My Lucky Catch (University Park #6) (15 page)

“You know I don’t like to work out.” She took another bite of her burger, snubbing my question.

“I know, but I thought you’d like to tone up your arms,” I flexed my bicep, “since you’re thinking about buying that strapless wedding dress.”

A sudden kick under the table had me totally confused. “Ow!” I yelled, reaching down and rubbing my shin. Lexi was obviously pissed about what I said.

“You bought a strapless dress?” Collin immediately keyed in on our conversation, and I knew I’d screwed up.

Lexi smiled. “Well, I haven’t bought it yet.”

“Sorry.” I wanted to punch myself for blurting that out. I had ruined her surprise. “I just didn’t want to go alone.”

“Oh, all right. But you and I are going to have a talk.” She pointed a finger at me, and I retreated in my chair, knowing she’d let me have it later. With a quick glance to her phone, she said, “I gotta go.”

“But you didn’t finish your burger.” Collin commented on her half-eaten plate of food.

“I guess I wasn’t that hungry.” She stuffed her phone in the pocket of her backpack.

“I’ll call you later.” Collin placed a hand on her arm and leaned forward.

“Okay.” Lexi closed her eyes and puckered her lips in anticipation of a kiss from him. Instead, Collin’s lips landed on her forehead.

I blinked twice, not believing my eyes. Why wouldn’t he kiss her on the lips?

“You’d better go.” He rubbed her arm, as if that would make her feel better. “You don’t want to be late.”

She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, causing her body to slump forward. I felt so bad for her. Lexi deserved more attention and affection than that. I didn’t understand why he was holding back. Was it because we were there?

“See y’all later.” She scooted out of the booth and lumbered toward the door.

“I better go.” Collin glanced at his watch. “I have class in ten minutes.”

“See you at the apartment later.” Luke wiped his hands on a napkin and tossed on the table.

“I’ll be at the library studying so I won’t be back until later.” Collin grabbed his backpack and stood.

“Yeah, okay.” Luke nodded, and I gave Collin a short wave bye.

Once Collin was out the door, Luke turned to me. “Wanna get started on studying?”

I pressed my lips together, trying hard to hide the smile emerging. “Sure, why not?”

Chapter 10

Luke

“Damn, that was good Chinese food.” I wiped my mouth and hands before tossing my napkin on the table. “Glad we decided to try that place.”

“Me, too.” Delaney’s head tilted to the side. “You missed some, right there.” Using her napkin, she cleaned the area under my lips.

“I was saving that for you.” I winked. “You know, for later.”

“You were?” Her eyes widened with a hunger that only I could satisfy. Over the past few weeks, things had really changed between us. Although I hadn’t gotten her to open up to me, we were seeing each other more. We started hanging out with Forbes and Jordan since they already knew about us. It definitely made life a little bit easier.

“Oh, God,” Forbes complained. “Just go to your room already.”

“Shut up, man.” I shot him the finger as I gave Delaney a quick kiss on the lips. We still had to be careful around Collin and Lexi. I wasn’t ready to tell my sister, maybe because I still had no idea where my relationship with Delaney was going.

“Leave them alone.” Jordan pulled on Forbes, trying to get his attention. “It’s about time they come out of the closet.”

“Hey, we haven’t opened the door yet,” I reminded them. “So don’t say anything.”

Jordan nodded, and Forbes rolled his eyes. “Whatever, man. Everybody already knows.”

“They better not.” I scolded.

“I swear I didn’t say a word.” He held up his hands in surrender.

“Me, either.” Jordan pretended to zip her mouth with her fingers. “But it’s obvious.”

She shrugged and then picked up her phone and turned on some music. “Hey, what are y’all doing this weekend?”

“I don’t know.” I glanced at Delaney, waiting for her to say something. “We have practice Saturday and Sunday, but not on Friday.”

“I think we should get some friends together and go hang out somewhere.” Jordan gathered her and Forbes’ empty plates.

“That sounds like fun.” Delaney got up, taking our plates. “We can be together.” She bumped her butt against my arm, getting my attention. I gave her a playful slap on her backend. She squealed as she danced her way into the kitchen. I found myself watching her every move. What was it about her? I could barely feel my face because of the constant smiling I did when I was with her. One quick glance at Forbes told me that he was sick of it.

“If we have a big group, no one will think anything about you two being together.” Jordan elbowed Delaney.

“Maybe.” Delaney had a mischievous smirk on her face as she and Jordan danced in the kitchen.

“There’s a really nice bowling alley on West 7
^th
Street. They even have a bar and serve food, too.” Forbes finished off his sake and set the empty bottle on the table.

“I don’t know how you drink that.” I cringed and shook my head.

“What?” He shrugged. “It’s not bad, in fact, I want another one.” He got up and leaned over the bar, motioning to Jordan. She opened the fridge and took out a brown bottle and gave it to him.

Getting up, I strutted my way into the kitchen. “I was thinking we could do a little dancing.” I pressed up against Delaney, giving her some hip action from behind.

“Hey, now.” She rubbed against me, causing my pants to get tighter.

“Oh, yeah, baby.” I continued to bump and grind against her. I honestly couldn’t get enough of this woman. Her sensual moves had me ready to take her to the bedroom and keep her there all night.

The front door to the apartment opened, and Collin walked in. Immediately, I pulled away from Delaney, and she stopped dancing. He looked around, his face stone cold. I knew he was pissed about what happened earlier that day at lunch with my sister. Hell, I was still shocked that she got drunk on mimosas in front of her soon-to-be in-laws and our parents. She was definitely stressed about the wedding.

“Hey, where have you been?” Forbes asked, as he lifted his sake I tried to motion for him to leave Collin alone, but I couldn’t make eye contact with him.

“I went with my brother to the batting cage,” he sighed and looked at me for a brief moment. “After church and lunch.”

“Dude, the World Series game isn’t until next Wednesday.” Forbes took a quick sip of his sake. “And it’s only Sunday night.”

Collin shut the door and shook his head. “I want to win, unlike you two goof-offs.”

“Uh, we do want to win, and we went to practice yesterday. Thank you very much.” Forbes shot me a glare, and I shrugged. Collin was known for going the extra mile and then some.

“You missed some damn good Chinese food.” I glanced over the bar at the white containers on the table. “There might be some left.”

“Thanks, but I already ate.” Shuffling into the kitchen, he grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

“We were just talking about getting a group of people together to go bowling this weekend.” I walked out of the kitchen and back into the dining area, creating some distance between Delaney and me. She must have caught on because she stayed in the kitchen with Jordan.

“Okay, just let me know. I’m sure Lexi will want to go.”

“We should go Friday night since we don’t have practice,” Forbes added.

Taking a big gulp of water, he nodded. Everyone seemed awkwardly quiet and uncomfortable as Collin stood in the kitchen. Maybe because we were keeping what was going on between Delaney and me a secret and hoping he didn’t catch on. “Do you mind turning off the music?” He glanced at Delaney. “I have a test to study for.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Delaney turned to Jordan.

“Sorry.” Jordan grabbed her phone from the bar. “I meant to turn it off earlier.”

“Thanks.” He started to walk out of the kitchen, but stopped. “Hey, Luke, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah.” My shoulders slumped, and I trudged forward. The last thing I wanted was to hear him lecture me about my sister. I got enough of that from my parents.

“In private, if you don’t mind.” He cleared his throat a few times, as if he was nervous.

“Okay.” I followed him to his room, not bothering to say anything to Delaney or anyone else. If there was one thing I was good at, it was keeping a straight face. He turned on the light and shut the door. My stomach clenched, but I managed to stay relaxed. Was this about my sister, or was he about to bust my chops?

“What’s up?” I shoved my hands in my jeans, waiting for him to say something.

He set his workout bag on the floor and placed his keys in his valet. “Did you take Lexi home? Was she okay?”

I released a low breath, extremely relieved this was about my sister and not Delaney. “I brought her back here to the apartment, and she slept it off. Then I dropped her off at the library a little after five. Said she had to tutor someone.”

“Oh. Did she get sick?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I think the liquor relaxed her, and she fell asleep.”

He sat on the edge of his bed. “Thanks for looking after her.”

“Yeah,” I shrugged with indifference. I wanted to tell him that was his job, especially since he was going to be her husband, but something told me to save that for another time.

“I don’t know what got in to her today.” He seemed more concerned than mad. “I guess she’s stressed about the wedding, but she’s choosing the wrong path, if that’s the case.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I’m going to have a talk with your parents.”

If he wanted to piss off my sister, that was one way to do it, but I didn’t tell him anything. I didn’t like getting involved with their issues.

“Something tells me Delaney might have something to do with her behavior.”

“Delaney?” I scratched the back of my head. Even though she was a partier and a sex-crazed woman, she definitely hadn’t converted my sister. At least I didn’t think she had. “I doubt it.”

With his eyes trained to the floor, he released a silent breath. It took him a few seconds to finally look at me, and when he did, I knew I was busted. “What are you doing with her?”

“What?” I squared my shoulders, keeping a straight posture. “With who?”

“Don’t play games with me, Luke. You might be good at keeping secrets, but you forget how long I’ve know you.”

“Since we were thirteen.” I reminded him. “We met on the baseball fields at Rutherford Park, remember?”

“Yes, of course, I remember because that’s when I met your family and your sister.”

“Amazing right.” I chucked him on the arm. “And to think it all started on that field with my sister being a bat girl. Now you two are getting married. We’re going to be real brothers now.”

“Nice try.” He smiled. “But you can’t distract me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He smirked. “I’m talking about the beautiful blue-eyed brunette out there.” He hooked his thumb behind him. “Who happens to be Lexi’s roommate, maid of honor, and your bed buddy.”

“Say what?”

“Don’t play dumb.” He shook his head in disgust. “You’ve been messing around with her for a while now.”

“So, what’s the big deal?” I crossed my arms and eyed him.

“Thanks for admitting it,” Collin said with a solemn nod.

I gave a shoulder shrug. “I obviously can’t hide it from you any longer.”

“Man, she’s not good for you.” He said in a low voice.

“Says who?” I challenged him. Collin tended to act like my big brother, constantly reminding me about what I should and shouldn’t be doing. He meant well, but at times, it wore on me.

“The girl sleeps around, and don’t tell me she doesn’t.” Leaning forward, he whispered, “She’s had sex with a few of the guys on the team.”

“Are you one of them?”

“What?” His head jutted back, and his eyes blinked rapidly. “I can’t believe you asked me that. You know I’m saving myself for your sister.”

“To be honest, it sounds like you’re a little jealous.”

“Jealous?” His voice lilted. “Hardly.” He huffed out a laugh. “I’m trying to warn my friend that he’s messing around with the wrong girl. She’s not good enough for you, Luke.”

“So, when did you become anti-Delaney?” I ran my hand through my hair while taking a few deep breaths. The last thing I wanted to do was get in a fistfight with my soon-to-be brother-in-law and good friend.

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t stop Lexi from rooming with her again, and you didn’t tell her not to be her maid of honor. She’s obviously not that bad of a person because if she was, you wouldn’t want my sister around her.”

“To be honest with you, I didn’t, but Lexi was adamant that she room with her and have her in the wedding. Believe me, I encouraged her to find another roommate and to ask her cousin, Kenzie, or her sister, Ashley, to be the maid of honor, but she refused. She claimed that she was helping Delaney be a better person, so I agreed.