I raised a brow at him. “And yet I’m sitting next to Derrick.”

Eva snorted as she sat down. “I’ve decided we’re going to be besties. Tell me everything.”

Through the whole crazy set of introductions, Derrick remained silent. A calm center in the chaos of his friends. Parker and Noah left to grab food, but the others pulled up chairs to join us. Eva scooted closer to me when Soren tried to sit between us.

“Nope. I called dibs. Go bother D.”

She peppered me with questions, and I answered them like I usually did—with a joke and a deflection. The entire time, Derrick’s thumb traced a line back and forth on my hip. My mouth formed words out of habit, but my mind was focused entirely on that little movement. Eva could have told me she was the crown princess of Kentucky, and I would have smiled and nodded.

Did he even know he was doing it? If I moved, would he stop? Did I want him to?

I knew what it looked like with me cuddled up next to him, but even I couldn’t explain what was going on in our complicated relationship. The situation felt surreal and comfortable all at once. They treated me like I’d been a part of their group for years, and Derrick never moved his arm from around me.

Were they all just really outgoing or were they so blasé because he did this a lot?

As if she could read my mind, Eva leaned toward me and whispered, “He never brings girls around. You’re the first I’ve ever met.”

I glanced up at Derrick, but he was arguing with the guys about what I assumed was a football play. Faint stubble covered his chin, and his short dark hair stood up in spikes from running his hand through it. I wanted to run my hand through it. I wanted to feel his fingers on more than my hip, and had we been alone, I might have given in to the urge to run my tongue along the cord of his neck just to see what he’d do.

His touch unraveled me, made me giddy like a kid on Christmas, and for some reason I couldn’t understand, he was determined to slowly break down my walls. He was nothing like the other athletes I’d met. I didn’t know what to make of him, but I wanted to know more.

I turned to my new psychic friend. “We’re not together like that.”

She patted my wrist with a sly smile. “Give him time.”

5

DERRICK

It took everything in me to keep my arm loose around Nadia as she curled into my side. Soren was talking about the Houston defense again, but I’d tuned out after the second iteration. Mac kept the conversation going for both of us.