Chapter 26 #2
“Yeah, she’s my sweet girl. Back off, horndog.” Ash sounded grumpy.
“Hush, both of you,” she scolded. “What do you need Ava for?”
“Stats.”
There was silence, and then Mia spoke again. “Well, that cleared that all up. She’s at Jett’s. I’ll tell her I gave you her number.”
“We’re in Cardinal,” Dante spoke up.
“Spence?” Ash sounded more alert. “Dante Spence, is that you?”
“Santo.”
Jesus, he really didn’t like these guys.
I leaned into Noah. “Are they related? Everyone’s called Santo.”
“Jett and Gray are twins. Ash is their cousin,” Noah explained.
“And they all play football?” I asked him.
“Yeah, they’re really good too.”
Huh.
Dustin took the phone off speaker and walked away a little. With a sigh, he came off the phone. “So we’re going to the football house,” he said, and he didn’t seem happy about it.
“Oh, great,” Dante growled. “Because that’s what we need — an audience.”
Dustin didn’t smile. But the side of his mouth twitched. “Follow me.” He hesitated. “You going to behave, Spence?”
Dante sniffed. “Absolutely not.”
“Figures.” Dustin and I got back in the car, and Savannah’s car followed us. I’d never been to Cardinal, and I realized pretty quickly that this town was probably here to support the university.
Cardinal Saints College wasn’t as big as Wrighton, but it was still big. I looked at everything as we drove, and then we pulled up outside a huge, imposing house.
“It’s a frat house?” I asked in disappointment.
Dustin shook his head. “Not a traditional one, but . . .” He hesitated. “The Devils are a handful, okay, and clever with it, just . . . don’t be you, okay?”
I blinked at him. “I don’t know if I’m insulted or not,” I mumbled as I got out of the car.
A guy about Dustin’s height was waiting at the front door. Tousled dark hair, biceps that bulged, a trim waist, and a hard look in his eye that could never be described as welcoming. He watched silently as the five approached.
Dustin stepped in front of him. “Gray.”
They did the bro shake that they somehow instinctively knew.
“You got groupies now, Spence, because you won the championship?”
Dante smirked. “We’re here to see Ava, not you.”
“Oh, you remember her name now?”
Dustin muttered something that sounded like a curse. “Can we do this inside?” he asked them both.
I genuinely thought the guy was going to say no, but he stepped back to let us in. He didn’t move far enough, but Dante walked forward anyway, not slowing. He didn’t adjust his line, and Gray had to shift or get walked into.
He shifted.
He didn’t acknowledge it, and neither did Dante. He went into the house at Dante’s back.
“Do you think that means ‘welcome and please follow me’?” Noah murmured beside me, and I giggled.
Dustin led the way with a familiarity I didn’t like. We were in a large living room, a kitchen at the end, and I wanted to look around, but the two tall guys staring at us made me feel slightly nervous.
Dustin didn’t bro shake with them; instead, he pointed. “Jett.”
The guy was sexy as hell. His right arm was just tattoos, ice-blue eyes that looked like he was ready to undress me, and a slow smirk that told me he knew that I knew it.
“And Ash.”
My eyes flicked past holy hotness and landed on his mouthwatering cousin.
“Jesus Christ, what do they put in the water in Cardinal?” I muttered to Savannah, who huffed out a laugh.
Every male looked at me. I blushed at being caught.
Noah walked in last. He didn’t look at any of them. He looked around the room, and I was sure he was checking exits and who was standing where. It wasn’t obvious; it was more of an assessment of someone who did this automatically. He found a position near the wall and stood there.
Jett looked at him once. Noah didn’t look back.
I’d been in rooms with competing interests before — sources who didn’t want to be in the same space. This was different. This was two groups of men knew exactly how the other operated and were deciding, in real time, whether today was the day they’d find out who was right.
The answer felt like it could go either way, so I decided to step in and ease the tension.
“Hi, I’m Hadley,” I told them. “Nice to meet you.” I didn’t look at Dustin. I was fairly certain he was watching me, but I didn’t look.
“What do you want?” Jett asked Dante without a care for who I was or anyone else in the room.
Dante looked back at him for a moment — not long, not aggressive. His gaze flicked over him once, like he was checking for something and finding it was already settled. “To talk to Ava.” He looked away when we heard feet stomping down the stairs.
A blonde, with wide eyes and an easy smile, came in, followed by a redhead who immediately squealed and hugged Dustin and was just as quickly pulled back into the side of the one called Ash.
The blonde also hugged Dustin and Dante, and the sexy tattooed one snatched her by the back pocket of her jeans and literally pulled her away from Dante. She ignored his manhandling.
“I haven’t seen you guys since you won,” she said excitedly.
“Oh my God, you were fucking incredible, Dante. That last drive in the final quarter — I was so excited, I almost peed my pants. I can’t believe you did it.
I’m so proud of you guys!” She was completely oblivious to the three scowls behind her.
“And Dustin.” She was so genuine it was hard not to smile.
“You were hot out there. My God, you can run, you were on fire. I did a whole piece in the paper just about you, and . . .” She trailed off, her eyes landing on Noah.
“Oh my God! I didn’t even see you, and how can I miss you?
You’re huge!” She looked like she was literally going to bounce with excitement.
“Can I just say, great job. Honestly, them switching you to middle linebacker from the outside, you brought that whole defensive line up, so impressive. Oh, hi, by the way. I’m Ava Bryant. ”
The three scowls had turned into amused smirks, and when I looked at Noah, he was also grinning. “They told me you were a football fan,” he said. “I didn’t get why we needed to meet you. Now I do.”
“You mentioned a paper?” I asked her.
“Oh yeah, I’m one of the sports reporter for the college paper.” She seemed to just notice Savannah and me. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you guys either. Hi, I’m Ava. This is Mia.”
“Babe, you need to let them breathe,” Jett said, pulling her back to him. “We want to know why they’re here.”
Ava blushed. “Sorry,” she said to Savannah and me. “I’m a Lions fan.” She got her ass slapped. “I am a Saints fan with an appreciation for the Lions,” she corrected herself with an eye roll, a grin, and a wink at Dante.
I saw him smile at her, and I saw her tiny step back when her boyfriend pulled her closer. Dante’s smile widened.
There was another set of footsteps on the stairs, and then a brunette walked in who looked like she should be on the front page of a magazine.
“Why are we all standing?” she asked, hugging Dustin, who I noticed wrapped his arms around her easily. “Hey, Dust, how are you? Take a seat, guys.”
I sat down beside Savannah, my eyes on the brunette.
“Seriously,” I mumbled to her, “what the heck is in the water here? They all look like movie stars.”
“So,” Ava said, looking at us all. “Ash said you needed to talk to me about stats?”