Morgan stepped aside, withdrawing her hand with a frown. “Is this your girlfriend?”

“Sure. Let’s call it that.” Callingwood smiled, shooing Morgan away like a pesky animal. She had a good six inches on Morgan, which added insult to injury.

“Seriously?” Morgan glared at me. “You’re an asshole. Good luck with this one, sweetie.” She huffed and spun on her red stiletto heel before disappearing into the crowd.

So much for having options.

“Um, hi?” I turned to Callingwood with a frown.

What the fuck? Did she come back just to cockblock me?

I wasn’t sure whether she had changed her mind or was simply hell-bent on ensuring I went home alone tonight.

Unfazed by my lukewarm reception, she gestured to her friends. “Zara and Noelle, you remember Carter. I mean, Chase. Chase, this is Zara and Noelle. I’m sure you have some cute friends to introduce them to, right?”

Right. They were like a trifecta of gorgeous girls. My friends would be all over it. Zara was curvy, with long, reddish brown hair nearly down to her waist. And Noelle was more angular. She had a short black bob and golden tanned skin. Both very attractive, objectively speaking, but Callingwood was by far the hottest.

“Sure.” I kept my attention fixed on her. “I appreciate the introduction, but I still don’t know your name.”

I was part-irritated, part-intrigued, and wholly hoping I could still close this. I liked the challenge. I was dysfunctional that way.

Zara laughed, fluffing her long auburn hair. “I don’t know why she’s being so mysterious. Her name is Bailey.”

Bailey. It didn’t ring a bell. I couldn’t put my finger on why she looked familiar, though, and it was driving me crazy.

“Do you have a last name, Bailey? Or are you a one-name wonder like Rihanna?”

Bailey looked away, taking a sip of her drink. “James.”

Like Derek James, D-man for the Bulldogs? Holy shit. That was why she said she hated me. There was no shortage of bad blood there.

“Is Derek your brother?”

“Yup,” she said, popping the P.

“Ah.” I nodded, trying to keep my expression neutral.

Talk about a plot twist. Derek was a fairly average-looking dude; even a little gangly. But his sister was a fucking dime. Athletic but curvy, with enough to grab on to. Tall too—in her heels, she wasn’t much shorter than me.

I was into it. Fully.

Noelle leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Bailey is single and ready to mingle. Newly single as of yesterday, in fact.”

Bailey shushed her, cheeks reddening. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“What?” Zara shrugged. “It’s Luke’s loss.”

Luke…Luke. Then it clicked. Bailey was Morrison’s girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend, it would seem. That was why she looked so familiar. I’d probably seen her in the stands before.

But she was cheering for the wrong side.