15. Cecelia
FIFTEEN
CECELIA
I manage to put Solomon Barnes out of my mind for the entire first hour of the party.
Cade sets up a game of Texas Hold ‘em and I decide to join him, since the group at the table appears to be in dire need of getting their asses kicked. And if I happen to arrange my seat so I can have a clear view of the guests still trickling through the front door, it doesn’t mean anything.
As it turns out, I didn’t need to bother. Their arrival is impossible to ignore when Jay barrels through the front door shouting, “I brought beer!” A cheer goes up from the guests and he raises the two twelve-packs of Budweiser in the air in victory.
“I’m out for this hand,” I tell Cade. He makes a kissy face at me so I flip him off as I get up from my chair and go to greet them.
“CeCe!” Jay calls when he sees me. “You look hot, girl.”
“Thanks buddy.” I ended up dressing the way I normally do, but I did pick my nicest, tightest pair of jeans, and a blue tank top instead of my normal black. And I may have let Violet do a little more to my makeup than I’m used to.
I’m not really looking at Jay as he moves in to hug me.
Not when Solomon is standing behind him, looking stiff and uncomfortable but so ridiculously gorgeous.
I’d gotten used to him wearing athletic clothes around the soccer field so the sight of him in dark jeans and a soft grey henley is both welcome and surprising.
And he’s wearing his glasses tonight, and that’s just… man. Why are they so hot on him?
“I take it Jay already indulged in some of the beer?” I ask Sol, hoping to lighten him up a little. When his lips curve in response, I feel the most ridiculous surge of triumph.
“Nah. He just naturally has the personality of a drunk idiot.”
“Hey!” Jay gives me a pouty look. “You see what I have to put up with?”
“How do you think I feel? I have to put up with both of you,” a dry voice says, and I realize, for the first time, that a third person came in with Sol and Jay.
“Emery,” I say, trying to hide my surprise. Though I’d invited her, I hadn’t really expected her to show up. She doesn’t make a habit of hanging out with the soccer team after last year’s debacle with our goalkeeper. “It’s nice to see you.”
Her eyebrow arches up, just a bit, and I get the feeling she’s not buying my welcome. I’m just relieved that Jenny is on a date tonight so there’s no chance of ex-girlfriend drama.
I make the mistake of looking up to catch Solomon’s eye. There’s a hint of amusement in his gaze, probably remembering our conversation during stretching, and I can’t help the smile that tugs on my lips.
“Well, then,” Jay says loudly, and I tear my attention from Solomon to see his best friend grinning, eyes darting back and forth between the two of us. He looks positively gleeful, and I wonder how long we were actually looking at each other. Heat comes to my face.
And it gets worse when I realize Emery is looking between the two of us as well. But she doesn’t seem nearly as pleased by whatever she sees. In fact, she’s downright scowling.
“You guys want something to drink? Or eat? We have tons of snacks.” I say it too quickly, my voice too loud, and Jay’s grin grows even bigger.
Someone save me, I think to myself. I obviously can’t be within ten feet of Solomon Barnes without giving myself away.
“Hey!” a bright voice calls, and relief crashes through me when I see that Vega has come to join us. Vega is just who you want at your side during a potentially awkward moment. She’s so bright and engaging it’s hard to feel anything but comfortable—if slightly overwhelmed—in her presence.
Tonight is no exception. Within ninety seconds she’s introduced herself, complimented Emery’s leather jacket and smokey eyeshadow technique, gushed over Jay for bringing beer, and hauled both of them into the kitchen to sample the cookies she made for the party, talking a mile a minute the whole time.
And leaving me alone in the entry hallway with Solomon.
“She can be kind of a lot,” I say, not meeting his eyes. “But, um, I’m glad you came.”
God, I sound ridiculous. Who is this person that’s taken control of my body today? I was awkward when I invited him and beyond ridiculous when getting ready earlier.
But then Solomon does something that both calms and sets me a light at the same time.
“Thanks for inviting me, Cecelia,” he says plainly, reaching out and lightly touching my elbow.
It’s not a big deal, not really. He touches me all the time during training—it’s literally his job. And a simple elbow graze is nothing. Casual. The kind of thing you’d do to any platonic friend.
So why does it feel like all the air in the room got sucked up the second his skin brushed mine? Why is there heat shooting up my arm from where he made contact? Why is my chest suddenly all warm and gooey?
“You okay?” he asks.
Great. My bonkers behavior is apparently no secret.
I force myself to look up and meet his eyes and just like that, everything in me calms. He’s looking down at me with that now familiar steady gaze, dark eyes warm and unjudging.
I’m not sure what he sees in my expression, but his features soften even more.
“I’m okay,” I confirm, even managing to smile. It almost looks like his breath catches, just for a second. “You want a beer?”
“That sounds great.”
He follows me to the kitchen. Several people call out to him—most of my teammates are here and they all know Sol by this point. I expect him to stop and chat but he merely waves in greeting and stays by my side.
And I don’t feel smugly pleased about that at all.
In the kitchen, I show him the beer options in the cooler then gesture him over to the fridge where I open the vegetable crisper. “Don’t rat me out, but Cade hides all his craft brews in here during parties so the guests don’t drink it all.”
He chuckles, leaning down at my side to see into the drawer. Damn, he smells good. I really should not be standing this close to him, close enough to feel the soft brush of his cotton sleeve on my bare arm.
“The IPA is pretty good,” I say, trying to keep my mind off his proximity and how it makes me feel.
“Your cousin won’t be pissed that I’m stealing his beer?”
I scoff. “Pretty sure I actually bought most of these. Cade is horrible at remembering his wallet when we go to the grocery store.”
“Jay is exactly the same way,” he says as I reach in to pull out two bottles. I decide to show off a little and pop the caps using the countertop edge. Solomon’s eyebrows go up. “Impressive. I guess that’s the kind of thing you learn when you’re a rock star’s daughter.”
“Yup,” I agree, handing him his beer. “I can also sleep through a sound check, swear at paparazzi in two languages, and suss out a wannabe groupie from fifty yards.”
He’s laughing when Ash enters the kitchen. “Hey, man,” my cousin says. His face lights up when he sees the beers we’re holding. “Excellent, now Cade can’t say shit when he sees me with one.”
Since I haven’t had a sip yet, I hand mine over and reach back into the veggie drawer for another. I open it the same way and Ash rolls his eyes. “Such a showoff.”
I make a kissy face at him. It kind of sounds like Sol’s breath catches again, but I very deliberately ignore that.
“You wanna play cards?” Ash asks. “I’m trying to convince Cade to switch to Seven-Card Stud.”
“He never wants to play that,” I say.
“Yeah,” Ash agrees. “Because he sucks at it.”
I look up at Solomon to find his eyes already on my face. “Do you play poker?”
He clears his throat. “Um, yeah. I’m pretty decent.”
I waggle my eyebrows. “What do you say? Cade is totally going to lose if we make him switch from Texas Hold’em.”
“And I want to take all his money,” Ash adds. “We went to lunch yesterday and guess who forgot his wallet?”
I smack Solomon’s arm. “See? Didn’t I just tell you he always does that?”
He chuckles. “I wouldn’t mind playing poker.”
So the three of us go out to join the handful of people at the dining table. Vi is there too and she joins us in bullying Cade into switching games.
When we finally get him to agree, he insists on dealing, which should’ve been our first warning. His grin is already too wide, and he has that overly innocent tone he uses right before he does something obnoxious.
“Game is Seven-Card Stud,” Cade announces to the table as he begins to deal the cards.
“Figured we’d switch things up since Hold’em was getting boring,” Ash says to the girl sitting next to him—some chick from his art history class I’m pretty sure he’s into.
“Translation,” Cade says, eyebrow raised. “Ash got tired of losing.”
“I don’t lose,” Ash says. “I simply recalibrate my strategy.”
“Sure,” Cade murmurs, leaning back in his chair. “Recalibrate. Like how you recalibrated your entire academic trajectory after failing three classes our freshman year?”
A round of laughter goes up. Ash flips Cade off. Solomon, next to me, leans slightly closer so he can whisper, “Did you guys bully each other like this growing up?”
“Please,” I whisper back. “We still bully each other.”
He smiles, and that alone distracts me long enough that I almost miss my face-up card being dealt in front of me.
A nine. Solid but not exciting.
Cade gets a queen showing. Great. He’ll be insufferable.
The first round is quiet enough—everyone antes, a couple people fold early, and Cade ends up taking the pot with two queens.
Which, of course, means he spends the next five minutes celebrating like he won the freaking lottery.
“I thought you said he wasn’t good at this version,” Violet mutters to her twin. Ash shrugs, looking grumpy, as Cade pulls the chips from the pot.
“I’m a man of hidden depths,” Cade declares.
“You’re a man of hidden luck,” I shoot back.
He wiggles his eyebrows. “Maybe this was a bad game to switch to, CeCe.”
I glare. He grins wider.
Solomon, who’s sorting his small pile of chips, glances at me with amused sympathy. “Rough start?”
“Shh,” I tell him. “I’m recalibrating.”