Chapter 3
Not only had I screwed up, ran my mouth, and lost another endorsement deal, but the promise of a buffet hadn”t happened. Loads of booze with an open bar, sure. But not even a bowl of rolls to be found.
Not to say I got grumpy when my blood sugar dropped low, but I didn”t get happy, that”s for damn sure.
Especially when my phone kept dinging from my teammates checking in and inadvertently reminding me of my fuckup with the ZipZing sports drink brand.
All I did was mention that there was a ”fuck-ton” of sugar in their beverages. Turned out, fuck-ton wasn”t a unit of measurement this brand liked to have associated with their brand. So, instead of letting me correct my mistake, they cut me loose as a brand ambassador and paused all sponsorship chatter with the Stallions marketing department.
Coach told me to, and I”m quoting, ”Get the hell out of his town for a while.”
A crew of servers went through the room, offering appetizers. Unfortunately, the small plops of unicorn fluff did nothing to satiate any hunger from missing lunch because I was getting chewed out by my coach.
The anxiety of being in the twilight of my football career, paired with this current disaster, with the bonus of being hungry, made me twitchy.
But there was Maya—a bright spot in a day of total bullshit.
Maya, with her brown hair and brown eyes, stepped up to the DJ booth and snatched the microphone. The music stopped, and the DJ tilted his chin to her.
”I have a pre-wedding present for Jared and Jamie,” she said into the microphone. ”I hope you like it.”
And with that, using her palms, she tapped out a rhythm on the side of the booth that sounded oddly familiar, but not something I could put my finger on.
The DJ continued clapping to the beat as Maya went into an a cappella version of Ingrid Michaelson”s, The Way I Am.
When she got to the part about Rogaine and hair loss, the soon-to-be bride plastered herself to the groom, and he kissed the hell out of her.
Maya smiled and got more into the song, her eyes catching mine and…fuck all…then she sang the song to me. Her voice was light as angel food cake, but somehow still strong as steel—a combination I was certain I”d never heard before.
A combination I seriously dug.
With the song finished, she did a shimmy shake, and I couldn”t stop grinning like an idiot. Grinning and clapping along with everyone else as Maya took a cute little bow and handed back the mic.
Me? Still fucking grinning.
”You look like the opposite of miserable.” Finn sat beside me on the long bench looking over the club and handed me a sushi spoon with more airy fluff pseudo-food.
I ate the fluff—it tasted like chicken-flavored cotton candy threads. Definitely not a flavor-texture combination I”d ever endorse.
Then again, given my current situation, I”d have to endorse it so I didn”t lose my house.
Maya needed to sing another song or something, because the chicken threads totally wrecked my happy of moments before.
”Elliott finally manage to get you that meeting with ZipZing?” Finn asked, serious as a timeout in overtime.
I shook my head. ”No luck.”
”You notice that the food here is… not food?” Finn asked around another chicken fluff bite.
”I”m starving, man,” I said to Finn. ”I”d settle for crappy pizza. Or the cardboard box it arrived in.”
Maya glanced my way, snagged my gaze, and grinned at me from the edge of the dance party. That was an invitation if I”d ever seen one.
Finn glanced between me and Maya. ”You really into her?”
I gave him a yeah, so? Nod.
Finn pulled his lips to the side. ”Just…” He thought way too hard about what he would say next. ”You left Denver, so Coach wouldn”t murder you for doing something stupid. That woman there? Well, from the way you”re looking at her? You”ll do something stupid.”
I didn”t know what to say to that. So instead, I said?—
”You should get drunk, don”t you think?”
By him, I think I meant me. I… I should get drunk. Take this opportunity to use tequila to forget all about my fuckups.
I got ready to stand. Figured I”d head Maya”s way, offer to take her to buy food not made from threads and air. She snipped those plans in two by sauntering toward me, hips swaying, eyes sparkling.
Finn raised his eyebrows. ”You”re gonna go be stupid.”
I glared at my friend and pretended to throw a football straight at his face.
Maya”s friend walked to us right alongside her. This one was…Emily. Yeah, Elliott”s sister.
”Dance with me, Finn?” Emily asked, holding out her hand.
Finn didn”t hesitate, taking Emily”s hand and heading into the pit of people.
”Hey,” Maya said, looking up at me from under those long eyelashes of hers.
My body heated under her gaze. Uh-huh, she made that happen with only a look.
”Hey,” I replied. The only thing that seemed to exist was me and her and whatever the spark was between us. That was a new sensation now, wasn”t it?
”Want to sit?” I asked, stumbling over the last syllable.
She nodded, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. Just like that, the heat from before flared again.
I wasn”t much for making lists, not really. But if I were, and I started a list of attributes I dug, the lip thing would be right at the top.
I sat. She sat.
Then she crossed her legs toward me and even though it was loud, I swear I could hear the sound of skin on skin as her thighs brushed. My blood thrummed hotter, and my stomach paused chewing on itself. It didn”t have any blood anymore to feed that desire, not with all of it currently pooling elsewhere…
”They should serve actual food at these things,” she said—shouted—over the bass.
”I”d take a pizza right about now,” I agreed.
She laughed at that. ”It should be a requirement at all events. Feed us.”
”Your song was gorgeous,” I said, meaning it.
She lifted her shoulder. Frowned. ”Eh.”
Now, that? That surprised me.
”I”m serious,” I said. ”You”ve got a gift.”
”Well, thank you,” she said, her cheeks getting pink.
I moved closer to her space, so we didn”t have to shout. Maya smelled like cherries and a hint of vanilla. I”d always liked cherries.
Bass bumped, lights flashed, and the party continued around us. But when she leaned into my space, I didn”t care about anything other than what she would say.
”It”s weird, you know?” she said, lips right up against my ear.
I didn”t know. Not at all.
She caught my vibe because she continued, ”Watching people move on with their lives in such great ways. Like Jared getting married. Emily making partner at her firm. Angela planning her solo trip to Munich just because she wants to. Meanwhile, I”m walking in circles. Same ol”, same ol”.” She glanced down at her hands, then socked me in the stomach with her gaze. ”I didn’t even get to meet the one person I came to see. She didn’t show up to the party, so now I have to stalk her at the wedding. You know what I mean?”
I didn”t know. Not really. But?—
”My dad always said that nothing matters if you don”t acknowledge the effort you put in. Maybe, just let yourself be happy you”re here,” I suggested. ”You showed up.”
She blushed and glanced to her hands in her lap.
I opened my mouth to say something else I hoped might be brilliant. Instead, Maya”s gaze slid to someone else behind me. Before I could open my mouth, Maya said, ”Well, shit.”
Her focus went one hundred percent to whatever was behind me.
Why did I suddenly feel like I”d forgotten to put on clothes before coming to the party? Losing Maya”s attention made the room colder. Made me feel… naked.
Maya stood; her eyes were wide. “Why are you here?”
I craned my neck to get a look at who she’d addressed. A guy in a suit grinned at her and reached for her to pull her into a hug.
She dodged.
I had no claim on her—zero. None. But now, I felt awfully protective. I didn”t snarl or growl, but something inside me wanted to.
“Family friend of the bride,” the guy said.
Maya stepped slightly away from him, cutting a glance at me with a flare in her eyes that seemed to be a request. Whatever it was, let”s be honest, I”d do it.
Maya pulled her bottom lip between her teeth again. She was nervous.
Good to know: Maya gnawed on her lip when she got nervous. I noted it. Tucked the tidbit of knowledge away in my pocket.
”Can you believe all this?” A brown-haired woman slid her arm into the crook of the suit guy”s elbow. ”They went all out with this party.”
”This is my wife,” the guy said, and Maya paled.
”Sherry,” the woman said, pointing to herself.
”Hi.” Maya flashed a kind of genuine smile that I would”ve bought without hesitation, except for the little concerned lines that etched around the edges of her eyelids and the way she darted her eyes just a tad too quickly between the two of them. Maya glanced at me again, as though searching for that help.
Honest as all hell, I didn”t know what was going on with this, but instinct took over, and I stood, moving closer to Maya like I had her back. I didn”t mind it, because I did have her back. Though I hadn”t one iota of an idea of why she needed me.
Suit guy finally looked my way. ”Who”s this?”
I stood a little taller, like a guy did when he sensed a chub-measuring competition about to be thrown his direction.
Maya didn”t answer the question about who I was, which was a bummer because I kinda wanted to hear her answer.
”I”m whoever Maya needs me to be,” I heard myself say.
She pulled at her bottom lip again in a total disruption to any thought processes happening in my brain.
Damn, but I hated that I liked when she did that. Didn”t matter though; I was a good guy who was also starving.
”You ready to hit up that buffet you promised me?” I asked, tilting my thumb toward the exit.
The tense lines around Maya”s eyes finally relaxed.