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“Well?”
“We didn’t exchange numbers or anything, but we had a nice chat. And I’d like to see if we can chat more again sometime.” She throws air quotes around the word chat.
“Then let’s go.”
Maybe Grayson will be there, and maybe I can get started on this big plan to make him fall in love with me.
But first…
I need to figure out how in the hell I’m going to make that happen.
Chapter 24: Grayson Nash
When Your Brother Blows Your Big Plans
I’m still staring out the window, this time with a glass of gin glued to my palm, when my phone rings.
I glance at the screen and slide it to answer, clicking the speaker button. “Hey, Ash.”
“What’s up, G? A few of the guys from the team are meeting over at the Gridiron tonight and wanted me to extend the invite to you,” my brother informs me.
Fuck.
I feel a little stuck.
I don’t want to go out tonight, but I know how this works. The more times you tell someone no, the less likely they are to ask the next time.
This isn’t my brother extending the invitation. It’s our teammates. They want to get to know the new guy, and they’re issuing the invitation through Asher.
Which is fine. It’s good. It’s great. Whatever.
I need to get to know these guys, and I need to get my ass over there. But I’m still reeling over the confessions Ava made on the couch earlier tonight, and I’m not really in the mood to put on the Grayson act where I’m everybody’s best friend when I just want to drink some gin, tug on my dick, and call it an early night.
I guess I’m letting my little brother blow my big plans for the evening.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be there.” I hang up without thanking him for the invitation. It’s rude, but I’m already halfway to drunk and only have a few fucks left to hand out tonight.
I take a shower, which sobers me right back up, and then I order up a car to take me over to the bar. I draw in a few deep breaths before I get there, and I force myself to call up the act.
The one where I’m the boisterous, loud, fun-loving brother, the guy everyone loves to be around, the guy sought after by women, the guy who can make anyone laugh. Tonight, and most nights since last Friday, I’m feeling much more like the introspective guy who just wants to sit in my hotel suite on a couch opposite Ava, our legs tangled together while the lights of the Strip blink outside and her face lights up everything inside as we talk about nothing and everything.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
I need to shake that shit right out of my head.
That’s not who Grayson Nash is, and it’s not who I’m here to be tonight. I’m here to get to know my teammates, and I want them to see the fun side of me, not this whiney little sap one night with a virgin has turned me into.
I get out of the car and hold my head high as I head inside, and I beeline for the same table in the back where I sat last time. It must be a standing Aces table because it’s already filled with guys I recognize, some who were here last week, and some who weren’t.
And the reason I beeline for that damn table? It’s so I don’t have time to stare at the place where I met Cookie…or, rather, the place where I re-met Ava Maxwell. The woman who had a dream that night, the woman who asked me to forgive her for leaving out details that would’ve prevented that dream from coming true.
Is she right?
It’s not over the top to think that yes, absolutely she was. It’s not out of line to think that if I would’ve known her name, I never would’ve fucked her. And what’s more, if I’d known she was a virgin…
Well, I can’t say I wouldn’t have fucked her if I knew she was a virgin but didn’t know she was Ava. But I might have handled things differently. I might’ve been more careful, or gentler, or maybe I would’ve talked to her longer or given her more foreplay or stopped before I stuck my dick in her.
We’ll never know the answer to that since she didn’t trust me enough to give me the whole story. And to be honest, I can’t really blame her for that. I can’t be mad that she didn’t want me to know she was a virgin when she willingly gave it up to me.
