The Game by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

“Maybe.” Bella scooped a hunk of the lava cake onto her spoon, then sheared off a layer of the ice cream on top. She pointed the full spoon at me before shoveling it into her mouth. “Tell me more about you. I was surprised when you told Wyatt your major was archeology. Were you into digging in the dirt and playing with bones?”

“Growing up, my brothers and I stayed with my grandparents in Colorado for two weeks every year. Summer of ninth grade, a new family moved in next door to them. The daughter volunteered at a nearby camp—Crow Canyon. It’s an archeological research center. Her name was Shelby Minton, and I was in love. So I asked my grandmother to sign me up for some week-long summer program that introduced you to archeology. I had zero interest in it at the time—really zero interest in anything but football and girls—but I wanted to be near Shelby.”

“So a girl got you interested in archeology?”

“More like a woman. Shelby was twenty-three, I think.”

Bella covered her smile with her hand. “You were in ninth grade? What is that, fifteen? And had the hots for a twenty-three-year-old?”

I nodded. “She drove a Jeep Wrangler with no doors or top, even when it rained, and she had big boobs. I’d wait outside for hours until she came home on a rainy afternoon, just so I could check her out in a wet T-shirt.”

Bella’s eyes glittered with amusement behind her slightly crooked glasses. I loved the way her whole face smiled, even when she was laughing at me.

“Did you follow Shelby around during the summer camp?”

“I did the first day. Then I saw her making out with another woman. I figured I had no shot after that.”

“It took finding out she liked women for you to realize you had no shot? The fact that you were fifteen and she was twenty-three didn’t give you a hint that it wasn’t going to happen?”

“Nah. I was six inches taller than all the boys in my grade already, the co-captain of the varsity football team in my first year playing high school football, and popular with the girls. I thought I was the shit. I had no clue she was out of my league.”

Bella laughed. “You must’ve been a handful.”

“Anyway, once I realized Shelby was a lost cause, I started to pay more attention at the camp. By the end of the five days, I knew I wanted to go to college for archeology.”

“What do you like about it?”

“I guess the mystery of it. It’s like putting together a puzzle without knowing what picture you’re making.” Bella’s eyes roamed my face. I thought maybe I had some chocolate on it, so I rubbed at my cheek. “What? Am I wearing dessert?”

She smiled. “No. You’re just different than I thought you’d be.”

“What did you think I’d be like?”

“I’m not sure. Just different.”

“Is it a bad or good different?”

“It’s a good different.”

I wiggled my brows. “So does that mean you’ll go out with me?”

Bella laughed. “No. But nice try.”



***



A little while later, we pulled up at Bella’s building. Like last time, I double-parked, hopped out, and jogged around to open her door, offering her a hand down from the truck. Except this time, I didn’t let go once her feet were on the ground. Instead, I tightened my grip around her petite fingers and brought the top of her hand to my lips for a kiss.

“Thank you for having dinner with me. Even though you’re going to pretend it wasn’t a date, I had a good time.”

“I did, too. And thank you again for coming to Wyatt’s game. It was incredibly thoughtful.”

“Anytime.” We walked side by side to the entrance of the fruit stand. “Are you going to the game in Colorado this weekend?”

“I am. I think I’m going to hop a ride on the team’s plane, for the way there at least. I’m sitting in on a meeting with an advertiser a little outside of Denver the day after the game, so I’ll probably take a different flight home. But I’d like to let the players and staff know I’m accessible and trying my best to learn the ropes.”

“That’s a good idea. Practice ends early the day before. Maybe I can finally get around to telling you a little about the players and team’s management?”

“I feel like I’ve monopolized a lot of your time lately.”

I shook my head. “I don’t mind. Do you?”

She smiled. “I think most of my days are filled with meetings until five. What time does your practice end?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll come up about six, if that works.”

“Okay, thanks.”

I winked. “It’s a date. Another one.”

She rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told a different story. “Goodnight, Christian.”

“’Night, boss lady.”

Halfway back to my car, I yelled. “Hey, Bella?”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to call Julian back tonight?”

She shook her head. “Probably not. Maybe tomorrow.”

I grinned. “Yeah, it’s a date.”





CHAPTER 7




* * *



BELLA



“Wyatt couldn’t sleep last night, he was so wired from the afternoon.” Talia laughed. “He must’ve come into my room a half dozen times while I was trying to fall asleep to tell me something about Christian that he forgot to tell me during his two-hour ramble that started the moment I walked in the door.”