He glares at me for a moment, pissed off, but then the clouds break and he’s suddenly pulling me into a bear hug. We give each other a punch on the back, and I find myself relieved.
Alone in my room, however, I can’t sleep. The bedside clock says 1 a.m. Part of me is now sorry I kicked the guys out so early. I lay back against a pile of pillows, my bent leg slowly rocking side to side as I stare in the darkness. My phone rests heavy in my hand. Anna has confessed to being a night owl, mostly due to staying up reading. I could be reading as well. My playbook rests on the far side of the bed, and there’s a Jack Reacher novel collecting dust on the nightstand. Instead I run my thumb along the edge of my phone, and my leg swings with greater agitation.
“Fuck it.”
My thumb is swiping the screen and tapping “call” before I can talk myself out of it.
She answers with a husky, “Hello?” The sound courses along my skin in little licks of pleasure.
“Hey.” I settled down further into my bed. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No. I was just—”
“Reading?” I offer with a smile.
“Yeah.” She sounds vaguely pissed of that I guessed correctly, and my smile grows. She makes a small noise like a stifled sigh. “It’s too late for a booty call, Baylor.”
“Is sex the only thing you think about, Jones?” I rest my head on my bent arm and stare up at the ceiling. “I mean, what if I just want to hear about your night?”
She snorts. “If anyone has had a memorable night, it’d be you. Speaking of which, why are you calling me now? Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, getting smashed?”
“I don’t drink during the season.”
“Seriously?”
“As a history lecture.” I run a hand over the bare skin of my abdomen and wish it were Anna touching me. “It messes with my performance, and I don’t need the hassle that comes with partying that way. Tonight, I was the designated driver and all around wet blanket.”
“The guys must have loved you.” There’s a smile in her voice.
The darkness surrounding me is warm and close now. “There may have been some grumbles.”
“Poor baby,” she croons without any sympathy whatsoever, “not getting to have any fun.”
“Depends on your concept of ‘fun’.” I like her ribbing and want more.
She laughs, a soft, rolling chuckle that makes my gut tighten. “So what did you do tonight? Or shouldn’t I ask?”
“I’d tell you, but maybe you don’t want to hear.”
“Pfft. That just makes me more curious. And you know it, Baylor.”
I grin before turning on my side. “All right. Some of the guys bought Gray a group of strippers.”
“They any good?” she asks immediately, her voice flippant.
It’s then I admit to myself that I want her jealousy. Which is stupid of me. And stupid to be disappointed when she isn’t. I shrug, but then realize she can’t see me. “Gray seemed to think so.”
“But not you?” A world of skepticism lives in her tone.
“No.”
“Right.” I can almost hear her rolling her eyes. “So a bunch of naked, gyrating women do nothing for you. Nice try, Drew.”
“You want to know what it made me feel?” My response is sharper than I want it to be but I can’t rein it in. “Empty. Like the world is full of lonely people who don’t know what the fuck they’re doing with their lives.”
It isn’t until I say the words that I realize how lonely my life has been. Until her. Until I understood how life could be if she’d just let me in.
Anna is silent for a moment. “Maybe that’s true. But you can’t fix other people. Only yourself.” She sounds so sad, I feel like a heel for snapping at her.
“Besides,” I say, making my tone lighter, teasing, because it’s easier for both of us, “there’s this girl who I can’t stop thinking about. She takes up all my attention, even when I’m not with her.”
Her voice goes playful, falling in line with mine. “Are you sure this isn’t a booty call?”