They always played shirts vs. skins. Of course today, because nothing in my life is ever fair, my guys were skins. When I caught sight of a shirtless Drew, I sighed and looked up at the sky. Someone up there hates me. What girl wouldn’t want to enjoy a beautiful afternoon watching a bunch of incredibly hot men run around without their shirts?

Today I just wanted Drew to put on a chicken suit or his grandmother’s muumuu, anything to make him less attractive. What did I get? His gorgeously toned chest and chiseled abs glistening in the sun, his muscles straining as he reached to catch the ball. Seriously, when did my life turn into an ad for Pac Sun? I groaned and dropped my head in my hands.

“You okay?” Millie asked, her eyebrows pulling together with concern.

“Yeah, a little hung over, I guess,” I lied.

She nodded. “Oh, right! The gala was last night. How was it?”

“Great. We had a great time.” I looked down into my coffee cup.

She frowned. “You don’t sound great.”

“No, really, it was amazing.” I tried and failed to add more enthusiasm to my voice. “The dress was a hit. Thanks again, Millie.”

“You are very welcome.” She smiled, putting her hand on my shoulder.

We turned our attention to the guys just as Sean’s face was pushed into the dirt. I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. That had to hurt. Drew jogged over, extending a hand to help him up, then clapped him on the back.

I turned to Millie, who was waving to David on the field. They were so cute.

“I ran into Peter Russell last night.”

“Really? I heard he moved to England.”

“Yeah,” I said. “He just moved back to town. He’s working for Franklin & Burke.”

I picked up a doughnut, breaking off a piece and popping it in my mouth.

“How’d he look? Bald? Fat?” she asked with a smirk.

“No, he looks the same. Better, actually.” I began anxiously breaking up my doughnut into smaller pieces. “He asked me to dinner.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Better not tell Drew.”

“Why?”

“Drew can’t stand him.” She shrugged.

“I know that. What happened?”

She faced the field, squinting her eyes. “I don’t really know. David was kind of hush hush about it.”

Huh? I was dying to figure out what was up with them. Peter was kind of a tool back then, but Drew had his moments too. He was a different guy now. Surely, Peter wasn’t the same sorority skirt chaser he was in college.

“So, are you going?” Millie never took her eyes off the game.

“Yeah.” I looked at Drew on the field. He glanced over at me and waved. “If he calls me.” I took a long drink of my coffee. “Actually, we talked about me decorating his loft.”

“That’s not all he wants,” Millie said, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

“Oh, stop.” I tossed a piece of doughnut at her.

The guys were finishing up. They shook hands and high fived the other team, then turned and headed toward us.

David leaned down and kissed Millie, first on the lips, then on her full stomach. She beamed at him. They were so sweet that I didn’t know whether to be insanely jealous or throw up. I looked up at Drew, but he was watching his brother with an affectionate smile. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and winked. What the hell was that? No! Alex, damn it! You are doing it again. Stop looking for signs that aren’t there!

The man really was beautiful, even completely covered in dirt and sweat. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His shorts hung low on his hips. His hair was damp and sticking up, but he still managed to look sexy as hell. It was just not fair.

Sean dropped down on the blanket beside me, knocking me over and out of my Drewl session. Ha! Get it!

“Sean!” I pushed him away from me. “You’re all gross!”

He laughed and pulled me against his chest. “Oh, come on, Alex, you know you want me.” He wiped his dirty, sweaty face against my shirt, using me as a human gym towel. I thrashed, finally pulling myself away from him. He laughed and lay back on the blanket, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. “She wants me.”

I stood up and chuckled. Drew’s shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. He looked at me and I gave him a half smile. It was the best I could do at the moment

David clapped his hands together. “The Den?”

He looked at all of us for confirmation. We nodded our agreement and packed up our stuff. We loaded Millie’s chair, the cooler, and the rest of the stuff into David’s car, then headed the few blocks to The Den.

The place was slow for a Saturday, but it was still early. We waved a greeting to Papa Jack and crowded around our usual table, taking our usual positions.

Since we were inside, I couldn’t hide behind my sunglasses anymore. I just prayed that I didn’t look half as bad as I did earlier. I already planted the hangover story with Millie, so if I stuck to that I would be fine. I raised my glasses to the top of my head and rubbed my face. Millie gave me a sympathetic half smile. Yep, still looked like shit.

Bridget wasn’t in yet, so I offered to get the first round from the bar. When I stood up, Drew did too, offering to help. Shit! So much for not being alone with him. Papa Jack started pouring beers and putting them on the counter as Drew leaned on the bar next to me.

“You okay?” He sounded a little concerned.

I waved my hand to dismiss him, looking toward Papa Jack. “Yeah, just a little hung over.” Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye contact.

“You sure? You didn’t really drink that much.”

Oh no, he was fishing. I needed a distraction. Papa Jack put Millie’s Ginger Ale and a Guinness in front of me. Perfect! I handed them to Drew. He reluctantly took the hint and went to bring the drinks to the table. He looked back at me with a frown. Please let him drop this. I begged whichever god was willing to listen and exhaled as Papa Jack set the rest of the drinks down in front of me.

“You okay?” Come on, not him too!

“Yeah, Pops, I’m good.”

He put his huge paw over my hand. “Tell me who he is and I will kick his ass.” A short laugh burst from my lips as tears started to prick behind my eyes. It’s my ass you’re going to have to kick. I gave him a brave smile, took a breath, grabbed the drinks, and headed back to the table.

Drew’s eyebrows pulled together as I took my seat and passed out the drinks. Lucky for me, Sean started telling us a story about how he picked up some girl using a space pants pick-up line. I gave Sean my full attention, laughing in the right places and trying not to acknowledge Drew staring at the back of my head. He eventually relaxed enough to have a little fun, but I knew he wouldn’t let it go for long. I was in so much trouble.

***

I managed to avoid Drew all day Sunday. He called in the afternoon, but I let it go to voicemail, texting him later to say I was busy with work stuff and would talk to him tomorrow. He was already on red alert that something was wrong. Not talking to him was just easier because I wouldn’t have to lie. I’m a terrible liar, and I especially can’t lie to Drew. He’s like the CIA. He knows everything.

Monday morning came and I was still feeling a bit defeated. I should have been floating on cloud nine after the gala, but I was still feeling pretty raw with the emotional pinball going on in my head. I was not ready to face Gwen and her aggressive cleavage. When I walked into the office, I was assaulted by color and the scent of flowers instead.

Everywhere I looked, on every surface of my office, were bouquets of gorgeous flowers. There were a couple dozen roses in various shades, yeah, but there were also arrangements of sunflowers, gerbera daisies, hydrangeas, lilacs, and peonies. It was insane. I dropped my bag on my desk, turning to Gwen.

“Did somebody die?”

“You tell me. They’re for you.”