This time more than noise comes out. “Fuuuuuuuuuck.”

“I’m so sorry.”

I straighten and try to shake it off. “I’m dying.”

She laughs, but man, an uppercut to the nose hurts.

“Hey, guys—” Lance’s voice permeates the haze of pain. I turn to look at him, processing his confusion as it turns quickly to anger, which he aims at Tash. “The fuck is going on?”

All of the sudden it’s quiet on the deck.

Tash rolls her eyes. “Calm yourself, Lance.”

He points a hand in my direction. “Why are you all up on Ballistic?”

“I banged him.”

Lance seems more upset by this revelation than necessary. “You what? When?”

“Like two seconds ago,” Tash replies.

“How’s that possible?” He looks from me to her. “You make a pit stop in a bathroom before you came out here?”

“What?” Tash looks confused.

“Huh?” All I want is to lie down with an icepack on my face. These people are crazy.

“You’re a real piece of work, Tash. I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you jumping someone.”

Tash’s eyes go wide, and her mouth drops. Her hand rises in smack mode.

I get in front of her before she can follow through with the bitch slap, which Lance may actually deserve. “That’s not what she meant by banged,” I tell him. “She elbowed me in the nose, by accident.”

“What?” Lance grabs the back of his neck.

Tash shakes her head. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

She pushes past him and goes back inside.

“Fuck. Shit. Tash, wait.” He goes after her.

Well, I guess Miller called it. There’s definitely something going on there. Or was.

Chapter 8

What’s Up with Bathrooms?

LILY

This creepy dude named Kirk won’t leave me alone. I don’t know where Sunny went. Or Miller. I scan the crowd again as he goes on and on about how amazing he is. He’s old, or older anyway. He’s got a few gray hairs at his temples and some creases around his eyes. I think he might be balding, but I can’t be sure because I’m a lot shorter than he is. I’d put him in his mid-thirties. But he’s not wearing a wedding ring, so I could be wrong about that, too.

Right about now I’d glom onto Momma Two if it meant I could lose this guy. Commotion on the deck pulls my already divided attention away from his monologue. Randy’s standing outside the French doors. Oh, God. He looks so, so good. He’s wearing black pants and a dark button-down shirt. It’s blue—almost the same color as my dress. We match, and we didn’t even plan it.

Then there’s this tall, incredibly built, very pretty woman with her hands on his face. She looks concerned. He looks—other than hot—intense. His hand is on her shoulder, and they’re close-talking.

I get that feeling—the same one I get when I make a mistake in competition. My whole body heats up and cools down at the same time. My stomach knots.

“I’m sorry.” I turn to Kirk, who’s still talking. “You’ll have to excuse me.”

I don’t wait for his response. I turn toward the house. Fortunately, I don’t have to pass Randy on the way inside since there’s another door. I enter through the kitchen and run into Sunny.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” she exclaims.

Miller’s leaning against the counter, stuffing appetizers into his mouth. He’s got a satisfied look on his face. I bet they disappeared somewhere to get it on. They’ve been doing that all day.

“Isn’t Randy here yet?” Miller pulls his phone from his back pocket and checks his messages. “Says he got here, like, ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah, but he’s with some girl.” I try to sound like it doesn’t matter, even though it feels like someone kicked me in the magic marble.

“What?” Miller’s eyes narrow.

The girl Randy was with on the deck comes storming through the house.

I point. “That’s her.”

“Tash?” Now Miller looks baffled.

“I don’t know what her name is, but they had their hands all over each other.” I swirl my drink.

“That’s the team’s trainer,” Sunny says.

A hockey player I recognize—his name is Lance, I think—is right on her heels, calling after her.

“I think maybe there’s a misunderstanding, because if anyone’s with Tash, it’s Lance, not Randy.”

Sunny nods. “Totally. Randy’s all about you these days.”

Miller gives her the eye.

“Isn’t that what you said earlier?” She twists her hair around her finger.

“Hey, Balls,” Miller’s gaze lifts over my head.

“Hey.”

His deep voice makes my insides liquid, but not Ebola liquid, sexy liquid. I can practically feel his body heat behind me. Okay, that’s not true, but he runs a finger from the nape of my neck all the way to the base of my spine, and I can definitely feel that. My body tightens with anticipation. All the blood seems to get sucked straight into my clit. Just from his finger. I don’t get it. Now all I want to do is jump him, even though less than five minutes ago some other girl was touching him.

I take a deep breath and turn. His hair is pulled back in that pony nub he’s got going on. Usually I think man buns are stupid. For some reason on him it’s sexy.