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I hope I do, too.
I lean forward toward Grayson’s ear. “Kelly is interested in Austin Graham if you have any strings you can pull.”
He stops short and turns around to face me. “You’re seriously asking me for favors when you’ve now interrupted both nights I’ve been out with my teammates?”
I shrink back, and he looks immediately apologetic.
He sighs. “I’m sorry. I’ll see what I can do.”
It’s the first time I realize the tremendous amount of pressure he must be under. He’s new to town, playing for a new team where his brother is the coach and his other brother was suspended for the last year, and he’s already dating somebody—all while his life is under a microscope since he’s a professional athlete from a family of football royalty.
I didn’t realize all I was in for when I propositioned him with a fake relationship.
I’m starting to get it now.
“This is Ava and Kelly,” he says, introducing us to the table. “And this is…well, a bunch of Vegas Aces players and their significant others.”
We both giggle, and each of the guys and their dates introduce themselves. I try to remember all the names, but there’s just no way.
Kelly slides into the booth first since the seat next to Austin is open. I move into the booth next to her and find myself across from Travis Woods, whom I recognize from Instagram, and his wife, who I think said her name was Victoria.
“So, how do you know Grayson?” Victoria asks as Grayson sits next to me.
I glance over at him, waiting for him to field the question, and he does.
“We actually grew up in the same town. Her brother is one of my oldest friends, and we sort of just…found ourselves in the right place at the right time.” He glances over at me and winks, really laying it on thick as I think back to the night we ran into each other.
There’s something sweet about him quoting those words again. I just wish he was doing it sincerely rather than for the benefit of faking it.
“I had the hugest crush on him when I was eleven years old. And now…” I trail off with a big smile and pink cheeks.
“You’re together?” Victoria guesses.
“Jeez, Hartley. Give them some space,” her husband says.
She rolls her eyes. “Look at the way they look at each other. It’s kind of like how you used to look at me.”
He laughs. “Back when we first met and we hated each other?”
“No, just after that, when the hate melted into…well, you know.” Victoria’s cheeks burn, and I giggle.
“Oh, yeah. I definitely know,” Travis says, and he wiggles his eyebrows, garnering laughs from all around the table.
Grayson gets to talking with the guy sitting across from him, and I gather from the conversation that they play the same position. Victoria seems really nice, so I start asking her questions about how she and Travis met, and they’re all too happy to tell their love story. I finish my first drink and order another, and I find that I already feel like part of this crew.
I hope Grayson does, too—particularly since I’ve interrupted his time with them now twice. But it’s not like it’s a team meeting. There are significant others here.
And I hope I get to be a significant other for a little while longer. I hope there are more nights just like this in my future.
It’s all part of my plan, really. I’m finding ways to bond with the teammates he’s bonding with, too. I’m inserting myself into this group so it’ll be harder to extract me in the end. I’m weaving my way into the fabric of his life here in Vegas.
Maybe eleven-year-old me was onto something. Maybe she knew that eventually this is where we’d end up.
He gets up to go to the bathroom, and I see he left his phone unlocked on the table. I pick it up off the table as I think to myself that it was awfully trusting of him to just leave his phone sitting here open for anybody to take a peek through.
Not that I’d do that…but I do have a different plan I want to execute. I spot a text from his mom as I open up his timers.
Mom: Daily check in! How was your day?
