AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But as I look around this bar at the fresh meat Vegas is serving this evening, my eyes landing on a gorgeous blonde, I can’t help but think that theoretically I’m next, but I’m not in a rush to figure out exactly what it is that I want out of life.
At least not tonight, anyway.
Chapter 5: Ava Maxwell
Cookie’s Cookies
I spot him the second we walk in.
Even from across the room, he’s gorgeous. Way hotter than he looked on TV, and also hotter than my memory recalled.
I can’t believe my luck.
He’s here.
He’s actually here.
And so is his youngest brother, Asher, who was a year older than me in high school. A whole bunch of football players are smashed into one large booth in the back, but my eyes immediately landed on Grayson.
He hasn’t spotted me yet, and I’m trying not to stare as Cora whisper-yells, “Holy shit, we hit the jackpot!”
She’s not wrong.
Poppy didn’t make the trip to the Gridiron with us crazy kids, as she calls us, so it’s just Cora, a couple of her friends, Kelly, Dom, and me, and I’m already a little buzzed since we pre-partied before we grabbed an Uber here.
“Aren’t most of them married?” Dom asks.
“Does it matter?” Cora asks, and I think she’s joking, but I’m not sure. “That new guy and his brother are pretty hot.”
Kelly opens her mouth, presumably to let them know my brother is actually friends with “that new guy,” but I don’t want them to know that. Not yet, anyway. I shake my head and widen my eyes in that secret don’t say a word signal that only a best friend could decode.
I’m not saying a thing until I can get a gauge on how all this is going to go down.
But I’m secretly dying inside that he’s here.
Those butterflies Kelly mentioned yesterday?
They’re flapping wildly all around my stomach as my eyes edge back to Grayson.
God, he’s good-looking. Bright blue eyes, dark hair that’s sort of lazily pushed back and could use a cut, scruff on his jawline that makes him look both rugged and tough. He tips a glass to his lips. It’s a short glass, which tells me it isn’t water, but it’s a clear liquid. What is Grayson Nash’s adult beverage of choice? Is he a vodka guy? Tequila? Something else?
I don’t know, but I do know I need a little liquid courage if I’m going to attempt to talk to him. I think I had a total of two conversations with him my entire life, but I’m his friend’s little sister. Certainly he’d give me the time of day now that I’m an adult and we have a shared connection in this new space where he finds himself.
I head up to the bar with Kelly, and I order a vodka cranberry while she orders a glass of wine. It’s probably a more sophisticated choice than vodka, but I need something that’s a little more fast-acting.
The bartender sets my drink in front of me, and I’m about to hand him my credit card when I hear a voice beside me. “You can put it on my tab.”
I glance over and see a guy who’s probably a football player since I think he was in the same booth as Grayson, but he definitely doesn’t have the last name Nash.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I say, trying to be nice as I push my card over to the bartender and shoot him a tight smile.
“I’m happy to. I’m Austin Graham.”
“Well, thank you, Austin.” I’m suddenly nervous as this football player tries to buy me a drink when he’s not the one I want buying me a drink at all.
He’s attractive, for sure. But I have my eye on a different player, and I don’t know what it’s like for these guys. They’re teammates, and Grayson is new to the team. I can’t imagine he’d want anything to do with me if one of his new teammates is interested.
“And you are?” he presses, not getting the hint that I’m not interested.
