Page 40 of Twisted Shot
Natalie doesn’t even blink. “You’re acting weird.”
Mila shrugs, aiming for casual. “I’m fine.”
She’s not. Her heart is still pounding like it knows something her brain hasn’t caught up to yet. Her skin feels too tight, like her nerves are wearing it from the inside out.
Time to pivot.
“Hey, who was at the party last night?” she asks, turning to Jake, keeping her voice even.
Jake doesn’t look up as he digs into his plate of eggs. “Half the team, plus some of the training staff. Why?”
“Just curious,” she says, taking another sip of her coffee. “I saw a lot of people I didn’t recognize.”
Jake hums noncommittally.
Time to go fishing.
“What about that guy in the LED suit?”
Jake grins. “Tall. Our goalie. We introduced you, remember?”
“Oh, right. I forgot. Dry sense of humor.”
“Yeah, he’s a goalie,” Jake says, like that explains everything. “They’re weird. Comes with the job.”
She nods and pokes at her pancakes. Then, as casually as she can manage, “And what about the guy in the suit and black mask?”
Natalie looks up, puzzled. “There was a guy in a suit?”
“Dark hair. Tall,” Mila presses, pretending to care more about slicing her pancakes than about the answer. “Hanging out in the backyard. Looked like some kind of Phantom of the Opera situation.”
Natalie frowns. “I didn’t see anyone like that.”
“But dark hair and tall? That could have been Theo,” Jake says.
Mila’s fork stalls halfway to her mouth.
Sweet baby Jesus. Jake has a point.
Last night had been dark, hazy, soaked in adrenaline and wine. She hadn’t stopped tothink. She’d just let herself surrender to the gravelly voice, the irresistible rush of letting someone taking control. Her whole body had gone pliant for him, her brain reduced to a puddle of shameless hormones.
Now her stomach somersaults, nerves and logic wrestling in a dizzy rush. No way. Theo’s quiet. Careful. Sweet, even. The man in the mask had been bold, filthy-mouthed, the kind of commanding that still has her shifting uncomfortably in her chair.
“Could’ve been a friend of a player,” Natalie chimes in. “Jesse told a bunch of people to invite whoever.”
Mila needs to know.
She wipes her mouth with her napkin and sets down her fork. “Hey Nat, I think I left my phone at Jesse’s. Mind if I borrow your car after breakfast?”
Natalie groans, already slumping into her chair. “Take it. I have a date with the couch, and we’re getting serious.”
Mila smiles sweetly, but her mind is already elsewhere.
Time for Plan B.
CHAPTER 14
THEO
