Clipped by Love
Page 21

“Sometimes, it plays out like that,” I say, before shooting and getting it in the last cup. “You have no clue how much money I’ve made from this.”
She nods as she looks down at the cup. “I bet.”
Reaching for it, she takes the ball out and downs the cup. She then starts for her cups, and deciding that I actually want her to be able to talk to me, I go over to help her finish them off. Reaching for a cup, I down it before reaching for another, but then I pause to look at her. She is pissed; it’s rolling off her in waves. She doesn’t like losing.
That’s obvious.
“I’m surprised you don’t want a rematch,” I note and she shrugs.
“I lost, fair and square,” she says simply. “And if I’m honest, it can’t be that bad to talk to you.”
I scoff. “That must be the beer talking.”
She looks up at me and smiles, giving me the girlie, fluttering feeling in my gut. It’s a true smile. The same one that I saw when she scored the winning goal against me. “Must be, eh?”
I grin before downing the cup. Soon all the beer is gone, and she looks up at me expectantly but also a little cautiously. “So now what?”
I pause, pressing my finger to my chin. She watches me, trying to fight off her grin before I look over at her. “I know, I’m supposed to say…BOOYAH!”
That has her laughing, and I laugh along with her as we both lean against the table, the sounds of the party overwhelming our laughter.
“I had that coming,” she says between her laughter, and I nod.
“You did.”
As my laughter subsides, I look up at the clear dark sky and suck in a deep breath, loving how relaxed I am and how much fun I’m having. The party is in full swing; people are everywhere and music is blasting. There is no way I can get to know her here. Also, there are people waiting for the table, so now the question is where do we go? Since I know suggesting my room will get me shot down quicker than a slap shot, I look around for a quieter spot. I see that only two people are by the bonfire, and I decide that’s where I want to go.
Looking over at her, I say, “No, really, I’ll go get my Jack and some Coke. Meet ya down by the fire.”
She glances over to where I’m looking and nods. “Sure.”
I eye her because for some reason, I have a feeling she’s gonna run.
“You aren’t going to run off, are you?” I ask her cautiously, and she laughs as she shakes her head.
“No, I’ll meet you there.”
“Promise?”
She looks at me, flabbergasted, and I have to say it’s quite cute. “How in the ever-loving fuck would me promising you do anything? We don’t even know each other!”
I smile, looking down as I shrug before glancing back at her. “Sure, but I feel like if you promise something, you won’t go back on it.”
Her hazel eyes soften a bit as her mouth pulls up at the side. “I don’t make a promise I can’t keep.”
“I know. So promise me you’ll be there.”
Holding my gaze for a moment, she then smiles fully at me before nodding. “I promise I’ll wait for you.”
I suck in a deep breath as I get lost in her eyes. It takes everything for me to step back so that I don’t kiss her, but the space doesn’t keep me from saying, “You’re quite possibility the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She blinks, obviously a bit taken aback by my comment, and then scoffs. “I think you’re drunk. I’ll meet you down there.”
She turns before rushing down the stairs, but once her feet hit the stairs, she glances back at me. I smile and she shakes her head, a grin pulling at her lips as she heads toward the fire. I’m not lying. She is the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, and it’s obvious she doesn’t take compliments well.
She’s…well… She’s something.
I don’t even think there is a word to describe her. I’m sure if I didn’t have seven cups of beer in me, I could find the word, but I’ll do that later. Right now, I need Jack and Coke. As soon as I step away from the table, it’s overrun by guys trying to prove their awesomeness. Someone even yells, “Where you going, Jay? You don’t want to hold your title?”
I laugh as I shake my head. It was Bryan, one of the guys from the team. “Nah, man, got someone who needs all my attention.”
“Pussy,” is his response, and soon I’m getting called that by most of the other guys, but I wave them off, going into the house. I reach into the freezer, getting my bottle and then a couple cans of Coke before grabbing two cups. When I turn, Jude is watching me from the table, his phone in his hand and his brow up.
“Why don’t you just take her to your room?”
I scoff. “She doesn’t want to go there yet.”
“But she will?”
“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “I’d like her to.”
“I bet. She’s hot but a ballbuster.”
“True,” I say. “But I like it.”
He laughs and says, “Whatever helps you relax.”
I smile as I head out the door and down the stairs to the bonfire. Baylor could definitely help me relax. Hell, she already has.
Like I hoped, she’s waiting for me and looks a little anxious when I sit down, handing her a cup. Making us both a drink, I hold the Jack between my feet with the cans of Coke between us. The heat from the fire is warm and takes away the chill from the ocean. She must have been cold because not only does she have her tank on but also the hoodie she was wearing around her waist.
“Cold?” I ask, nodding toward her chest.
Her cheeks redden as she shakes her head. “I can’t believe I was desperate enough to win that I tried to use my tits to distract you.”
“Oh, so you don’t do that a lot?”
She rolls her eyes. “Never. I don’t have to. I almost always win.”
“Ah, guess you met your match.”
“In beer pong,” she points out.
“I don’t know, I think I could take you down if there was a rematch to our road battle.”
She smiles. “Are you challenging me?”
I nod, meeting her gaze. “I am.”
“Fine, I’ll be here in the morning,” she says, holding her cup up to me. I hit it with mine, and I’m a little too giddy that she’ll be back tomorrow.