“I will keep an eye out, but I’m not going to lord over her like some sort of protector. Normal, friendly, keep an eye out, not whatever you’ve got going on there.” I lift one of my arms bringing the grocery bags with it and motion to him and his moody intensity.

“Good enough, I guess.”

I barely get the beer to the fridge before people are grabbing for it. I take two and spot the object of my and Adam’s conversation sitting on the couch watching Maverick and Rauthruss play Halo.

“Hey,” I say as I take a seat next to her and hold out a beer. Her hair is in an elaborate looking braid, the end hanging over one shoulder.

She takes the can hesitantly. “Thanks.”

“Where’s mine?” Maverick teases.

“In the fridge.”

He holds a hand to his chest and pretends to be appalled.

“When you’re as hot as Ginny, I’ll start being your beer bitch, too.”

She rolls her eyes as she pops the tab on her beer, but there’s a faint blush to her cheeks.

“Genevieve,” Adam calls from the kitchen and lifts a beer in a silent offering. She holds up the one I gave her so he can see she’s already got one.

“Genevieve?” Mav asks. “I thought your name was Ginny.”

“Ginny is short for Genevieve.”

“That’s rad. Why would you ever go by anything else?” He says her name again slowly. “Genevieve.”

“Adam couldn’t pronounce it when I was born.”

Mav and Rauthruss bust up laughing.

“He was three,” she adds, sticking up for him.

Rauthruss wins, like he always does, and Mav looks to me. “I’m done getting my ass kicked. Do you want to play?”

Nodding, I hold a hand up and he tosses the controller to me. I nudge Ginny. “What do you say?”

Rauthruss holds his out to her and she takes it.

“Have you played before?”

“I grew up with Adam. What do you think?” She sits forward and places her beer on the coffee table and straightens her shoulders. She’s taking this seriously, looking determined and sexy as hell.

I set out with the goal of taking it easy on her, but Ginny doesn’t need it. A few of the guys on the team crowd around to cheer her on and voice their hope of me getting my ass kicked. I win, just barely, and everyone boos.

“Thanks a lot, guys. Real team spirit.”

“Do over,” she demands.

I’m not confident I can pull off a victory twice, so I hesitate. We lean forward and grab our beers at the same time. I take a long drink while she sips and then grimaces.

“What was that face?” I stare at her cute little mouth and pink lips wet from the beer.

“Do you actually like the taste of beer?” she asks.