Her gaze cut away from me as she mumbled, “I’m not hungry.”
“I didn’t ask if you were hungry. I said I was. Get dressed.” My tone wasn’t harsh, but she flinched all the same.
“You don’t have to spend every second of the day with me, you know?” she grumbled. “I'm twenty-eight years old!”
“I spent the entire day at training camp with a bunch of guys and coaches who hate my guts. Is it too much to ask that my little sister have dinner with me to cheer me up?” I pushed to my feet and took the short step to where she still sat folded in on herself. Ruffling her already messy hair, I teased, “Besides, getting out of this apartment would do you some good. Maybe it’ll even convince you to brush your hair too.”
She swatted at my hand but sighed heavily and pushed to her feet. “You’re worse than a parent, you know that?”
I grinned. “If that was supposed to be an insult, you missed the mark.”
Twenty minutes later, we were in my truck, headed toward the downtown district of Atlanta in search of something to eat.
“What are you in the mood for?” I asked a freshly-showered Jamie. She had, in fact, brushed her hair but hadn’t wanted to take the time to dry it or apply makeup. I’d been lucky that she’d changed out of the ratty clothes that she insisted on wearing all the time.
“I heard there’s this great bar on Fifth Avenue.”
I cut my eyes in her direction. “You’ve heard? From who?”
She rolled her eyes. “No one. I just saw something on Facebook about it. You know that I have no friends here.”
I did know that. It was one of the reasons that I’d insisted she come with me when I’d been traded to the Falcons. She’d needed a fresh start, again, almost as much as I had. She hadn’t seen it that way, but considering I’d been taking care of her for her entire life, she didn’t have much choice in the matter.
“Does this place serve anything other than bar food?”
She shrugged. “I dunno, but I could really go for some bar food.”
“Well, I can’t. Pull up their menu and see what they have.”
She took her phone out and after a few quick taps on the screen began to rattle off the typical fare you would find in a bar. “Looks like they have salads. And chicken.”
I groaned. I was so sick of salads and chicken. But during the summer, I had no choice but to adhere to a strict diet. “Alright. Navigate for me.”
It was a short drive until we were pulling into a space on the street and she hopped out, looking more excited about food than she should have been. I eyed her suspiciously as she practically pranced into the bar as I trailed behind her.
“Grab us a table. I’m gonna hit the bathroom,” I told her before making my way through the dimly-lit space and into the bathroom.
I wasn’t gone for more than five minutes, but when I came back out, Jamie was nowhere to be found. I asked the hostess if she’d seated her somewhere that I just hadn’t seen, but the hostess just stared at me open mouthed and then shook her head.
“Quinn!” Jamie’s voice wafted over from the bar area, and I spun on a heel, my eyes immediately going to where my sister was sitting next to a redhead.
Jamie was grinning and waved me over, but I wasn’t smiling at all. “What are you doing at the bar?” I hissed.
Jamie’s smile turned into a frown as she narrowed her eyes. “I’m getting a drink while we wait for a table.”
I blinked at her slowly. “Are you serious right now?”
The bartender ambled back over to our end of the bar and dropped a glass in front of her. “Here’s your Jack and Coke, minus the Jack.” He winked, and Jamie’s cheeks pinked.
She thanked him and dropped a five-dollar bill on the bar before taking her time turning back to me. “Yeah, I was thirsty. So, I ordered a Coke. Is that okay with you, Dad? Am I allowed to have soda and caffeine or no?”
I clenched my jaw shut. “Sorry. I overreacted.”
She smirked, I’m sure pleased that she got an apology out of her overprotective brother but dipped her chin quickly as she stuck the paper straw between her lips and took a sip. “Hey, I think they’ve got a table ready for us.”
Jamie slid off the barstool and side stepped around me. I turned to follow her before a voice, laced with the slightest hint of a southern accent, that I recognized called my name. “Quinn Miller? Is that really you?”
I turned, and my eyes landed on a face that I hadn’t forgotten. “Georgia Reed.”
Her lips parted in a smile that lit up her entire face, and she jumped from the stool she’d been perched on next to where my sister had been sitting and threw her arms around my shoulders. “I thought I saw you walk in earlier!”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and gave a quick squeeze before pulling back and looking her up and down.
I’d met Georgia last year at my best friend, Aiden’s, Christmas party. Her brother was a famous orthopedic surgeon who’d saved Aiden’s knee after a devastating hit. The two of them had forged a friendship, and Dr. Hampton Reed had brought his sister along when he’d been invited to the famous Shaw Christmas Party.
I’d seen her from across the room that night, unable to miss the gorgeous auburn hair that she’d let flow down her back. I’d walked over to introduce myself, but her green eyes had sparkled when she informed me that she already knew exactly who I was.
I wasn’t sure what I’d said after that, probably something ridiculous and cheesy, but we’d spent the rest of the evening chatting.
“How ya been?” I asked.
She stuck the straw that was floating in a pink drink between her pink lips and lifted a shoulder. After a quick sip of a fruity cocktail she said, “Same old. What about you? I heard you’d been traded and was hoping I’d run in to you sometime.”
I’d completely forgotten that the Reeds lived in Atlanta, where my new team was, but suddenly, that shitty trade that I was forced to accept didn’t seem so bad after all.
“Hey.” I glanced over to where my sister was eyeing us, her lips pressed together to conceal what had to have been the biggest shit-eating grin ever and squinted at her before turning and looking back to where Georgia was still sipping her drink. “You know, I don’t know much about this town. You’re a local, right?”
“That I am. Born and bred in the great state of Georgia. You know, my parents, they probably could have been a little more original when they named me.”
“Any chance you’re free this weekend to play tour guide?” I asked, hoping that I sounded fun and flirty and not like the pathetic loser that I felt like.
Jamie choked on a laugh and tried to cover it with a cough. I swung my head in her direction just as she covered her mouth and quickly looked away from my death glare. God, my kid sister was an asshole.
I felt fingertips on my bicep, forgetting my stupid sister immediately when I glanced down to see the perfectly manicured yellow fingernails that were resting on my arm. “Let me make sure I am clear on what you’re askin’.” Georgia’s eyes were gleaming, and she stepped closer to me. “Now, am I going to show you the popular clubs and bars, the parks to take your dog, and the restaurants that cater to locals, and then you’ll thank me and we’ll go about our ways? Or is this tour going to consist of me taking you back to my place, and before I know it, your lips are on my neck and my dress is around my waist?”
My mouth fell open and I sputtered. “I, uh, I, what?”
“Well, you know at Aiden’s Christmas party, after you kissed me––”
“Woah!” I stepped back, her arm falling to her side. “What are you talking about?”
Her head shook back and forth. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not that you are this clueless. We had a drink outside around the fire pit, and then you leaned in and kissed me, remember?”
“That is not at all what happened!” I fired back incredulously. I’d had a couple of beers that night, but I never let myself get so drunk that I would completely for
get kissing the gorgeous woman standing before me.
She frowned, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, and I couldn’t stop my eyes from watching the way she worked it. No, I would most definitely remember if my lips had tasted hers. “It’s not? Are you sure?”
My eyes bugged out of my head. “I’m pretty sure we didn’t kiss. Think I would have remembered that.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “Maybe that’s just what I hoped would happen.”
I stared at her. Was she serious right now? “How many drinks have you had tonight?”
Jamie’s laugh behind me was hearty, one that I hadn’t heard in a while, and even though I knew it was at my expense, I still took a moment to enjoy the way it sounded.
Georgia finished off her drink and juggled the ice in my direction. “I just got here; this was my first. If you’ll excuse me, I need another.”
She stepped around me and to my sister said, “Need a refill?”
Jamie shook her head, her face still split wide in a grin, and Georgia shrugged. “You two are missing out. They have the best Long Island Iced Teas here. Not that I’ve ever been to Long Island to know if they’re even the real thing. Anyway, Quinn Miller, yes, I’m available to show you around town this weekend.”
She stuck her hand in my direction. “Phone.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and typed in my passcode before handing it over. She snapped a quick picture of herself and then typed out what I assumed was her number before handing it back to me. “Text me later. Don’t call me; I hate talking on the phone.”
She spun on a heel and began to walk away before pausing and looking back over her shoulder. “You didn’t have the best record last season. Try not to drop the ball now, okay?”
She blew me a kiss and then, with what could only be described as the sexiest saunter I’d ever seen, disappeared into the crowd at the bar.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, unable to pull my gaze away from where she’d blended in with the other bodies trying to get a drink.
Jamie looped her arm through mine and spouted our favorite inside joke. “Looks like God really does have a soft spot for dumbasses. And you, my big brother, are the dumbest of them all. That woman is going to eat you alive.”
God, I hoped so.
2
Georgia
It would have been a lie to say that I hadn’t been waiting by my phone from the second I walked away from Quinn Miller.
He’d been handsome when we’d met at his buddy’s Christmas party last year, but tonight, dressed in a casual pair of jeans and T-shirt that made sure to show off every curve of his large biceps, he’d been downright mouthwatering.
“Piper, I’m telling you, I’ve met the one.”
My best friend laughed and rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that what you always say?”
Piper’s mother was my mom’s best friend and our nanny growing up. I’d known her literally my entire life, so if there was anyone that knew me better than I knew myself, it was her.
She was right; I did say that a lot. But Quinn was different.
I shook my head. “I mean it.”
Piper took a sip of her drink and then set it back on the porcupine coaster that was carefully placed on the coffee table. “You are such a hopeless romantic.” She eyed me and pressed her lips together before settling back on the couch. “But I’ll humor you. So, tell me what about Quinn Miller makes him “the one”?” She raised her fingers in air quotations, and the light bouncing off her brilliant engagement ring caught my eye.
Not only had I grown up with Piper and her twin brother, Jack, but she’d ended up marrying my oldest brother, Lawson. We were best friends and sisters, and I couldn’t think of a better person than her for my straight-laced brother.
Wistfully, I watched as her hand fell back into her lap. I’d wear a ring like that one day. I shook my head to clear it. “Okay, so remember I told you that he was the guy I met at that Christmas party I went to with Hampton?”
She giggled. “The only thing I remember about that Christmas party is the fact that your brother dressed up like an elf.”
I laughed. Hampton was my middle brother and had never taken himself too seriously. He also happened to be a brilliant orthopedic surgeon and had performed a damn near miracle on Aiden Shaw’s knee, which was how we ended up at that Christmas party in the first place.
I shoved Piper’s knee. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember the two weeks I spent lamenting the fact that I’d left without getting Quinn’s number.”
“Oh, I remember, alright. Although I wish I could forget. You wouldn’t shut up about him. Christmas dinner with your family was the most awkward dinner of my life.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s not my fault that Daddy is a prude.”
“You announced to the table after having one too many glasses of spiked eggnog that you regretted not sleeping with the best running back in the league. Your daddy wasn’t the only one who nearly choked to death on the Christmas ham.”
I glanced away. “Fine,” I mumbled. “I shouldn’t have had that last drink.” My head popped back up. “But I do not take that back. God, Pip, you should have seen him last night. His hair was still damp, and there was this piece that was stuck to his forehead that I was dying to brush away. And you know the type that good players are. They are always so damn arrogant. Don’t go anywhere without making sure they’re wearing their five-hundred-dollar jeans. But I shit you not, Quinn was wearing a pair of Levi’s that he had very obviously worn a lot.” I sighed, trying not to think about how good his ass had looked in that faded denim.
She eyed me and then carefully said, “So, he’s hot and he wasn’t wearing a Prada suit in a dive bar. How does that make him the one?”
I sighed. Piper wouldn’t get it. It had taken her years to realize that the one for her was the very same guy who she’d always thought hated her. Even after she’d acknowledged her feelings for Lawson, she’d fought it. “When you know, you know.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
I grabbed my phone, checking again to see if I had any missed messages, frowning when my inbox was empty. What the hell was he waiting for?
“Shit. It’s late. I’ve got a big bid tomorrow. I need to go,” I told her as I pushed out of the corner of the couch that I’d been sitting in.
She pressed to her toes and yawned. “God, do you remember when eight p.m. was the beginning of the night and not the end?”
“It still is for me,” I tossed over my shoulder as I carried my glass into the kitchen. “Well, at least on weekends.”
“I can’t remember the last time Law and I did anything in public after it got dark. Lawson can’t seem to pull himself away from a computer screen to save his life. As a matter of fact, I think that if our house was on fire, he’d save the laptops before he saved me.”
I wrapped my arms around my best friend’s shoulders. “That is so not true, and you know it. That man would set himself on fire for you.”
Piper pressed her lips to my cheek in a quick peck. “You’re right.” She stepped out of my embrace and tilted her head to the side. “Maybe this football guy will be the one. Then I can give you shit for being a lovesick puppy.”
“Well, if he doesn’t message me soon, he’s gonna miss his chance. If I get that contract, I’ll be at the biggest golf course in the state five days a week, rubbing elbows with the rich and pretentious. Daddy would be over the moon if I married a businessman instead of an athlete.”
Piper walked me to the door, her arm linked through mine. “Oh, please. You know your daddy doesn’t care who you marry, as long as it means he gets to pawn you off on some unsuspecting man.”
We laughed together and then I slipped through the door. I’d made it to the front step when my phone buzzed from inside my purse. I pulled it out, and when I saw the unknown number on my screen, my heart flipped.
Unknown: So, how exactly are you going to show me around town if I don’t know where
to pick you up?
I squealed.
“What is it?” Piper’s worried voice floated up behind me.
I whirled and waved my phone at her. “Looks like I won’t have to start husband hunting after all.”
Piper stepped onto the porch, her brow arched. “That Quinn?”
I lifted my foot to step back on the porch, my eyes still scanning his message when I lost my balance. The phone flew from my hand as I tumbled down the brick stairs in slow motion, my ankle twisting painfully as I flailed around, desperate to stop myself.
“Shit!” Piper yelped as she crossed the short distance between us and reached for me. Her fingertips brushed my arm, but she wasn’t able to catch me before I hit the sidewalk, landing hard on my right leg.
I groaned, pain shooting through my ankle, and squeezed my eyes shut. There weren’t many things that grossed me out, but I couldn’t stand seeing broken bones. I had no idea how the hell Hampton had been able to stomach making a career out of limbs that were twisted the wrong way.
“Is it broken?” I squeaked, swallowing hard as bile rose to my throat.
Piper’s voice was right next to me, and I felt her fingers on my sore foot. “I don’t think so. It’s probably sprained though.”
I lifted one lid and chanced a glance at my lower body. Everything was pointing in the direction it was supposed to, so I let out the breath that I’d been holding and opened both eyes. “Shit,” I repeated.
“Lawson!” Piper yelled into the house. After a second, he materialized at the door.
“What the hell are you two doing?” My brother quirked a brow at us from the porch.
“Oh, you know, the stars looked really pretty tonight. We thought we’d lie on the sidewalk and watch them for a bit,” I quipped as I pushed up on an elbow.
Lawson frowned. “Well, that’s dumb.”
“For someone so brilliant, you can be so dense,” Piper shot back. “Your sister fell down the damn stairs. How about you quit being dumb and come help her into the house.”
The Hardest Play Page 2