Another guy snickered, “This the girl who was hiding in the closet? I wish I’d stuck around.”

“Yeah, right. You pissed your pants when coach came out in the hallway.”

“Shut up, Wiscers.”

“You shut up, pu**y.”

Jesse stepped closer as Justin threw his hand out. “Thanks, man, for the IDs.”

I did the double take now. “You got them for us?”

Jesse shrugged. “Who else do you guys know here?”

Angie was transfixed by one of the guys and I saw her mouth the word, ‘closet?’ before she narrowed her eyes at me.

“Nathan.” Jesse gave him a brisk nod.

Eric had stiffened at the sight of him, but gave him the same gesture. “Hunt.”

And then Jesse turned his back on him, towards me. It was smoothly and perfectly done, and it was more effective because of it. He’d cut him out of the conversation. I knew Eric registered the insult when his jaw clenched, but he didn’t combat it. He even stepped further back.

“I texted you.” He dropped his voice so only I could hear him. His fingers touched my arm and he urged me back, away from the group. “Where are you guys going tonight?”

I had read the two messages quickly, but that was when Eric had approached me. I hadn’t had time to really think about what he had asked. I frowned now. “You knew we were going out tonight?”

“Yeah, I figured. Houston reached out to me about the fakes this afternoon. I can’t go out late tonight, but I thought I’d come for awhile.”

I blinked at all that information. So he’d known where I was the whole time, who I was with. “That’s why you didn’t text me today.”

“You were with your friends.”

“And you didn’t want to pull me away from them?”

He gave me a wolfish grin. “If I had, you know what we’d be doing all day.”

Another shiver wracked through my body, one that had my every cell tingling in anticipation. I almost groaned from the dark thoughts that were going on in my mind, but bit my lip and held it back. My voice came out husky, “Jesse.”

His finger was rubbing up and down my arm. He grinned at the torment he was causing and slipped an arm around my waist to pull me close. As he bent close, I closed my eyes. I could feel his breath against my skin and waited for the feel of his lips, but then Angie’s voice came out loud. “Are you ready, Alex?”

Jesse froze and then hissed through his teeth. He pulled away. I caught the dark look he gave my best friend, but then he released me and stepped away. The effort seemed to cost him; he glared at Angie again. “Really, Russo?”

A heated look flashed in her eyes as she raised her chin in the air. “Really, Hunt.”

A different promise was smoldering in his depths.

Justin watched the exchange, but moved away from Angie’s hold. “You coming with us, Hunt?”

“Justin,” she hissed.

He ignored her. “We’re going to some clubs. The girls wanted to dance.”

Camden had been quiet, but he cleared his throat now. “Most of the team is going to Haze for a couple hours, but we can’t be out late. We have our game tomorrow.”

Another guy spoke up, “Yeah, if we don’t get a full eight hours of sleep Coach will kill us.”

“We wouldn’t want to trouble you guys. I’m sure you have all sorts of tramps to hang out with.”

“Angie.” I glared at her.

She shrugged. “Really.”

Camden had been frowning at her when he caught the glare Jesse sent her way. He stepped forward again. “That’s no problem. We have a reservation and everything. No waiting line. Some private dancing area all to yourselves. I know they tend to cater to the girls too, but if you don’t want to go there with us, that’s no problem.”

Angie’s smile turned frosty, the heat increasing in her eyes.

Justin coughed as he turned away from her. “Yeah, man. We’re all for it.”

“Justin,” she hissed again and tried to grab for him.

He evaded her reach easily. “I don’t suppose you guys are ready to go?”

Jesse had been silent next to me. He spoke up now, his gaze hard as he lingered on Camden first and then on Angie. “We’re ready.”

“Oh, great,” my best friend muttered. Everyone heard, but no one responded.

As we all got into the elevator, I was tense. Jesse’s teammates were in a good mood, as was Justin, but Eric and Angie were both glowering in silence. Then I glanced up and caught Jesse’s gaze. He winked at me. And suddenly, I wasn’t so tense anymore either.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

As we entered the club, a hostess met us at the door. She had perfect teeth, bleached blonde hair, and wore a skimpy uniform. Her eyes trailed over the group and lingered on Jesse, who stood next to me. He had a hand on the small of my back, but straightened as she headed straight for him. Her arm was extended. “Jesse Hunt! Welcome to Haze! It’s a pleasure to have you here.”

Then she trailed over the group again. Her eyes lingered on me, but her smile never slipped. “We were not aware you were with the Grant West group. We’ll make the accommodations immediately. Will your father be joining you?”

He straightened abruptly. The easy smile he’d had vanished. A hard look came over him. “He’s here?”

Her eyes widened a fraction. “He was in earlier, I believe.” She was rattled from the sudden intensity from him; hell, I was as well. Everyone was taken aback, but she still oozed a professional friendliness that verged on the line of being too friendly.

“Hunt, I didn’t know your dad was coming to our game.” Camden pushed through the crowd and slapped a hand on his shoulder.

The hostess’ eyes skipped over him, but snapped back to Jesse.

My eyes had narrowed as I watched the exchange and I saw the interest in her depths. I couldn’t blame her. Jesse was hot when he was laidback, but he was lethal when he was angry, which he certainly was now. His eyes were hard, jaw clenched, and his body had tensed. A dangerous aura came off him in waves.

And then Angie pushed forward. She gave the hostess a chilly smile. “Can we please go to whatever these guys booked? I have to pee and I don’t think you want me to take a piss on your floor. Or would you like to gawk at the famous movie director’s son some more?”