everyone else.

My heart thumps into overdrive.

This team was always supposed to be temporary, because always, always my dream will come first. I knew I’d have to give him up—

But it’snotsomething I’m thinking about tonight. I have, after all, been charged with a vitally important mission. To get this man drunk and ensure he has a good time.

Chapter 26

Nat

BythetimeIdrop Syd off at Brenda’s and make my way to the Holiday Inn, the hotel bar party is in full swing. Card and cup games have popped up on tables across the floor—several members of the staff have joined in—and the open space against the back wall hosts a dance party of players and staff.

Pulsing house music thuds through the soles of my Converse as I stride into the bar. A surprising number of women have found the dance floor corner, considering the team and most of the staff is male.

I locate Charlie and Devreaux with the flip-cuppers on a makeshift table comprising four rounds pressed together. I don’t see Olli anywhere, but that’s all right. I’ll start here.

“Yo, Grumpy!” Charlie curls an arm over my shoulders and smushes his face against mine. “Come play.”

So I do. “You’re going down, Holls.”

“Fuck that.” Charlie tries to shove me, nearly stumbles off his feet instead, and I laugh. Pick up a plastic red cup and drain the contents, then pour myself another.

“Who’s ready for this shit?” I ask, and the rest of the boys cheer.

We play.

I take Olli’s advice and let myself relax into the night. I can be all the things I’m supposed to be tomorrow, but for tonight, I’m going to be here and only here. With this team. This family.

I let myself drink, smile, laugh. Win and lose, cheer and boo and drink more. And when my eyes wander from the game, they land on someone at a card table, halfway across the room.

A boy. The one I can’t stop looking at.

The one I want to look at.

I let myself look.

And maybe it’s the booze softening my brain, or the laughter of the team, but I can’t help but think, goddamn.

Olli James is beautiful.

It’s a soft, fragile sort of beauty, like it might shatter if I look too long or too hard. But I notice. I notice all the time. I can’t help but be drawn to him—dark skin, buzzed curls, those bright, laughing eyes and soft mouth. Him.

I turn away. Before the beauty breaks.

“Shit, we need to do some shots.” Holls stares into his empty cup. “You with me, Nattie?”

“If I must.” I set my own empty down and follow him to the bar. He slides onto a stool to call to the bartender, and I lean my elbows onto the counter. Someone else presses in beside me.

I know without looking that it’s him. Maybe it’s his soft scent I’ve come to know so well. Or the feel of him, the long, lean body, the sense of calm that washes over me, or simply the sense of rightness, like this is where I belong.

“Fancy meeting you here, Mouse,” he says, and I must have shifted closer, or maybe he did, because his shoulder presses against mine, hard and warm, like the bare skin of his arm against mine.

I grin without restraint. “Nice to see you, Aspen.”

“Oh, we’re keeping that, are we?” he groans. “Mymom’snickname?”

“I thought I’d made it up.” I give him my most innocent arch of brows, even though I’m very much aware of the name’s origins.

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