Crushed (Rushed #2) (15 page)

"Excellent. Then you aren't busy Friday night."

"I didn't say I wasn't busy. What gives you that idea? Maybe I have a hot date."

My heart lurched at the thought of her out with someone else. "Hot date, with a guy and his dad?"

"Not everyone's dads are here. Besides, how do you know? Maybe I like older men."

"You mean you're looking for a father figure? Dad's Weekend is a great time for you, then." I was getting grumpy. If she was toying with me on purpose and trying to make me jealous, she was doing a damn fine job of it.

"Actually, I like guys
my
age."

The way she emphasized "my" gave me hope. We were almost exactly the same age.

"I'm pulling your chain. No date for me. Tell me why I would give up a quiet evening at home to be sober among a bunch of drunk guys hitting on me?"

"Because you can't resist the opportunity to reprise our excellent ref act. We'll be a team again. I'll wear my costume if you wear yours."

"You want me to wear that skimpy costume around your dad? He'll think I'm a slut."

"Aren't you?" I couldn't help teasing her.
 

"Shut up! You're not helping your case. Do you want my help or not?"

"Dad loves eye candy. He'll be impressed by what a hot friend I have." I didn't give her a chance to refuse me again. "The tourney starts at nine. Want us to pick you up? Dad still has his license."

"Now there's an enticement." She laughed. "See you at nine."

My heart raced and I smiled like an idiot. I was getting in too deep.

Chapter Ten

Morgan

Late Friday afternoon, the steady stream of incoming dads began. The house quickly filled with the deep tenor of middle-aged male voices. I liked Dad's Weekend, and picking out which dad went with what daughter was a game I liked to play with myself. Sometimes it was surprising. My dad, for example, looked more like my grandpa than my dad. Think how old he'd look for my soon-to-be-born baby sister's Dad's Weekend. If he was even still alive. The thought depressed me. I pushed it away.

The thought of meeting Dakota's dad sent a shiver of nervous anticipation over me. What was Dakota setting me up for?

I walked past the bathroom, where Seth and Dillon were fixing a toilet that wouldn't stop running.
 

"Zach will be back on Sunday afternoon, man. Can't wait to see him," Dillion said to Seth.

Seth was installing a new toilet chain. "Yeah, you and me both."
 

I ducked my head and hurried past, hoping they wouldn't see me. Sober, and out of party mode, I was nervous about him coming back. Guilty. Hanging with Dakota, and fighting the budding feelings that I tried to deny, but were growing for him, made me realize more than ever that I'd had blinders on regarding Zach. I'd been mistaken—he wasn't the guy for me. I genuinely was out of crush with him. I'd made him into a fantasy man. But the reality didn't match the easy way I got along with Dakota.

It still astounded me that he and I had gone from enemies, to frenemies, to friends. And maybe more.

The way I'd flirted with Zach for two years embarrassed me now. In hindsight, I'd seemed so desperate. Which was the way it went when crushes died. You could suddenly clearly see what everyone else had always known.

I was relieved my dad was only coming for the day on Saturday. And nervous about how he would react to Dakota. Hoping he would give Dakota a break and see past that one bad incident. Eager to see my grandma and determine for myself how she was doing. I lived in dread of getting a call that she was in the hospital again.

Just before eight thirty, I was dressed as a ref and ready and way too eager for Dakota and his dad to pick me up. I walked by Alexis' room. Her door was open.
 

Remembering my promise to be a better big, I popped my head in. "Your dad's not here?"

She was lounging on her bed. She looked up from a book she was reading. "He called this morning. Some emergency. He can't make it."

I tried to gauge her reaction to his last-minute cancellation. Was she disappointed? Upset? I stepped into the room. "That sucks."

She shrugged. "He has to cancel his plans a lot. I'm used to it. Actually making it here was always a long shot. He's not much into football or Dad's Weekend things. I think it was a convenient excuse. Anyway, it takes the pressure off me. Dad still hasn't fully come to terms with me dating a houseboy." She grimaced so slightly I almost missed it.

"
Former
houseboy." I smiled at her and tried to sound jokey and sympathetic. "Thanks to me."

She looked at me, surprised by my attitude.

"You should thank me for saving him the embarrassment and getting Zach back into your social class." I tried to make myself clear by my tone that I wasn't being serious or arrogant. I was trying to let her know, in my own way, I was sorry.
 

I twisted my hands in my lap. "When Zach comes back, he'll be a Geed with his own place in one of the ritziest, priciest new complexes in town. That's status. That's a boyfriend your parents can brag about right there."

Her surprised look turned into a hint of admiration as she studied me and smiled. "That's one way to look at it."

"That's me, always pointing out the sunshine."
 

"Where's your dad?" Her gaze traveled down me. "And why are you wearing your Halloween costume?"

"Dad and Grandma aren't coming until tomorrow morning. Grandma can't take more than a day on campus. She's been sick. Heart trouble." I bit my lip and inhaled deeply. Why was I sharing this with Alexis?

"I'm sorry." Her eyes were soft with sympathy.

People liked Alexis. She had a way of engaging and caring about people that used to rub me wrong because I didn't like her. I appreciated her concern now.

I shrugged. "One day will be tiring enough for her. I hope she's up to it." I put on a happy face. "Since I have nothing else to do tonight, I'm refereeing the Tau Psi beer pong tourney. With Dakota." I indicated my costume. "Hence the referee's uniform. Double bang for my Halloween buck."

I had to force myself not to smile at the thought of Dakota. I was being stupid. Why hadn't I noticed how great he was in the first place, freshman year? Why had I ever wasted time on Zach?

Maybe it was hormones. My period still hadn't started. Maybe Dakota's baby was growing inside me and predisposing me to like him for its own nefarious purposes. Like it wanted a daddy. Maybe I was just stupid.

"Dakota?" Alexis frowned.

I took a seat in her desk chair opposite her and shrugged. I decided to level with her. "Why not? We're helping each other stay out of trouble." I paused, trying to be a considerate people person, like she was. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought him up."
 

She shrugged. "Why? There's no bad blood between us. We're friends."

Which was true and totally confusing. She and I were getting along, actually bonding. If ever there was a moment…

I seized my opportunity to do a little digging. "Yeah, and no one understands that. What's going on with you two? You should help us all out and give a workshop on how to become best friends with your ex. I mean, given the way things ended between you, you can understand everyone's confusion."

Her smile was devilish, but it lit up her face, highlighting how pretty she was. "It's simple, really—Zach is important to both of us. Dakota is smart enough to realize he and I don't belong together and Zach and I do. He wants the best for us." She paused and her voice became soft. "He's a great guy."

Oh, I knew that.
Now.

"Still confusing," I said. "Are you guys really aliens?"

She laughed.

"What time will Zach be here on Sunday?" I asked.
 

"Late Sunday afternoon. After most of the dads have left town. He's leaving Seattle around ten or eleven." She looked wistful.

"You can't wait, can you?"

She grinned. "That obvious?"

"I'm over him." I spoke without thinking. "I want you to know that. I owe him my life. I'd like to be his friend. And yours. I won't try to come between you again. I mean it."

My phone buzzed. I had a text from Dakota telling me he and his dad had arrived to pick me up. My heart suddenly pounded and I got a ridiculous smile on my face. I simply could not hide it. "Gotta go. Dakota's here to pick me up." I stood.

"Have fun."

I walked to the door.

"Morgan?"

I turned over my shoulder to look at her. "Yeah?"

She was studying me with an uncertain look on her face. Like she had something she wanted to say, but wasn't sure she should. "Be careful around Dakota. I mean this in the kindest way possible. No ulterior motives. You're my big. I want us to be friends." She fiddled with the pages of the book next to her. "Don't lose your heart to Dakota. Not that I'm saying you are. Just guard it, okay? He's not what he seems."

She looked so genuinely concerned, I almost laughed. "Not what he seems?" I said. "Don't tell me he's gay." I knew for sure he wasn't. "And you were his fake cover girlfriend."

It might have been my imagination, but I thought she paled slightly. She shook her head. "Absolutely not. Go. Have fun."

With her puzzling warning ringing in my ears, I slid my coat on and bounded down the stairs to meet Dakota and his dad.

They waited for me in the entry, bundled in jackets that emphasized their broad shoulders and masculinity. Dakota had grown a stubble of a beard since I'd seen him. He was like that. He could grow a sexy shadow overnight. Seeing him, my heart did a happy little flip. I willed my stomach to keep calm and hoped the periodic waves of nausea would stay at bay.

His dad was clean-shaven, but I was immediately struck by the resemblance between father and son. Same height. Same broad shoulders and build, his dad's tarnished by middle age. Same sandy blond hair. His dad's highlighted by shades of gray. Same intelligent, snapping blue eyes. His father's were undimmed, as youthful as Dakota's, and leveled on me.
 

I swallowed hard.
Buck up
, I told myself.
How bad can his dad be? I can stand up to his scrutiny.

But I felt suddenly shy. And like I should have worn something more conservative. Then again, Dakota and I were just friends. That was the way Dakota and I both wanted it. That was the lie I told myself. I didn't have to try to appear like girlfriend material to Mr. Bradley. I could be party girl, fun friend of his son's, without worry.

"There she is!" Dakota's face lit up.

Which lit up mine. He was killing me. I ran to him and hugged him.
 

He slung his arm around me. "Dad, this is Morgan. The girl I've been telling you about."

Telling him about.
The words echoed in my mind like they meant something more. Silly.

With as bright a smile on my face as I could manage, I offered my hand to Mr. Bradley.

"Morgan, nice to meet you. You can call me Al." His voice was a deeper, more mature version of Dakota's. He held my hand in his and squeezed it. "Nice to meet anyone who can keep my boy on the straight and narrow. How do you manage?"

"We're keeping each other out of trouble." I turned to Dakota. "What have you told him about me?"

"That he nearly killed you," Mr. Bradley said. "I can't tell you how glad I am that my son didn't remove such a gorgeous girl from this world." His voice was deep with flattery.

Dakota took my arm. "Stop flirting with Morgan, Dad." Dakota was smiling and sounded like he was teasing, but there was an edge to it. "Remember, I have Mom on speed dial."

A little father/son competition?

His father laughed. "Around such beauty, how can I help myself?"

Dakota rolled his eyes and took my hand. "Let's go." He walked me to his dad's BMW.

Dad's Weekend was like the Cinderella story in reverse. On Dad's Weekend, a great many dads reverted to the partying frat boys they used to be. Sunday at noon, they would return to their respectable middle-aged selves. But on Friday night, they were eager to win at beer pong and flirt with their sons' dates.