Dating the Defensive Back (The Nash Brothers Book 1)
Chapter 25

Asking for Favors

It was just a really good guess that he’d be here tonight.

We got lucky.

Or not.

He looks angry as his eyes meet mine, and I’m not sure how to take that.

“Did he call you, too?” he demands.

“Did who call me?”

“Asher!” he yells at me.

My brows draw together as I try to remain calm even though he clearly is not. “Asher? Why would Asher call me? He doesn’t even have my number. At least not that I know of.” I’m babbling, and he’s angry, and I feel like I walked into the middle of a conversation I’m not part of.

“Sorry,” he mutters. “I just…don’t even know why I bothered coming here tonight.”

“Hoping to run into me?” I say brightly, trying to be the sunshine to his grumpy. But he’s clearly not feeling it tonight.

“I can’t seem to escape you,” he says under his breath. At least that’s what I think he says. I’m not really sure. It’s loud in here.

“Ready to pretend?” I ask, leaning in conspiratorially.

He pinches the bridge of his nose then draws in a heavy breath. “Do I have a choice?”

“Nope! But first, I need a drink. And so do you.”

“I have a drink over at my table,” he says.

“Have you met my friend Kelly?” I sling my arm around her.

“Pleasure,” he says gruffly as he glances at her.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” she says with a grin.

My cheeks warm.

“Ava speaks highly of you, too,” he says, finally relenting from the storm cloud he seems to be walking under this evening. “Would you two like to join us?”

I lean in toward him. “I told Kelly everything, just so you know.”

He nods as he snags his bottom lip between his teeth. “We need to be careful.”

“Does this count as a public appearance?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I guess we should have some conversations about that.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Just let me lead the way, then.” He looks angry, and I think he still is angry with me for the omissions that I refuse to call lies. But I follow him over to his table anyway, and Kelly trails on my tail.

I spot Austin Graham at the same time she must because I feel her grab my hand and squeeze it. If anyone deserves a hot night with a football player, it’s Kelly Kaplan. She dated the same guy all through college, and he broke her heart just after graduation. She’s gone on a few dates here and there, but I haven’t seen her genuinely excited about anybody until Austin.

I hope she scores.

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 replace 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 replace 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 replaceing 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?

I feel a little twinge of something in my chest. I wish I had a mom who checked in daily with me. It’s been months since I’ve communicated with my own mother.

I shake off the thought as I set the timer. At eleven in the morning tomorrow—and every day, on repeat—he’ll get a reminder: Are you thinking about Ava?

It’s not a prank, per se, but more of a way to make sure I don’t leave his mind for too long. All part of the grand plan to show him how irresistible I am.

“Are you spying on him?” Victoria asks, leaning across the table with wide eyes.

I shake my head, and I flash her the phone to show her what I just did.

“Oh my God, that’s genius. Trav, gimme your phone.”

He rolls his eyes but hands it over dutifully. “Like I need the reminder.”

They seriously are couples’ goals. They just seem to be so in tune with each other, and that’s all I want—somebody who looks at me like I hung the moon. Somebody who would do anything to make me happy. Somebody who gives me butterflies.

Somebody like Grayson Nash.

Grayson’s phone is long off when he returns, and I hope he texts me tomorrow when the timer goes off with the reminder.

Grayson is chatting away with everybody, and I have yet another early day tomorrow. I think I’m ready to call it a night, but I’m sandwiched into the booth with Grayson carrying on and on about something football-related that goes completely over my head. He’s talking to Patrick across the table, and they’re both laughing while I’m lost.

“I need to get going,” I finally say when there’s a break in the conversation.

“Okay.” He starts to scoot out of the booth, but then he leans in toward me. “Do you need a ride home?”

I turn to Kelly and whisper, “Are you staying?”

She nods. “If it’s okay.”

“Of course. Shoot your shot, bitch.”

She giggles, bids me goodbye, and turns back to Austin.

“I’m heading home solo, but if you’re offering a ride, I’ll take it,” I say to Grayson, raising my brows.

What I’m really looking for here is a ride back to his place followed by another ride on him, but I’ll take what I can get.