The Game by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

A sense of panic washed over me. I looked over at Julian, who was also waiting for my answer, then back to Christian before returning my gaze to Julian. Unlike Christian, Julian would probably not try to get me to go home with him, but what if he kissed me goodnight tonight? Did I want that? I should want that…

I glanced back at Christian, who was watching me intently. Did I want Christian to kiss me? My attraction to him was a no brainer, yet the thought of kissing him also scared the shit out of me. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but when I looked up into Christian’s eyes, I realized one thing. If I kissed Julian, I would feel guilty. Whether that made sense or not didn’t matter; it’s how I would feel, and I knew it in my bones. So I sighed. “I have an early morning, too. So I’ll pass on dessert. Thank you.”

Christian’s smile stretched from ear to ear. It was comical how fast he wanted to wrap things up after that. “Just the check,” he said to the waiter, completely forgetting there were two other people who might’ve wanted dessert at the table. Then he insisted on paying the tab for everyone and stood before he’d even put the pen down after signing the receipt. He tossed a wad of cash on the table for a tip.

“Did you drive here?” He lifted his chin to Julian, who shook his head.

“Subway.”

“I have a car waiting around the corner. We’ll drop you both.” He dug his cell from his pocket and typed. “I’ll have him pull around now.”

“I’m all the way uptown,” Julian said. “I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way.”

“It’s no problem at all.”

Outside, Christian opened the car door for Candice, then held his hand out for me to climb in next. “Julian, four will be a little tight. Why don’t you go in the front? We’ll drop you first.”

“Oh…okay.”

When we pulled up at Julian’s apartment, Christian made no attempt to move. He had no plans to offer to let me out so Julian and I could say goodnight in private. Instead, he rolled down the window. Julian bent and waved. “Thank you again for dinner. It was very nice meeting you, Christian.” He nodded to Candice before looking at me. “I’ll call you.”

Christian was already rolling up the window in Julian’s face by the time I said, “Okay.” He then leaned forward to the driver. “You can drop off Candice next.”

The driver nodded. “You got it.”

For the first time all evening, Candice looked a little perturbed. “Maybe you can drop Bella first, so you can come up for a glass of wine or something?”

I felt a little nauseous, thinking the two of them had probably already had or something before.

Christian shook his head. “First week back at practice really knocked me out, and I have an early day tomorrow.”

“Oh…okay.”

The backseat of the car was uncomfortably quiet the rest of the way to Candice’s apartment. She leaned forward with a forced smile when we pulled up at the curb. “It was nice meeting you, Bella.”

“You, too.”

Christian caught my eye as she climbed out of the car. “I’ll be back in a minute. I’m going to walk her up.”

I watched as the two of them walked side by side to Candice’s building. When they disappeared inside, my gut twisted.

What are they doing in there? What am I doing in here?

A few minutes later, Christian folded his large frame back into the car. “Dessert?”

“Did you kiss her goodnight?” The words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them.

Christian smiled and shook his head. “On the cheek, same way I do my mother.” He leaned over to me. “Not the way I’m going to kiss you when you’re finally ready.”

My eyes met his. “I don’t know when that might be…”

He took my hand, lacing our fingers together. “That’s okay. You’re here with me and not that other guy. One step at a time.”





CHAPTER 13




* * *



CHRISTIAN



“So, Candice and Bozo make a cute couple, don’t they? Should we help them exchange numbers?”

Bella narrowed her eyes. “Don’t push it. You already took over my date, dumped him curbside, and got me to come here with you. What happened to one step at a time?”

I reached across the table and weaved my fingers with Bella’s again. I’d done it in the car, and she hadn’t pulled away. Sadly, it did more for me than spending the night with the women I’d been with lately. “I’m just fucking around.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe you brought a woman who worked in AI with you to crash my date. It’s pretty impressive that you were able to come up with one on such short notice. She was gorgeous, too.”

I squeezed Bella’s fingers. “Doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

The waitress came over, and we hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. She did a double take when she saw me. “You’re…Christian Knox, the football player.”

I glanced at her name tag. “And you’re Francine. Nice to meet you.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “You know my name?”

I motioned to the tag pinned on her uniform. “It’s written right there.”