I wanted to smack myself for not keeping the incredulousness of that statement inside, but it only made his smile quirk up more.

“How could I miss you?”

My brows shot up at that, and for what I was sure wouldn’t be the last time around this man, I was speechless.

“I don’t remember seeing you with Clay Johnson, though,” he assessed carefully, coolly. “Is he your…”

It was endearing, how the words died on his lips, and he looked like he might be thinking better than to ask before I replied, “Boyfriend?”

Shawn grinned down at the floor before meeting my gaze again. “God, that was a cheap line, wasn’t it?”

A line?

Was he… hitting on me?

“Well, he’s a lucky guy,” he said, and again I found my eyebrows hanging out somewhere near my hairline.

Shawn looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just grabbed the back of his neck before pointing back toward the stage.

“Alright, well, I should probably get some water and make the rounds before this next set. But I’m really glad you came tonight…”

He paused, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

“Giana.”

“Giana,” he repeated, smiling around the syllables of my name. “See you around soon, I hope?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before he gave me a knowing wink, turned on his heels, and made his way through the crowd, stopping at the table of girls he promised to visit. He was laughing with them again, but his eyes flicked to me, and he held my gaze until Clay plopped down in the booth next to me with a fresh drink that he didn’t really need, since most of his first one was still there.

For a long moment, I just sat there, stunned, staring at the sleek marble table as Clay took a long sip of his drink and sat back, casually crossing ankle over knee and tossing his arm around the back of the booth as he waited for me to say something.

I slowly lifted my gaze to his. “What the hell just happened?”

Clay chuckled. “I told you.”

“He walked right over to me. He said he recognized me from campus. He… I think he was flirting with me.”

Clay cocked a brow, lifting his whiskey toward me with a knowing smirk like he wasn’t the least bit surprised.

I gaped at him, then at Shawn — who was getting settled on stage again — before I shook my head and found a way to zip my lips together. I smacked a hand on the table, grabbing my mocktail and sucking half of it down in one gulp. I slammed it on the table with more force than I intended, turning to face Clay head on.

“I need more lessons. Stat.”

An amused laugh was my only reply.

Chapter Nine

Clay

I could still remember my first football game.