7. Liliana
Chapter 7
Liliana
“Do I look awful?” I prop up my phone and take a few steps back so Winnie can see my outfit.
“Dang girl! You look hot! Smithy’s going to be tripping over his feet when he lays eyes on you!”
“I'm serious, Win. Do I look ok?”
“I wasn’t joking. You look amazing. If Smithy doesn’t make a move, are we moving forward with this date? Kevin said he’d love to go out with you. I truly think he’d be a great match for you.” Winnie smiles sadly.
She knows how much Smithy means to me and how badly I want to be with him. I know she’s not trying to kill my hope, she’s just trying to give me another option. She’s showing me I can have an amazing life with someone other than Smithy.
“I’ll let you know. I need to go though. Are you going to meet me there?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there after the boss gets home. Bye!” She always refers to the family she works for as her bosses. It’s a little weird, but I'm used to it at this point.
I tuck my phone inside my purse and slip on my cowgirl boots. Smithy bought these for me for Christmas and I don’t think he’s seen me wear them yet.
Stepping in front of my floor length mirror, I smile at what I see. My long blonde hair is curled in loose beach waves. My makeup is done heavier than normal and it makes my green eyes pop a little more than normal.
I thought about wearing something short and revealing, but I decided that just isn't me. I don’t want Smithy’s attention if that means I only get it by showing off my body. Instead, I matched my dark brown cowgirl boots with skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a light blue plaid shirt. I left it unbuttoned and tied it right under my breasts.
I don’t know if I look as hot as Winnie’s acting like I do, but I think I look good enough for a night out at Kennedy’s Pub.
It only takes me a few minutes to get to the Pub and as soon as I walk in the door, I spot Smithy in the corner booth with some of the guys from the team. I swear if he’s not with me, he’s with them. He’s quickly made his own little family he can depend on.
When Smithy spots me, his eyes widen and rake up and down my body. A slow smile spreads across his lips and he shakes his head. He jumps out of the booth and hurries over to my side.
“You’re looking hot, Sweets.” He wraps his arms around me and lifts me off the ground, spinning me in a circle. “What would you like to drink?”
“Umm… a whiskey sour?” I go to open my purse and grab some money, but he stops me.
“I’ve got it, beautiful.” He leads me over to the bar and smiles at Kennedy, Wyatt’s mom.
“What can I get for you, Smithy?” She stands on her tippy toes and leans over the bar top to give him a hug.
“Can I get a whiskey sour for my girl and another beer for myself?”
“Of course. It’s good to see you. Are you keeping my son safe on that field?”
“I'm trying, but Stubbs got the best of me.”
“I hope that boy gets a nasty case of crabs and can't play ball anymore.” She wrinkles up her nose in disgust.
“Baby, that’s not how that works. He’d still be able to play ball.” Blake, Wyatt’s dad, walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. I know who they are since we come here all the time, but I’ve never officially met them.
“Oh, whatever! I just want his life to suck.” She chuckles, then turns her attention to me. “Are you Liliana?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I grin.
“Dang, she dropped the ma’am.” Smithy’s grin is full of mischief.
“Oh shush, Smithy. She’s doing it to be respectful. You do it to make me feel old.” Kennedy glares as she hands Smithy his beer.
“It’s nice to officially meet you, Liliana. I'm Blake and this is Kennedy.” Blake holds out his hand to me and I shake it.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. I'm glad I can finally put a face to a name.”
“I hope all good things.” I smile as I take my drink from Blake.
“From this guy,” Blake motions to Smithy, “It was like he was writing a love letter.”
I chuckle and glance up at Smithy, expecting him to be annoyed or embarrassed. Maybe for him to deny what Blake just said, but he doesn’t. He’s staring down at me and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was in love with me.
“He’s a good friend.” I pat his chest.
“Well, you two go have fun. Let us know if you need another drink.” Kennedy waves us off and we head towards the circular booth the guys are still sitting at.
Before we can get to the booth, two girls stop us. I get practically shoved aside as they each grip Smithy’s arms and stare up at him like he’s the most amazing man they’ve ever met.
“Oh my gosh! Are you Travis Smith?” One of the women coos.
“It’s Smithy. Only one person is allowed to call me Travis.” Smithy smiles, but he almost looks uncomfortable. His lips are pressed into a firm line and he carefully plucks one of the woman’s hands off of him, then the other’s.
“Maybe we can be special enough to call you Travis too.” The second girl flutters her long eyelashes, trying way too hard to flirt.
“Sorry, ladies. I asked this beautiful woman to be my date for the evening. I’d like to get back to her.” He steps away from the women and wraps his arm around my waist.
I blink up at him, trying to figure out what just happened. This isn't normal for Smithy. I glance around, wondering what’s going on. The women he brushed off are glaring daggers are me. I'm sure they hate me and think they’re so much better. They’re thinking about me and what I did to deserve Smithy’s attention when they couldn’t hold it.
“What the heck was that?” I ask as Smithy leads me towards the booth again.
“What?”
“You brushed those women off.” I glance over my shoulder at them again, finding them still watching us.
“Yeah? So?”
“You don’t do that, Trav.” I stop walking and wait for him to face me.
“I want to spend time with you, Sweets. Not anyone else.”
“Since when?” I want to scream and shout. I want to know what changed between us and when it happened. More than anything, I want to know if this is real, or is he going to change his mind about me again.
I don’t want to feel like I have real hope for a romantic relationship with Smithy, to have it taken away from me a few days, weeks, or months later. I'm not sure I could handle that.
“I don’t know. I… Can we talk about this later on?” His eyes are begging with me to go along with his wishes. I swear I can't say no to him. I nod my head, but before I can say anything, I'm tugged away from Smithy and into someone’s arms.
“Liliana!” Winnie squeals in my ear like we haven’t seen each other in years.
“Hey, Win. How are you?” Smithy tucks one hand in the pocket of his jeans and lifts his other hand to take a sip of his beer.
“Hey, Smithy. What’s going on?” She eyes him carefully.
“Nothing. Just living the dream.” He tries to give her an easy-going smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes and it’s clear he’s not happy.
“I'm going to grab a drink, then I’ll meet up with you guys.” Winnie’s wide eyes turn to me and I shrug my shoulders. She caught onto the weird behavior too.
As she leaves, I turn my attention back to Smithy. I reach for his arm and tug his hand out of his pocket. Slipping my hand into his, I intertwine our fingers and peek up at him. I need to know everything is ok between us.
“Damn, did Smithy finally grow some balls and ask Liliana to be his girl?” Wheeler wiggles his brows and smirks at us as soon as he sees our joined hands.
My brows furrow for a moment before I hide my emotions. What is he talking about? Does Smithy have a thing for me and Wheeler knows it? Or is Wheeler just trying to start drama?
“Don’t be jealous because you don’t have a beautiful woman holding your hand.” Smithy rolls his eyes, playing off Wheeler’s comment.
“I’d be jealous if she were holding something else, but not for hand holding.” He grimaces.
“Oh please! You’d jump for joy if any woman gave you the time of day and held any part of your body.” Covey throws his head back and laughs.
“Like you wouldn’t?” Wheeler grumbles under his breath.
“Don’t you worry about my love life. I'm happy where my life is at this moment.” He glances up and his gaze meets Cici’s, Cord’s twin sister. I wonder if there’s something going on there, but I have enough to worry about in my own love life, I don’t need to poke my nose in anyone else’s.
Smithy motions for me to take a seat, then he slides into the booth after me. He drapes his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side. He places a soft kiss to the top of my head, then drops his lips towards my ear.
“You look beautiful tonight, Sweets. I love the cowgirl boots.”
“Thank you. I love these boots.”
“I'm glad I could get them for you. Anything else you want, you just let me know.”
“I'm not doing that. I can buy my own things.”
“I know you can, but what’s the point of making millions if I can't spoil my girl every once in a while.”
When he calls me his girl again, I glance up at him. His eyes search mine, but I'm not quite sure what he’s looking for. Our lips are barely a breath apart and it would take almost no effort to close the distance.
I glance at his lips before returning my gaze to his. Are his eyes darker? I swear they look like dark storm clouds right now and they didn’t before.
“You’re my best friend, Lil. Even if that’s all you’ll ever be, I still want to spoil you.”