Page 110 of Tempting the Player
In no time, the eight of us are sitting around the living room floor with two empty bottles of champagne and scraps of wrapping paper from the presents they all got me. Dahlia blew up a photo of Hendrick in his Rams football jersey to poster size, Daisy put together a collage of photos and memories, plus some drawings she’s done of the four of us, and Vi wouldn’t be Vi if she didn’t use this opportunity to make me another dress.
“I have a rainbow of green dresses,” I say as I hold the lime green material up in front of me.
“I don’t think that’s how a rainbow works,” Jordan says.
“What are you, the color police?” I ask him and then burst out laughing. I’m tipsy and happy. So unbelievably happy.
Hendrick sits beside me. I angle my body and lean into him so my back rests against his shoulder. He shifts to pull me into his chest and wraps an arm around my waist.
“I’m pretty sure a rainbow isn’t determined by specific colors,” Gavin says, looking thoughtfully toward the ceiling. He pulls out his phone. “Siri, what’s the definition of a rainbow.”
Siri rattles off the definition, which doesn’t specify the colors. Gavin and Jordan argue back and forth.
“Will you try it on?” Vi asks me. “I’m dying to see you in it.”
“Of course. This will be easier for Hendrick to get me out of later than these jeans.”
I tip my head to look him in the eye, then wink. He shakes his head with a laugh.
We leave the guys and go upstairs. It’s weird being back in my room. The few times I’ve stopped by, it was to grab something and go. There’s a laundry basket of clean clothes on the bed that I left the last time I was here. It feels like a lifetime ago.
I change into the dress and admire it in the full-length mirror on the back of my closet door. “You are a genius, Vi. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Dahlia helped me.”
She shakes her head. “Barely.”
“Well, I love it. Thank you. Both of you. I think I’ll wear it the next time Hendrick and I go out.”
“Speaking of theboyfriend,” Daisy says the last word pointedly as she gets comfortable sitting on my bed. “How are things with Hendrick?”
“He’s not my boyfriend. He only said that to cover for me. Eric and the rest of the band don’t know he’s my bodyguard and I’d like to keep it that way.” At least I think that’s why he said it. I haven’t brought it up and neither has he. Every time I think about asking him, I kiss him instead.
“You’re spending a lot of time together, though. Time that he doesn’t need to be with you as your bodyguard,” Violet interjects.
“Naked time,” Dahlia adds.
Daisy pins me with a serious and scrutinizing stare. “Do you want him to be your boyfriend?”
“Of course, I do.” I nod and move to sit on the edge of the bed with my friends. “I like him so much. But he has a lot going on right now with his brothers and deciding what to do about his contract.”
“What will you do if he leaves?” Vi asks.
“Cry,” I say with a small laugh. “I can’t imagine him not being here.”
Daisy gives me a sympathetic smile. “Will you hire another bodyguard?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I know I need to keep taking precautions.”
“Any update on E. Rex Sean?” This from a concerned-looking Dahlia. She worries about me the most.
“No, not really.” I tell them how Hendrick’s boss has been trying to pinpoint the person who emailed and texted me but so far, they don’t know any more than they did the first week. “Hopefully, whoever it was got the hint that I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Vi says and lifts her champagne flute.
“I left mine downstairs.”
“Knock. Knock,” Hendrick says as he does just that on my open door. He holds a glass of champagne in hand. “Thought you might be missing this. Turned out, I was right.”
