Page 41 of Forever Offsides

She shakes her head in an I don’t know way.

“Anyway, she obviously would want to avoid him.” I get a helpless crease of her lips. Braelyn is the worst liar. Like me.

My eyes close. Then I laugh ever so slightly because it’s actually pretty funny all things considered.

“Oh. How awful.” Wren waves the waitress over. “We’re going to have one of every appetizer on the menu, please.”

I sigh, but when the waitress moves and Wren shifts, I get a better shot at the bar. Sure enough, Rhett is sipping on a soda with a half-eaten burger in front of him. He has his glasses on and a laptop in front of him. I’ve got a perfect profile shot of him. And my stomach just got a fresh jolt of butterflies.

What is he doing here? Please don’t tell me⁠—

“Dude, does he live in this neighborhood?” Katy ducks her head and checks him out as do the other women. They’re looking at the guy a few seats down from Rhett, which makes sense because he’s also alone and closer to our age. I think he works at the hospital, actually.

Keegan nods. “No one else comes here unless they work at the hospital or live in Beacon Hill. Plus, he looks cozy. And hot. I mean, older, but no judgment. Men age like fine wine.”

“Wait. Older?” Tinsley questions. “Who are you looking at? I thought it was the guy in the white shirt.”

I glare at Braelyn.

Katy snorts. “I’ll take the hot, older man for two thousand, Ken.” She snickers. “Quinn, which one is he?”

“Oh, look, mozzarella sticks are back on the menu,” Braelyn notes, trying for a distraction that isn’t working. “My favorite.”

Wren nudges Tinsley because they’re all in this now. “I’m for the older guy.”

“Totally,” she agrees. “Why do men get better looking while we age like moldy cheese? Life is unfair like that.”

“Bennett is in his forties, and I like his grays. It’s sexy and distinguished.”

“He has nice grays,” Keegan agrees with Katy.

I gnaw on my lip as I work to keep myself hidden.

“He really came in his pants?”

I shrug, giving a noncommittal answer. “It’s the younger one.” Because I don’t want them thinking that Rhett did that. It feels wrong.

He and I may both know it happened, but it doesn’t matter. It only makes it worse. If only I could erase the last four months of our talking along with that night, I’d be much better off. The total one-eighty between allowing myself to relax and like him versus the abrupt shift into indifferent strangers is what’s most jarring about this.

But what if he lives around here? I don’t want to run into him. I’m already forced to see him on the field.

“Even if he’s a local, it doesn’t mean you’ll see him,” Keegan reassures, just as our drinks are delivered.

“I hope not,” I grouse.

“Oh, he’s leaving,” Braelyn states. “Keep your head down.”

As fate would have it, both of them get up to leave at the same time.

I twist my head and keep it close to my shoulder. Rhett’s phone rings, and he gets distracted with that as he heads out the door. The younger guy immediately follows after.

“He didn’t see you,” Wren says.

“Crisis averted.” Keegan is smiling. So are Katy and Tinsley. “The older guy, that is, since he’s the one you were tracking.”

Busted. Awesome.

“He didn’t come in his pants, did he?”