Dad, you’ve known Dane for a while now. Can you not act all protective?” I laughed as I held my hair back so he could help me put my necklace on.

“Well now he’s dating my daughter, and honestly, I was hoping you’d never date.”

I let my hair down and turned to look at him. “Well too bad.”

We both laughed.

“When he gets here I will have a talk with him. He’s taking my daughter out on her first date, and I have some rules to lay down.”

I groaned. “Fair enough.”

Dad and I walked downstairs, and Mom looked up from her magazine. “Do girls really wear their converse out on dates these days?”

“Mom, this is me we’re talking about.”

“And you looked so cute the other day in those wedged boots.”

I shrugged. “It’s Dane. He knows me. If I wore those again and tried to dress all fancy, he’d know I was trying too hard. That’s what so great about him. I don’t have to try hard; I can just be myself.”

I saw headlights out the window and smiled when I saw Dane’s truck. “Just act normal, okay? It’s still the same Dane.”

Dane knocked on the door, and I went to get it, but Dad stepped in front of me. He opened the door and let Dane in.

“Hey.” He smiled at me past my dad.

Dad shook his hand. “We need to have a talk.” Dad motioned for him to follow him into the kitchen.

I moved out of the way as they walked past and sat down by Mom.

“This is embarrassing.”

Mom chuckled and set her magazine down in her lap. “Just be thankful he’s being so good about this. This is hard for us both. Our baby girl is all grown up.”

I raised a brow. “Are you crying?”

She wiped her eyes and laughed. “Maybe. And Tulane? Do you know how proud of you we are? It’s just so much happening so fast. We aren’t ready, but we don’t have a choice. You’ll understand one day when you have kids.”

“I guess.”

I waited several minutes before they came back in. Dad hugged me, and then Dane and I went out to his truck.

“What was that all about?”

“Just your dad being a good dad.” He opened the door for me. “Nothing major, Hales.” He laughed at the face I made.

He got in on the driver’s side and cranked up the truck.

“Is it just me, or has the team been really weird since we announced us dating?” I moved to the middle seat so I could be close to him. I started messing with the radio.

He laughed. “Yeah. It will take some time for them to get used to it.”

This was the first time Dane and I had actually been able to do something alone since the weekend. School and practice kept us so busy and wore out. I smiled when he put his arm around my waist.

“Where are we going?” I found a station I liked and turned it down low so we could still talk.

“To that new Italian restaurant. I thought that would be better than going to Quinn’s.”

“Sounds great.” I smiled at him. “You look great tonight.”

He grabbed my hand, laced my fingers with his, and placed our joined hands on his thigh. “So do you. Very beautiful.”

“I always thought you were a hottie. I just never told you that because it would’ve been weird.” I looked at the busy parking lot when he pulled into the restaurant.

“Hey, I told you that you were hot! No fair.” He laughed. He got out and held the door open for me. “I called and got us a—” he stopped as he looked at a truck. “Umm, how about we go somewhere else?”

I looked at the truck and noticed it was Zach’s. “Dane, we can’t avoid him forever. Let’s just go in. I’m okay.”

He nodded and led me inside. We entered a beautiful room and were lead to a table. He pulled the chair out for me then scooted me to the table. He sat down and smiled at me.

“This place is really nice.”

I looked around and saw Zach at the bar with a woman next to him. The woman kept touching him, but he kept pushing her hand away. I sat across from Dane, and we ordered our drinks.

“I guess he decided to date too.” I smiled, pretending that it didn’t sting the wound that was still healing not having him around.

I looked at my menu. “Oooh, they have the soup I like from Olive Garden!” I set the menu down and smiled at Dane. “Soup and salad for me. What are you getting?”

“Shrimp pasta. I love that stuff.” Dane looked toward Zach. “He’s not dating. That’s Gabe’s older sister. She must be in town. She always bugs him when she’s home.”

“Oh. He must like it, or he wouldn’t be out with her. He has no problem saying no.” I frowned. “No more talking about him.”

The waitress came over with our drinks, and we handed our menus after placing our orders.

“Are you ready for our first game?”

“Yep. I can’t wait. How about you, super star?” he teased.

“I’m always nervous for the first game.”

I took a drink of water. It didn’t take long for our food to be set in front of us. After we ate, we headed out but not before we were stopped by Gabe’s sister who knew Dane. Zach looked right at me as he took a shot. I furrowed my brow. This didn’t seem like Zach at all.

“Zach told me you’re officially a Shaw! How exciting!” She was clearly tipsy and dressed in a skintight dress that showed a lot of legs and cleavage.

It bothered me because this town talked, and now they were all seeing Zach with this girl. I held tightly to Dane’s hand. Zach laughed when he saw our hands and then turned to the bar to order another drink.

“Dane, I’ll be out at your truck.” I let go of his hand and left so he could finish his conversation with Gabe’s sister. I hurried out to the truck and waited on the tailgate. Dane came out looking furious.

“What?” I got off the tailgate.

“Can you drive my truck to the house?” he asked me.

“What’s going on?”

He held up Zach’s keys. “I’m taking his truck home.”

“And how is he getting home?”

“I’m going to text Brink.”

I held my hand out for his keys. “Is this why you’re so pissed?”

“It’s part of it.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ll explain it once we drop the truck off.” He handed me his keys.

I nodded. “See you there.”

I WAITED FOR Dane in his room. He was talking to Brink and Elliot downstairs. The door opened, and Dane walked in.

“Sorry about that.” He sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him. “You want to go see a movie or watch one here?”

I looked at my bare feet and laid down on his bed. “Your bed is comfy. I vote stay here.”

He laughed and rifled through his movies. “What do you want to watch?”

I laid on my side so I could look at him. For the first time, I completely checked him out. My eyes went from his head all the way to his feet. I smiled when he caught me.

He smiled and came back over to the bed. “What were you looking at?”

“Your hair, eyes, and lips, how your jaw is still tense from being pissed, your muscles in your arms, your ass…” I chewed on my lip. “I’m allowed to do that now, and I like what I see.”

He blushed a little. He looked me up and down then met my eyes. “And I like what I see.” His eyes went to my lips for a second then back to my eyes. “We really should decide on a movie.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?” I laughed.

“Because if I don’t get up and put a movie in, I’m going to kiss you.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” My fingers lightly grazed the top of his hand. “Dane, we’re together now. You get to kiss me whenever you want.”

He moved closer and kissed me. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him with me as I fell to my back. He moved one of his legs so it was between mine, and one of his hands touched the bare skin of my side.

And I liked it.

So much.

His hand started to move further up, but he stopped when there was a knock on the door.

“Uncle Dane?” Millie’s voice came through the door.

“Yeah?” he asked a little breathlessly.

“Can I come in and watch a movie with you and Hales?”

Dane looked down at me and laughed quietly. “Can she?”

“Of course.”

He moved off me, and I sat up and smoothed my hair. He went to the door and let her in.

“I’ll go get popcorn.” I stood and ruffled Millie’s hair as I walked past her and out of the room.

When I got downstairs, Coach was sitting on the couch with his head against the back. He was sound asleep. I grabbed a throw blanket from the recliner to cover him. When I turned to go back to the kitchen, I saw Zach stumbling in with Brink.

I clenched my jaw. He was such a jerk tonight.

I went to the pantry and got the box of popcorn out.

“Why’d you bring me here? I said go to the cabin,” I heard Zach say in a slur.

“Because” is all I heard Brink say as he headed to the back of the house.

I looked at Zach as he came into the kitchen.

“Please be quiet. Your brother is trying to sleep.” I put a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

He looked shocked that I was there, and at that moment his emotions were visible. This Zach I could read, but then suddenly his face went back to jackass mode, like it had at the restaurant. He went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and then went through a door off the kitchen. He shut the door behind him.

My mind was racing as I put another bag of popcorn in the microwave and set the timer. I looked at the door where Zach was, and before I could talk myself out of it, I went in the room. It was a small office, and he kept the lights off. The moonlight shined brightly through the window and gave a soft glow to the office.

I found Zach sitting behind a desk with his head in his hands.

“You do not get to treat me like shit, Zach!”

He dropped his hands to his lap and looked past me instead of meeting my eyes. “What are you talking about? I haven’t even talked to you.”

“Exactly. And when you actually look at me, you look like I’m some worthless bitch! You don’t get to just act like we were nothing. I want to be friends, and it kills me that you don’t even talk to me anymore. I sent you several texts the first few days after we broke up with no replies!”

He stood and had to put his hand down on the desk to steady himself. “This is who I am, Hales. A jackass.” He didn’t sound angry or hurt. I could have handled those. He sounded defeated.

“No, you’re not,” I said quietly. I walked over to him and held his face in both of my hands. “No, you’re not, Zach.” He smelled like alcohol. He was wasted.

He gently moved my hands from his face. He sat back down. “Get away from me, Hales. I’m toxic.”

“Only because you’re choosing to be.”

I left the room and went to the kitchen. I put the popcorn into bowls and went upstairs. Dane already had a movie started. When he saw my face, his took on a concerned look.

I shrugged. “I’m fine.”

I brought the popcorn over and sat down next to Millie. She was between Dane and me. Millie took a handful as she watched Cinderella. Dane smiled a little at me and mouthed sorry. I smiled and shrugged. Dane put his arm around Millie’s shoulders and rested his hand on my arm. Dane probably didn’t realize it, but this was a perfect way to end the night.