Dating the Defensive Back (The Nash Brothers Book 1)

Am I Still Your Fake Girlfriend

“I’m so sorry, Ava,” Kelly says quietly. “But I had to show you as soon as I saw.”

I close my eyes and suck in a breath. This could go one of two ways here.

Either A, I could get pissed off and fall into the whole miscommunication trap, or B, I could give him a chance to explain since there might be an explanation…not that he owes me one.

Because we’re not really dating, right?

Except I’m totally there, and I’ve been in love with him since I was a teenager, and I think he’s feeling it too, but I’m probably wrong. Either way…I’m not missing my chance.

I opt for B. I’m not a real confrontational person, but he’s the one who agreed to the fake relationship thing, and getting photographed hugging another woman definitely contradicts our whole story.

And Tito’s. Three shots of Tito’s plus some Tito’s and Sprite, and here we are—with enough liquid courage to make the call.

Interestingly, however, I retreat to my bedroom for privacy for this call. It’s not like when I broke up with Colin while Kelly was sitting beside me. For some reason, I want to call Grayson alone.

“Hey,” he answers, and I can’t quite read how he sounds from his tone. I was half-expecting some joke about how I must not be able to get enough of him if I’m calling already, which is also true, but he sounds…subdued?

“Hey. Kelly saw some pics of you hugging some woman in the Palms casino an hour ago, and there was a whole caption about how you spent the day with your girlfriend at the Vegas Heat game. So, I guess I just called to ask…am I still your fake girlfriend or what?”

He’s silent on the other end.

“Well?” I push.

“Yeah. A friend from LA came to see me, and I told her I’m in a relationship. Okay?” Now he doesn’t sound as subdued. He sounds…angry. At me?

“Okay,” I say, definitely more meekly than my first question was asked.

He blows out a loud, harsh breath. “I shouldn’t have hugged her. She kind of clung to me, and I had to let her down gently that it wasn’t going to happen.”

“Did you want to?” I ask. No way in hell would I be asking that question if I wasn’t slightly drunk.

He’s quiet a long time again before he answers. “Not with her.”

“With who?” I whisper.

“I can’t talk about this with you over the phone.”

“Then come over,” I suggest.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“You keep saying that, but…” I trail off as I hope he fills in the blank there that hell yes it’s a good idea.

“But what, Ava?” he demands. Before I can answer, he jumps in. “But you’re Beckett’s little sister.”

“Stop saying that!” I yell into the phone. “I’m a goddamn adult, and I’m so tired of you acting like I’m not. Why can’t you just admit that you want me too?”

“Fine!” he yells back at me. “Fine. Yes. I want you. Okay? I want you so fucking bad that I just rubbed one out thinking about you, not her, and when I came all over my own hand, I yelled out your name. I’m staying in the same damn suite where I fucked you, and I see you everywhere. I can’t think, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I know how this is going to turn out, Ava, and I refuse to hurt you.”

I’m shocked into silence for a beat by his words. His passion. His admissions.

But one thing remains the same.

“You keep saying that, but you’re hurting me more by refusing to give this a chance.”

I hang up on him after I say those words.

I hope they’re enough to convince him to move to action. We can handle Beckett later. Just because we give this a real try doesn’t mean it has to ruin anything between the two of them. It’s not like Beck and I see each other every day and it’s going to drive some big wedge between us if things go south with Grayson.

I head back out to the family room, where Kelly is sitting on the couch.

I debate how much to tell her as I collapse down next to her, my head on the top of the cushion as I stare up at the ceiling.

I don’t like fighting with Grayson. That whole exchange should have me feeling giddy and excited. He just admitted he has feelings for me.

Instead, all I feel is sad.

Kelly and I tell each other everything. She’s my best friend.

But saying that he rubbed one out while he was thinking about me feels too personal to reveal to my best friend.

“How’d it go?” she asks.

“Instead of being accusatory, I told him you saw the pictures, and I asked if I’m still his fake girlfriend. He said she’s a friend from LA, and he told her he’s seeing someone.”

“Why would he need to tell her he’s seeing someone if she’s just a friend?” she asks, and part of me wonders if she’s reading more into him than she should because of the warning he issued where Austin is concerned.

I shrug. “We didn’t really get into that part. We started fighting instead, and I told him to come over, and he said it’s not a good idea because he’ll only hurt me, and then I told him he’s hurting me more by not giving this a chance, and I hung up on him.”

“You hung up on him?” she repeats.

I twist my lips and nod.

“Well, maybe he’ll come over then,” she suggests.

I shake my head. “I doubt it. I’m worried I’ve pushed him further away than ever, and I’m not sure where we go from here.”

“Then wait it out. If you’re still dating, fake or not, he’ll be in touch soon.”

“I hope. What’s been going on with you and Austin?” I ask, changing the subject to her.

“Nothing. He went to Florida where his mom lives. We’ve texted a few times. We had that one night, and it was incredible, and then…” She trails off and shrugs as she twists her lips. “I’ve been busy. He’s been busy. I guess if it’s meant to happen again, it will.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I don’t want to be the desperate girl chasing him down.”

I study her, and she really does seem to be okay with whatever arrangement they have. We shift topics to work, we eat our pizza, and we drink our vodka.

As it turns out, the soon Kelly was referring to in Grayson getting in touch with me comes the next morning after a rather fitful night’s sleep.

I don’t have to go into work until noon today since I wasn’t sure how late I’d be at the game yesterday, though I debated going in earlier since I’m not waking up in Grayson’s arms.

I’m awake since I wake up early every morning, and I’m scrolling my phone at six thirty when a text comes through from Grayson.

Grayson: Are you up?

My chest tightens with anticipation as I wonder if this is it. Is he going to admit he was awake all night thinking about me?

Me: Yes.

My phone rings a beat after I send the reply, and I answer with a groggy, “Hey.”

“Hey.” His voice is low and raspy. “Did I wake you?”

“No. How’d you sleep?”

“Like shit, but that’s not why I’m calling. My sister-in-law went into labor late last night, and my first niece is here. I’m going to the hospital in a bit to meet her, and I was wondering if you’d come with me.” He pauses, and then he adds, “So, you know…so we’re seen together.”

Right.

It’s for show.

We’re showing the world, which apparently includes his family, that we’re together. And it makes sense. All eyes will be on who is entering and exiting the hospital to visit Vegas’s hottest football coach’s new baby.

“Oh, sure,” I say, my voice flat to try to hide the hurt I feel that he’s still just doing this for show despite his admission last night. “I have to be at work at noon, but I can meet you at the hospital and head in from there.”

“Can you, uh…” He pauses as if he’s trying to choose the right words. “Can you call in sick and spend the day with me?”

“Oh,” I say, surprised by his question. Why? I want to ask, but I’m terrified to know the answer. “Let me check in with my boss, okay?”

“Of course.”

“What time are you planning to go?”

“I’m just going to take a quick shower, and then I’ll be ready. Asher and my dad are heading in after breakfast, my mom flew in yesterday, and Spence is on his way today. I figured we’d all spend the day together.”

“That’s…that’s lovely,” I say softly, and suddenly I want more than anything to spend the day with Grayson and the Nash family. “Let me call my boss. I’ll call you right back.”

“Okay.”

We hang up, and Poppy gives me the go-ahead to take the day off. “You haven’t taken a day off…ever, my girl. Take two days if you need it. We’ll survive.”

Not with my recipe, but she’s right. They’ll survive.

I call Grayson back.

“Hey,” he answers, and why is just a simple hey from him enough to send my pulse into overdrive?

“She told me to take two days,” I say with a light laugh.

He chuckles softly. “Great. I’ll be by to get you in a half hour.”

I take a quick shower and do my best to look presentable, and he shows up right on time, knocking quietly on the front door so as not to wake my roommate.

I open it, and he stands there looking absolutely freaking delicious in jeans and a red Aces T-shirt. He’s wearing a backwards hat again, and my God, he’s hot.

“Did you eat?” I ask after I pick up my jaw off the ground.

“I figured I’d just grab something at the hospital, but I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee.”

“Come on in,” I say, opening the door a little wider to allow him in. I offer him a bagel while his Keurig brews, and he takes me up on it. We’re in the car ten minutes later on our way toward the hospital.

“So this is your first niece, huh?” I ask.

“By blood, yeah, but Beck’s kids are like nieces to me, too. What’s it like having one?” he asks.

It strikes me that the kids he considers nieces already are my actual nieces. “It’s pretty cool getting to know kids who are made from one of your siblings. Everleigh is eight now, and she’s so calm and cool like Beck, and then Isla is almost five, and she’s a firecracker like her mama.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, firecracker is one way to describe Rachel.”

My sister-in-law fell for my brother when they were in college. She chased him for three years while he was busy focusing on his studies, but eventually he put it together that she wanted him. He always knew he wanted to be a lawyer, and she was in school to become a teacher. She decided she didn’t want to do that anymore, so she jumped to being a journalism major. She hated her professor, so she switched tracks to biology, and it took a semester for her to realize she hated science.

She ended up graduating with a degree in business, and she’s been working as Beck’s assistant for the last nine years.

“She’s the best, though,” I say softly. And she is. She’d tell me to just go for it with Grayson. She doesn’t care what anybody else thinks, and that’s one of the things I admire most about her. It’s also one of the things Beck fell hardest for when he finally saw what was right in front of him.

An awkward beat of quiet passes between us, and then I ask, “Did you get anything for the baby?”

“Get anything?” he repeats. “She’s a newborn. What am I supposed to get?”

I laugh. “You’re such a man. Maybe flowers for your sister-in-law, or a balloon, or…something so you’re not walking in empty-handed?”

“No. I didn’t get anything. I honestly thought stopping by to visit and spending the day there was going to be my big grand gesture.” He pulls into the parking lot of the hospital and starts the search for a space. It’s not too crowded yet this early.

“They’ll have a gift shop. We can stop and grab something,” I suggest. “And diapers are always a good idea. Or a cute stuffed animal that can sit on a shelf until she’s old enough to play with it. Wouldn’t that be sweet? She could snuggle her favorite stuffy from Uncle Gray.”

“Yeah. Sweet,” he mutters.

“Have you asked to make sure they even want visitors?” I ask.

“My brother texted me at three in the morning to let me know he’s a dad, and he told me to come by to see her. I think it’s safe to say he wants to show off the baby,” he says.

He pulls into a space, and we walk toward the hospital entrance.

We detour to the gift shop first, and he finds a little balloon proclaiming that It’s a Girl! We swing by the stuffed animals, and he picks a stuffed bunny up off the shelf.

“Perfect,” he mutters more to himself than to me, and my heart lifts up a few pegs.

He wants this. I want this.

Now the challenge is getting him to see that maybe we could make it work after all.