Page 66 of The Playmaker
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” she teases. “And not just because you’re here taking care of my brother. I can’t imagine any woman wanting to put up with him for any length of time.”
“Hey,” I say, feigning offense, even though I know she’s teasing.
“I like being here with Cole,” Nina says. “He’s not so bad when he’s not calling me names.”
“You’re not so bad when you’re not making me paint a damn daisy.”
Tabby chokes on a potato chip. “You painted a daisy,” she says, laughing.
“Dude, what happened to the man card?” Jack teases.
“Right?” I shoot back.
Tabby glances around. “I want to see this painting.”
“Not a chance.”
“It’s actually pretty good,” Nina says. “I think he should frame it and put it in this room.”
“I am not framing it.” I uncork the wine and fill their glasses, then pick up my cards. “Can we leave my man card alone and play these one’s already?” I read over my cards. Jesus, I have some pretty raunchy ones. I grin at Nina as she makes a face. This is going to be fun.
“I’ll go first,” Nina says. She takes a sip of her wine, picks a card from the stack, then cringes. “I’m not sure I can say this out loud.”
“Sure you can, Nina. You can say anything around me, remember?” I add, alluding to all our dirty talk.
Color moves into her cheeks, and she reads the card. I look at the ones in my hand and, because I know her well, probably more than she ever realized, it’s easy for me to pick the one she’ll find the funniest.
When my turn comes around, will she know the best card to play for me? Probably not, since I keep my cards close to my heart, so to speak.
Would Nina like that guy if she got a glimpse of him? Even if she did, I’m not good enough for a girl like her—a point I can’t ever forget.
By the time we finish our fourth round—Tabby with the highest wins—my gut hurts from laughing. Most of the wine had been drunk and Jack and I are on our second beers. My heart fills as I look around the card table. God, it’s so nice to spend time with my family like this. Well, Jack’s not family yet, but he soon will be, and Nina…she’s the family I always wanted.
Then do something about it. Make her yours.
Fuck.
Nina takes her turn to read the card again, and when it says something about a helicopter and its pilot, my gaze flashes to Tabby to find her looking back, a measure of worry in her eyes.
“What?” Nina says, her cautious glance going between the two of us.
Recuperating quickly, Tabby says, “Oh, nothing. Cole used to talk about being a pilot when we were kids. After Mom left, Dad bought him a chopper…”
Her words fall off and tension fills the air, takes up space.
“A pilot, huh,” Nina says. “Here I thought you were born with a hockey stick in your hand,” she teases, her words cutting the tension and lightening the mood. Goddammit, I love her for that.
I love her?
Fuck, man, I’m in more trouble than I thought.
She turns to Tabby. “What are you plans for the rest of the weekend?”
“I’m not sure. What are you two up to tomorrow? I want to spend as much time with Cole as I can.”
“Cole has his checkup tomorrow morning. I was going to take him, but you can if you want.”
“No, you can. After all the traveling, and time change, I’m going to force myself to stay in bed longer to adjust.”