Page 53 of Offsides

Chuckling, I follow her gesture inside, stepping in far enough for her to close the door behind me.

“Dani should be out in a few.” She looks me over again, perching on the arm of the chair with her arms crossed. “What are you guys doing? Dani said something about a movie, maybe?”

“Nah.” My smile is irrepressible. “She didn’t seem enthusiastic about that idea, so I’ve changed plans.”

Wrinkling her nose, Piper nods. “You’re right. She really didn’t seem that excited about going to the movies.” She shrugs. “I dunno why not, though. I love going to the movies.”

“Dani likes to be more active, I think. And we’ve watched tons of movies together, though usually at my place, not the theater. She often gives a running commentary, and while I enjoy it, she couldn’t really do that at a theater, you know?”

Piper nods, her gaze both appraising and approving. “You’re right. I’ve noticed that about her too. Good call.”

Just then, Dani appears in the doorway, running a hand down the skirt of a black dress that wraps around her waist and ties at the side. There’s a kind of ruffle along the bottom that travels up to her waist where it overlaps in the front.

She looks gorgeous, and the thought of undoing the tie and unwrapping her like a Christmas present has me shifting my stance, my hand going into my jeans pocket to hide my growing hard-on.

But that will have to wait until the end of the date. I plan on taking her out and showing her off and having a great time.

“You said you’d planned a more active date,” Piper mutters as I move past her to get to Dani. “Is she dressed okay?”

Glancing at Piper, I dip my chin in a slight nod to reassure her that Dani is dressed just fine. Holding out my hand to Dani, I wait for her fingers to touch mine so I can spin her and say, “Damn, D. You look gorgeous.”

She looks down, obviously still uncomfortable with my compliments. Oh well. She’ll just have to get used to it. Because when she meets my eyes again, she’s smiling, and I know she enjoys the compliment even if it still feels a little weird for her.

“You ready?”

She looks at her roommates as though needing confirmation before nodding. “Where are we going?”

But after the way she laughed at my dinner and a movie suggestion, I feel like keeping tonight’s plan a surprise. “You’ll see.”

She laughs, and Ellie splutters from her spot in the hallway. “Seriously? You’re not going to tell her?”

“You were the one that said she needs more romance in her life,” Autumn says acerbically.

“Well, yeah,” Ellie responds defensively. “I’m pretty sure you agree with me about that. I’m not so sure that a surprise first date fits the bill, though.”

Autumn crosses her arms and props her shoulder against the wall. She gives me an appraising look while Dani finishes putting on the coat I’m holding for her. “I don’t know, El. I think we can trust Eli’s judgment here.”

I flash her a grin. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Anytime.”

Shaking my head, I return my attention to Dani. She’s the one I want to pay attention to anyway. And regardless of what Autumn says, I’m not sure I believe that she’ll always take my side. In fact I’m quite confident that if it came down to a choice between Dani and me, she’d pick Dani every time.

And honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Dani needs other friends to have her back unconditionally too. I’m still a little shocked that Autumn decided to help me win over Dani at all. And I know that the only reason she did is because she believes I’m what Dani really wants. And not only that, but I’m what Dani really needs as well.

Between watching her and Jackson get together and listening to her talk about her friends, it’s clear that everything she does is what she believes is in her friends’ best interests. According to her, a relationship with me is in Dani’s best interest. After I was such a dick to her when she and Jackson started dating, it’s amazing to me that she could put that aside to help me out. It just goes to show what kind of person she really is.

At this point I’m glad she’s on my team. And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that going for us as long as I can.

Dani zips her puffy coat closed, tucking her phone and keys in her pockets. “All right.” She gives me a wide smile. “Ready when you are.”

I move to the front door, and open it for her. Her friends shout rowdy clichés like, “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!” as I pull the door closed behind us.

Dani chuckles as she leads the way to my car. She glances at me over her shoulder a few feet away from the passenger door. “So how far are we taking this whole gentleman on a date schtick?”

“Gentleman on a date schtick?” I repeat.

She rolls her eyes and makes a sweeping gesture to indicate the house and the car. “You opened the door for me to leave. Are you going to insist on opening my car door? Or am I allowed to do it?”

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