Page 23 of The Mistletoe Trap
Chapter Seven
After too many false starts, thinking “there’s Julie” only for his mom to knock on the door or for it to be Niki passing by his room on the way to hers, Gavin didn’t so much as twitch at the sound of footsteps.
Well, he didn’t until Kylo Ren perked up his head. Earlier this evening, the big tomcat had nudged open the unlatched door, jumped onto the bed, and climbed on Gavin’s chest. Tiny pricks of pain accompanied the cat’s kneading, until at long last, he’d deemed the spot comfortable enough—the cat, that was. Gavin had found the movement and extreme focus unnerving. Once the feline flopped down for a nap, though, the warm, purring ball of fluff soothed him into a state of half-sleep as well.
Two soft female voices filtered through. Niki and Julie. As soon as the cat heard his mommy, he abandoned Gavin at record speed, darting out into the hallway as if he’d been held captive for years instead of voluntarily cuddling for half an hour.
So as not to appear overeager about how the night went, Gavin moved more casual-like. Instead of pushing the door all the way open, he rested his hip against the jamb and studied Julie’s appearance, searching for signs that she’d, uh, scored.
“Who’s my handsome boy?” Julie scooped up Kylo Ren and held him like a baby, and Niki rubbed the cat’s belly. “Have you been hanging out with Gavin, handsome boy?”
Her hair was still in loose curls, her dress uncrumpled. The makeup on her face appeared flawless, no smudged eyeliner or mascara.
If I’d kissed her, there wouldn’t be any hiding it.
Gavin swatted away that errant thought, and Julie and Niki both looked at him like he had a few screws loose.
“You okay, big brother? Or did you hit the pain pills too hard? Go toward the light, ight, ight.” Niki’s otherworldly echo morphed into a giggle, and he flicked her ear in that way she hated.
“Very funny. I was just dozing with the cat until he heard there was a better option.”
Julie’s ruby lips accentuated her killer grin, and question after question flashed through his head, a neon sign that buzzed and flickered and bugged the hell out of you.
Did you sleep with him?
Are you going to continue the fling?
With him or someone else?
Do I need to kick his ass?
As casually as he could manage, he raked a hand through his hair and asked, “So? How’d it go?”
“Fine.”
Infuriatingly vague. The date was fine? The sex was fine? What was fucking fine?
Not him, and what was up with that?
“Right, you had your date. How was it?” Niki leaned in conspiratorially but didn’t bother lowering her voice. “Kory’s hot. Is he a good kisser?” Instead of keeping her eyes trained on Julie, his little sister scrutinized him.
“He was a perfect gentleman. We had a nice dinner and he walked me to the door. He mentioned possibly getting together later in the week, so…” Julie shrugged, and that meant there hadn’t been kissing or fucking, and the storm inside Gavin calmed. Something he wasn’t going to analyze right now. He’d have time for that later, when he was standing on the sidelines as the rest of his team continued to condition and train with another quarterback.
Jacob Mann was a good kid and would make a fine QB someday, but he didn’t have the experience Gavin did. Being on the injury list for the upcoming game sucked, especially without a guaranteed chance at the playoffs, but he assured himself the Mustangs could still pull off the win, and then he’d be out on the field the game after that, leading his team to victory once again.
“And you didn’t want that?” Niki asked.
At Kylo Ren’s wiggling, Julie let him go, and Gavin averted his eyes so he wouldn’t do the ogling he’d scolded Jason for attempting to do. “Of course I did. I just…” A disappointed sigh accompanied the dipping of her chin. “Maybe I’m not the kind of girl who guys want to devour. I’m more the type one introduces to their mom. Then, behind my back, they’ll seek out an exciting mistress to fulfill their wildest fantasies.”
Before Gavin could insist that wasn’t true—something he wasn’t entirely sure how to do—Niki spoke up.
“That’s crazy talk. You’re a smart, sexy, lady boss. Lesser men might be intimidated, and ain’t nobody got time for that bullshit.” Niki glanced at him again. Did that mean he should say something? “I bet Kory just doesn’t want to rush it.” His sister’s sharp elbow jabbed him in the side hard enough for the breath to whoosh from his lungs, so all those hours of playing basketball were clearly paying off. “Right, Gav?”
“Yeah. Sure. That’s a…thing men do.” Shit. He was doing the worst job of selling what he was saying. If she’d put out the vibes and let the guy know she’d be into going home with him, Gavin couldn’t imagine any guy asking to slow things down.
Julie’s shoulders sagged, and Niki scowled at him, the wild gleam in her eyes demanding he fix it. After a moment, his sister shook her head and then placed her hand on Julie’s shoulder. “You know what we should do? Let’s get in jammies, put on face masks, have some wine, and watch a girlie movie.”
Every cell in his body shouted a warning, and he took a step backward, his brain shoutingretreat, retreat!But Julie caught hold of his bedroom door, stuck her lips out in a pout, and just like that, he was apparently participating in girls’ night.
