I don’t eat soon—”
“You’ll die,” Charlie said. “Yeah, we’re aware of your strange condition.”
Dax walked up to me after exchanging a few handshakes with his guys. “You okay?” He had a slight smile on his face, amused at my discomfort.
“My ass hurts.” I set the bottle beside me and patted my face with a towel.
“Maybe it’s because you’re sitting on a steel bleacher.”
“Nope,” I said. “It’s because Charlie made me hustle like it was the NBA Finals.”
Dax grabbed his towel and patted his face dry before he rubbed it across his chest and shoulders, collecting all the sweat that dripped down that beautiful tanned skin.
I kept my eyes straight ahead and refused to let myself stare.
“We’re gonna get pizza,” Dax said. “You guys want to come along?”
Matt answered for all of us. “Yes. Please.”
Dax chuckled. “Hungry?”
“He has a condition,” Charlie said. “If he doesn’t eat the second he’s hungry, he dies.”
Dax turned to me, still amused. “I’m pretty hungry too, so maybe I have that condition as well.”
“Dude, let’s go.” Matt got up. “I need pizza in my stomach. Pronto.”
Everyone stood up—but me.
With his arms over his chest and the towel over his shoulder, Dax looked down at me, the blood making his skin flush a slightly red color, the same way he looked when we’d been screwing for a long time. “You aren’t coming?”
“I think my ass is broken.”
He grinned then extended a hand. “Come on.”
I grabbed him, immediately felt his pulse, immediately felt that surge of excitement when I came into contact with him. But I didn’t respond to it, buried that reaction deep down inside. I got to my feet then cringed.
“If it hurts now, it’s really going to hurt tomorrow.”
“Oh, I know.” I grabbed my bottle and walked beside him.
Denise was up ahead with Charlie and Matt on either side of her.
“You need me to carry you?”
“I’d rather die.”
He chuckled. “Proud woman.”
“Damn right.”
We headed outside then walked to the pizza place. His guys were farther ahead, while my friends walked behind. I was a little slow at the moment, so Dax decreased his pace to match mine.
“What’s happening with Charlie and Denise?”
“He’s going for it.”
“Yeah?” he asked in surprise. “How do you feel about that?”
“If she’s into him too, it’s going to cause a lot of problems for me. So I’m not super excited about it.”
“Did you tell him that?”
I shook my head. “I know how Charlie feels about her. I would never stand in his way.”
“So, you think Kat won’t be happy? Even though she’s seeing Nathan?”
“No. Between you and me, Charlie was the love of her life. She and Denise are friends, so if Denise goes for it, it’ll be a betrayal to Kat, and I’m stuck in the middle. Or Kat will realize I knew all of this and feel like I betrayed her. I’m just afraid this is going to end up with Kat and me no longer friends.”
He looked ahead, turning heads as he walked past a group of women. But he didn’t seem to notice them. “Yeah, that’s a rough spot.”
“They haven’t been broken up that long either. If it’d been years, maybe it could work. But I can’t expect Charlie to wait that long. And even if Kat doesn’t get angry at me or Denise, she’ll probably be so uncomfortable around the two of them that she’ll just disappear.”
“Yeah. No matter how it plays out, it doesn’t have a happy ending.”
“No.” I shook my head. “If Charlie and Denise ended up together, that would be great because he would be my brother-in-law. He’s always been my brother, but now he actually would be family. I’d be an aunt to his kids, related by blood. It’d be totally awesome. But…I don’t know where Kat fits into that scenario.”
“Yeah.”
“Anyway, enough about the drama in my life…”
“I’m not sure if that constitutes drama,” he said with a chuckle.
“It’s pretty much a soap opera. What about you?”
He shrugged. “My sister has been seeing this guy for a while. I’m meeting him on Friday.”
“Why is that drama? Please don’t tell me you’re going to be an obnoxious protective brother? That shit is so outdated.”
He grinned in guilt. “I can’t help it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just be nice. I’m sure he’s great.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “She watched what you went through, right?”
He turned his gaze and stared at me for a while, his eyes a little soft. “Right.”
“So, she’ll be fine. Is he hot?”
“No idea what he looks like.”
“What does he do?”
He shrugged.
“You don’t know anything about