other without ever saying a word. “What do you think, Drew? Should we let her invite him?”
Nerves eat at my stomach as I wait for his answer. His expression is like stone. Unreadable. Then there’s Jake, who’s totally annoyed. Beck could care less. He’d rather play on his phone.
“Just say yes,” Autumn tells him, making Dad sigh.
“Fine, yes. He can go.”
Jake pushes back his chair, the legs scraping loudly across the wood floor as he jumps to his feet. “Keep that asshole away from me tonight,” he mutters, before he exits the kitchen.
Ignoring my brother’s outburst, I rush over to Dad and give him a hug, pressing my cheek against his chest. “Thank you for letting him go.”
“You better ask him first and make sure he can go,” Dad says gruffly, as he gives me a squeeze before he releases me.
“I will.” I go back to my mom and hug her too, before I grab my bag and race up the stairs, isolating myself in my room, so I can text Eli in private. I hope he answers. I hope he hasn’t blocked me again. He was mad last night, but not totally furious. More like he was disappointed. I keep letting him down. I need to prove that I want to be with him. No sneaking around this time either.
If going to a Fresno State Bulldogs game with my family isn’t public enough for him, then I don’t know what is.
Picking up my phone, I start typing.
You want to go to the Bulldogs game tonight?
He responds within seconds.
Eli: With who?
I decide to FaceTime him. I don’t have the patience to type it all out. Plus, I want to see his face.
He answers quickly, and when his face appears on my phone screen, I feel a little giddy. He’s clearly still in bed. His hair is a mess and he’s shirtless. “Why are you texting me so early?”
“You answered.” I shrug, smiling at him. “So, do you want to come with us to the game tonight?”
“Who’s us?” He yawns. Scratches his chest. I watch his fingers trail across his bare skin and tingles sweep over me.
“My entire family,” I answer.
That gets his attention. “You’re serious?”
I nod. “My parents, plus Autumn is here. Jake and Hannah. My little brother, Beck. We’re all headed to campus after Beck’s football game. Autumn came home for the weekend to spend time with us and with Ash.”
“Ash fucking Davis?” Eli sits up, the comforter pooling around his waist. “He’s a legend. I always forget they’re together.”
“They’ll probably get married eventually.” Pretty sure Autumn’s already got her wedding colors picked out and everything.
“Will we get a chance to talk to him?” Eli asks eagerly.
“Maybe. I’m not sure.” I pause. “So. Do you want to go with us?”
“Your parents are cool with me going? And Jake?”
“I wouldn’t ask if they weren’t.” I won’t mention Jake and how he acted earlier. We’ll just steer clear of him this evening. Plus, he’ll have Hannah there as a buffer too. Just like I’ll be a buffer for Eli.
It should all work out. No problems.
“Yeah, I’ll go. That sounds dope as hell.” He smiles at me and I can’t help but smile in return. “You’ve made a complete turnaround, Callahan.”
“Hey, you told me to prove it,” I say. I lean back against the pile of pillows on my bed, yanking up the very blanket Autumn accused me of stealing so it’s wrapped all around me. “Maybe you could come pick me up at my house in a little bit?”
“Uh, sure.” He runs a hand through his hair, his biceps bulging with the movement. He has the best arms. He has the best everything. “I need to take a shower first.”
“You have a Bulldogs T-shirt?” I ask. “Make sure you wear one. We all do when we go to their games.”
“Do you go to them a lot?”
“Yeah, to support Ash. I didn’t go to many games last year though. I thought they were kind of boring,” I admit.
The expression on his face is nothing less than horrified. “Football bores you?”
“I mean…it’s not my favorite.” I wrinkle my nose.
“That’s it. We’re done. For sure.” My heart drops to my stomach for the quickest second, before he starts laughing, and I realize he’s teasing me. “You are such a contradiction, Ava Callahan. You come from football royalty. Your dad and uncle played for the NFL. Your brother will probably play for a pro team too. Your sister is going to marry a guy who