Old Fashioned
Page 32
“Say yes, stupid,” Belle whispered.
I nudged her with my elbow.
Zach held my gaze confidently, his dark eyes watching me like I really had no other choice. And in that moment, I couldn’t think of a reason not to say yes. He seemed fun. He was hot.
And it would save me from this stupid app for at least one more week.
“Fine,” I conceded, and Zach’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile, one that had a slight dimple popping under that delicious stubble.
He reached for my phone, the screen still on the unanswered message from Brad. He clicked out of it, typing his phone number into a new text message, instead, and sending himself an emoji.
“There. My number. And I have yours. See you for the game next weekend?”
“Looks like it.”
His eyes roamed over me once more, the corner of his mouth pulling up just slightly. “Can’t wait.”
Belle nudged me under the bar with her knee, her eyes wide in an oh my God fashion.
“For now, I should get back to work. I’ll check on you ladies in a bit.”
“Thank you, Zach,” Belle said, waving her fingers daintily as he made his way over to the other side of the bar.
She didn’t stop staring once he was gone, though.
“Damn,” she breathed, resting her chin on the hand she’d just used to wave him farewell. “Now I really hope you get railed into next year.”
I laughed, trying not to panic at the thought of another man touching me.
A man who wasn’t Carlo.
Shaking my head, I pulled the app back up on my phone, showing Belle the messages that had come through and letting her swipe through the pictures of guys for a while. As we talked, I reminded myself of the one thing I always needed to hear.
I am in control.
It’s just a football game. It’s just a night of sports and beer and hot dogs. If I want to have sex with him, I can. If I don’t, I can just go home alone. No harm, no foul. These are my tickets, and this is my plan, even if it was Belle’s idea.
There are eight home games this season. That’s eight different guys, eight new friends to make, and — only if I want — eight potential orgasms that don’t come from my trusty vibrator.
I am in control.
Maybe this will actually be fun, I thought, laughing as Belle swiped a hard left on a guy who stated in his bio that he was a “sex machine.” She seemed to be having more fun than I was going through the app, so I let her swipe away, content to just sip on my vodka and listen to her commentary.
Every now and then, I’d feel Zach watching me from wherever he was working behind the bar. And when our eyes met, my chest would squeeze, along with my thighs. There was something about his eyes, about the kind of heat that swept over me with that gaze. The way he looked at me, it was as if he already had me in his bed, between his sheets, one hand on my hip and the other hiking my leg up as he settled between my thighs.
He’d only just learned my name, but the way he looked at me? It was as if he knew everything — maybe even more than I knew, myself.
A practice round…
Yeah. This could be fun.
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Sitting here at the end of this series, I am a mess of emotions. As I did my final read through and edits of the last twenty percent, I found myself tearing up time and time again. The truth is, this series has been alive in my heart for years now, taking up space and filling me with adventure and love, and now that it’s come to an end, it is so, so bittersweet.
I have so many people to thank for helping bring these boys to life.
First and foremost, I want to thank my mother — LaVon Allen. You have been my rock my entire life, always pushing me to chase my dreams and follow my heart. You’ve fallen in love with these boys and their family just as much as I have. Thank you for always being the voice in my ear, and the inspiration for the amazing advice from both Betty and Laurelei in this series. I love you so much.
To Staci, my hype man and anchor, thank you for keeping me grounded. You’re one of the first people I text when I wake up and one of the last before my head hits the pillow. I love that we check in all day every day and keep each other accountable — not only in our writing goals, but in our mental health, too. Our friendship is one I cherish so deeply. Thank you for believing in this series as much as I did and pushing me to make each book better (even if I did want to kill you during edits). I love you MTT.
My beta readers for Old Fashioned and for this entire series were hands down the A Team. Without them, these books would have been mediocre. They helped elevate them to some of the best work I’ve ever delivered and that I am most proud of. So, thank you to Trish QUEEN MINTNESS, Kellee Fabre, Sarah Green, Danielle Lagasse, Kathryn Andrews, Carly Wilson, and Natalie Bailey. Your feedback was so instrumental in this last installment. Thank you for reading and re-reading and answering my pestering questions. I appreciate you all so, so much!
This project was different from any I’ve ever done before in that both the H and the h were POC. I took this responsibility of writing outside my culture seriously, and I could not have done it without my incredible team of Sensitivity Readers. Thank you so much Imani Blake, Chelé Walker, and Tiffanie Shipp. I believe your job was the most difficult, and I truly appreciate your time and attention to my work to ensure Old Fashioned was accurate and respectful and well-written.
Sasha Erramouspe, thank you for always being my last set of eyes on every project — especially in this series. You help catch last-minute edits and even more than that, you get just as emotional as I do over these boys and I LIVE for it. Love you!
The biggest shout out goes to my amazing friend and personal assistant, Tina Stokes. Tina, you are the glittery unicorn in my universe and I could not, would not do this without you. I am not sure how I ever survived without you on my team, but I’m so very thankful we found each other and have developed our special friendship. Thank you for helping me with everything from beta reading and edits to promotion when it came to this series. You are the wind beneath my wings and I love you!
I had some special help from a long-distance friend with Old Fashioned, and that friend is the incredible head football coach for the Brentwood, MO, high school team — Tim Kuhn (TK). Thank you SO MUCH for getting on the phone with me before I began this project and for answering my flurry of text messages as I made my way through it. Your insight and knowledge were absolutely invaluable and I could not have written this bad boy without your help. Thank you so much!
To Kendra Parker, congratulations on winning the 20k prize to name Sydney’s daughter in Old Fashioned (who completely stole the show!). I loved that you used your own middle name, and it fit her perfectly. Thank you!
As always, a HUGE thank you to Lauren Perry of Perrywinkle Photography who helped bring my vision to life for Old Fashioned’s cover. Your talent is above and beyond and without you, I wouldn’t have the magic covers that I do.
To Elaine York of Allusion Graphics, thank you for always working with my crazy timelines for editing, formatting, and more. My projects are never complete without your last spit shine and polish, and I cannot imagine not having you on my team.
To the lovely ladies at Social Butterfly PR: Nina, Brittany, Kelley and the entire team — thank you for helping me find special ways to promote this special series and finale. And thank you for always having my back. I adore you all!
Another huge shout out goes to all the bloggers and authors who read ARCs of Old Fashioned and went absolutely NUTS. I know reading time is limited, so I appreciate you picking my book among the noise. Thank you for spreading the word and for loving this series as much as I do!
To the BEST ladies on the interwebs who hang out with me in Kandiland, THANK YOU and I love you all so much! You are seriously the yin to my yang, the PB to my J, and the apple of my eye. I’m so happy to have our little corner of the internet to hang out in. Here’s t
o many more adventures together!
To you, the reader who not only read this book and maybe the entire series but also ALL THE WAY TO THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS… thank you. Thank you for reading indie, for picking my books out of the millions out there, and for loving my words. I am so eternally grateful for you.
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Kandi Steiner is a bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur living in Tampa, FL. Best known for writing “emotional rollercoaster” stories, she loves bringing flawed characters to life and writing about real, raw romance — in all its forms. No two Kandi Steiner books are the same, and if you’re a lover of angsty, emotional, and inspirational reads, she’s your gal.
An alumna of the University of Central Florida, Kandi graduated with a double major in Creative Writing and Advertising/PR with a minor in Women’s Studies. She started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a die hard hopeless romantic, and likes to highlight all the challenges of love as well as the triumphs.
When Kandi isn’t writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys live music, traveling, hiking, anything heavy in carbs, beach days, movie marathons, craft beer and sweet wine — not necessarily in that order.
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