“Because he’ll freak out and make a big deal out of it. And any chance of low-key and fun will go right out the window with it.”

“I don’t know. He was pretty cool about Liam asking to date you.”

“Liam asked to date me?” Ugh. I hate that they all feel like they need to ask permission. He’s not the boss of me.

Heath puts his hands in his pockets and nods.

“Just trust me on this. He might have said he was cool with it, but he’ll interfere somehow. We don’t need his okay.”

“I don’t relish the idea of going behind his back. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but we’re teammates.”

“I know and it isn’t forever, only until we decide if there’s anything even worth telling him.”

Heath raises a dark brow.

“You know what I mean.”

“All right. If that’s what you want.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“What the hell did you do to my lips?” He rubs at them again and I bite back a laugh and run a thumb over the tender skin. It’s red and irritated, but his lips look nice and full, so I guess the stuff works.

I press my lips to his. A chaste kiss, but I linger, enjoying the feel of him being so close and his mouth against mine. Thirty seconds into this, and I’m already having a hard time keeping my hands off him around other people. He makes a little humming noise when I pull back.

“You expect me to keep this a secret?” He shakes his head. At least I’m not alone in wanting to jump him.

I take a step back as Maverick approaches.

“Hey, you two.” He looks from Heath to me with a big smile and then sniffs the air. “Is that… romance I smell?”

Heath smirks at me. Busted.

“Well, so much for keeping it from everyone.” I huff a laugh.

We do a slightly better job of staying apart after we make Mav swear to secrecy. With a butt squeeze and a whispered promise to find me later, Heath goes with Maverick to play Xbox and I find Reagan.

She’s sitting in a folding chair in a circle of people, but she’s quiet, playing with the label on the beer bottle in her hand. I grab a chair and pull it up beside her.

“Hey, are you okay? You look a little bummed.”

“Sam, the guy I went out with last week, was supposed to meet up with me tonight, but he flaked.”

“Oh, babe, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. He was kind of boring, but it still hurts to be blown off.” Her shoulders rise and fall with a big sigh. “And the worst part is I’m still not over…” She pauses and fidgets with her beer again.