WMIS 03 Play With Me (11 page)

Will
and I approach the counter.

“Rental
shoes,” He smiles down at me, and I grimace.

“And
rental foot-disease.”

He
laughs loudly and kisses the top of my head. “They disinfect them, I think.”

“With
what, Aquanet?” I eye the spray can on the countertop and the guy behind the
counter gives me the stink eye.

“Size?”
the big guy asks.

“Eight,”
I mutter.

“Fourteen,”
Will responds and I giggle.

“What?”
he asks.

“You
know what they say about men with big feet…” I giggle again as he glares at me,
and if I’m not mistaken, actually blushes.

“Behave.”

“What
did I say?” I ask innocently.

“Yeah,
you’re not innocent, babe. You just had to wear that outfit, didn’t you?”

I
look down at my red, thigh-length sun dress, and brown shrug and frown up at
him.

“What’s
wrong with my dress?”

“Are
you wearing underwear?” he murmurs into my ear so only I can hear.

“Of
course not.”

“That’s
what’s wrong with your dress.”

“Hey,
let’s get this game going!” Jules yells from our lane and we join them.

Natalie
and Jules pull me into big hugs. I’m so excited to see them. I’ve really missed
them over the past few years.

“Hey,
guys.” Will shakes hands with his brothers, kisses the girls on the cheek and
puts his shoes on.

“Hey,
Meg, how are you?” Stacy asks from her chair by the ball chute. Will wasn’t
kidding when he said she’s incredibly pregnant.

“I’m
good, thanks. How are you feeling, little mama?”

Stacy
laughs and rubs her belly. “Oh! He’s kicking! Here.” She grabs my hand, jerks
me down to squat in front of her and lays my hand over her belly, and sure
enough, the baby is pushing against my palm.

“He’s
a strong little sucker.” I smile up at her and she chuckles.

“My
ribs would agree. He’s going to be a soccer player.”

“Football,”
all of the men correct her at once and we laugh.

“I’m
Brynna,” a pretty, brown-haired woman with the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen
smiles at me from her seat next to Stacy. “We met at the party, but I didn’t
really get to talk to you.”

“Hi,
Brynna. Meg.” I shake her hand and stand.

“Really?
We just got here. God, you guys!” Jules exclaims. Nat and Luke are making out,
again.

“Ignore
them,” Nate murmurs in her ear and Jules grins up at him. Wow, she loves him.
The Jules I used to know never would have looked at a man like that.

Of
course, Nate is a fine specimen of man. That tattoo he’s sporting on his right
arm is bad-ass.

“Stop
ogling my soon-to-be brother-in-law,” Will growls in my ear.

“I’m
not. I’m appreciating the art on his arm.”

“Speaking
of art, what song is that on your arm, Meg?” Matt asks, referring to the tattoo
on my inner bicep.

“Oh,
just a song,” I wave him off, and search my head for a conversation changer.
I’d rather not discuss the song, or what it means to me.

Not
yet.

“Okay,
c’mere, sweetheart, I’ll show you how to throw the ball.”

“Oh,
you don’t have to…” Jules starts but I shake my head at her, halting her. She
smiles sweetly at her brother. “You don’t have to wait. Go ahead and show her.”

“Are
you the man for the job?” I ask him sarcastically.

“I
know my way around balls, babe,” he winks at me and all the guys snicker. “I
work with balls for a living.”

“Oh
dear God, please don’t talk about your balls all night. I’ll be sick.” Jules
scowls at him and Will smirks.

Will
chooses a ball and backs up onto the lane, crooking his finger at me with a
knowing smile on his sexy lips.

“Oh,
thank goodness you’re here to show me how to handle the balls,” I announce
sarcastically, earning laughter from our friends.

“Come
on, smart ass.” I step up to him and he folds his large body behind me, wraps
his arms around mine and places the ball in my hands. To torture him, just a
little, I wiggle my butt against him and lean into him. He growls low in his
throat and swears under his breath before he begins his instructions. “You have
to be gentle with the ball. Respect the ball. Visualize in your head where you
want the ball to land.”

I
giggle-snort and feel him scowl.

“Pay
attention.”

I
clear my throat. “Sorry.”

“Do
you want to give it a try?” he asks.

“Sure.”

“Okay,
good luck.”

He
pats my ass and moves back and I have to bite my lip to keep from breaking down
into hysterics. Taking my usual stance, I line the ball up with the arrow that
will drive it home, take one, two, three steps and then roll the ball down the
lane. It quickly moves over the arrow I aimed for and straight for the head pin
and
crash
! Strike!

“Yes!”
I clap my hands and turn around to applause and Will looking stupefied.

“You
played me.”

“You’ll
live.” I shrug and wrap my arms around him to hug him.

“You
bowl?” he asks.

“She
is a crazy-good bowler. We used to go all the time back in the day.” Natalie
tells him and I smile smugly.

“Why
didn’t you say?” he asks.

“And
spoil the fun of you showing me how to handle the balls? Never.”

Will’s
eyes narrow and he glares down at me and I can’t help the wide smile on my
face. Have I ever enjoyed tormenting someone so much? No, I don’t believe I
have.

He
leans in and whispers in my ear, “You’re going to pay for that later.”

“I
can’t wait.” I respond and sashay past him to join the girls.

Caleb
is up next and crashes all the pins into a strike. Jeez, he’s so muscular and,
well, a little scary. He’s Will’s Navy SEAL brother, and he’s just as big as
his brothers; tall, broad, muscular.

I’m
surrounded by a whole lot of hotness. If I wasn’t me, I’d be jealous of me.

That
makes me chuckle to myself.

“What
are you laughing at?” Luke asks me. He has kind eyes. I never noticed that
before. Luke Williams is super-hot, and very sweet. And completely in love with
his wife and daughter.

“Nothing,
just wondering how I got here.”

He
smiles knowingly.

“This
clan can be a lot to handle.”

“Everyone
is so nice, it’s just…”

“I
get it.” He smiles reassuringly. “I haven’t been a part of them for long, only
about a year. It’s pretty overwhelming at first.”

“Oh,
I’m not a part of them, I’m just hanging out with Will.”

“Right.”
He smirks down at me and shakes his head. “Megan, I don’t know you, but I’ve
spent some time with Will. Trust me. He’s not just hanging out with you.”

I
watch Will throw the ball down the lane and scowl and cuss when he only knocks
eight pins down. My gaze finds Luke’s again.

“You
think?”

“I
know. Be careful. Have fun. He’s a good guy.” And with that, he pats my knee
and moves back over to his wife.

“What
was that all about?” Will asks as he takes the seat Luke vacated.

“Nothing.
He was just saying hi. Do you guys really do this regularly?” I ask, trying to
distract both of us.

“We
try to. It’s not usually this many of us at once, though.”

“It’s
fun. And cool that you all like to hang out together.”

“Don’t
you like to hang out with your family?” Will asks.

Fuck,
why did I bring up family?

“Uh…”

“Hey,
Meg, have you heard from Sylvia lately?” Jules asks and takes a swig of her
beer.

God,
I wish I could drink some beer right now.

“No,
not for about a year.” I mumble and immediately begin to twist my fingers in my
lap.
Please don’t ask about Leo.

Will
frowns down at me. “Who’s Sylvia?”

“Her
mom,” Jules states matter-of-factly.

“You
haven’t talked to your mom in a year?” he asks. Everyone has gone quiet now and
are listening to this conversation and I just want to die.

“No.
It’s no big deal.”

Jules
snorts. Natalie shifts uncomfortably. Matt, the quiet, but no less attractive,
one of the bunch, sits back in his chair and watches me thoughtfully.

“More
margaritas?” Samantha asks brightly.

“I’ll
buy this round.” Caleb and Samantha make a trip to the bar to order the drinks
and everyone starts talking about other things, much to my relief.

“This
subject isn’t closed,” Will whispers in my ear.

“Yes
it is.”

“I
love this song!” Jules hops up and pulls Natalie with her, who then pulls me
and Brynna up to join them in a spontaneous dance about the lane. Carly Rae
Jepson is singing
Call Me Maybe
. I hate this song.

And
yet, I can’t help but love this song.

Sam
and Caleb return with a fresh batch of drinks, and Sam joins us girls in our
dancing frenzy, weaving and bobbing around us. Stacy grips her belly as she
giggles at us and sings along to the fun song.

We
are dancing about, being silly girls. I glance over at the guys and they are
staring at us, with smirks on their faces.

“You
all have the same taste in music as a thirteen-year-old girl,” Nate taunts us.

“Every
woman in this country loves this song,” Brynna informs him. “It’s a law, I
think. Hey, Matt, isn’t it a law?”

Matt
laughs and then purses his lips like he’s thinking really hard about it. “I
don’t pay attention to the girly laws,” he finally responds, making Brynna
scowl at him.

“Traitor.”

When
the song ends, another begins, and I cringe. It’s
Lonely Soul
by Nash.

As
in Leo Nash.

As
in,
my Leo.

He
and I wrote this song together right before he left for LA. Leo had been over
at my place, hanging out with me and listening to me bitch about school and
this guy that I went out with twice and never called me again after I slept
with him.

Hence,
the three date rule.

I
could tell that he wanted to track the idiot down and pummel him, but he
listened and drank beer with me, made me laugh. It wasn’t like I was crying
over the asshole, but venting to the only brother I’d ever known helped to put
things in perspective. And he gave me the best advice he’d ever given me that
night.

“Meg-pie,”
he said seriously, “we teach people how to treat us. If you don’t put up with
shit, and don’t settle for anything less than respect, that’s what you’ll get.
But if you let the douchebags walk all over you and treat you like you’re
disposable, then that’s what you’ll always get. You’re too good for that.”

I
miss him.

“I
love
this
song!” Sam exclaims and sings along loudly.

“This
is a great band,” Jules agrees and winks at me.

I
just shrug back at her and sing along in my head.

It
really is a great song.

* * *

“Tell
me about Sylvia.”

Will
and I are back in his car, heading to his house, and the nerves have kicked in.
This is it. Tonight is the night.

I
really, really wish I’d had something to drink.

“Sylvia
doesn’t matter.”

“She’s
your mother.”

“Trust
me, genetics doesn’t make someone a mother.”

“Tell
me.” He looks over at me, his face unreadable and I sigh.

“Why?”

“Because
we have to talk about something or I’ll pull this car over and take you on the
hood. And the date isn’t technically over until I get you inside the house. So
talk.”

“Okay.”
I clear my throat. “But can we do the fucking on the hood thing sometime soon?”

He
glares at me and his hands tighten on the steering wheel. He’s not touching me.

“Yes.
Talk.”

“I
was taken away from her when I was twelve.”

“Why?”
he asks, deceptively softly.

“Because
she sucked as a parent. Drugs. A revolving door of men.”

“Did
any of them…?” he can’t finish the sentence.

“No.
She made me go in my room and lock the door when the men were around. Mostly
she just neglected me. Forgot to buy food, forgot to send me to school.
Eventually a teacher took interest and I was taken away.”