After the game—the Niners won—and the interviews and the photo ops, Jordan and Cannon were finally set free. Susanna and I stayed together the entire time, like sweet little groupies, eager to catch sight of their men.

Us patiently waiting around for them reminded me of high school. When Livvy and I would linger outside the locker room until her boyfriend at the time, Ryan, would finally emerge.

And I, of course, was there for Tuttle. Not that I ever wanted to admit it back then, before we were officially dating. What we had before our actual relationship was so complicated and confusing. He drove me insane. So much push and pull. All the, I want to be with you but I don’t know how to love stuff. He made my teenage heart ache.

He still makes my heart ache, but for entirely different reasons.

Jordan and Cannon approach us, and I can sense Susanna tensing up. She presses her lips together, a vaguely desperate humming sound coming from her, and when she turns to look at me, I see the panic written all over her pretty face.

I have so been in her shoes. That unsettling feeling of “where do I belong in this equation?” I know that’s what she’s experiencing.

“Hey.” Jordan greets me with a hug and a quick kiss on the lips. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“You have a job to do.” I smile up at him. “I get it.”

That familiar nagging feeling hits me, though. One I remember from when we were younger. Will he always keep me waiting? Is that my role in this relationship? To stand on the sidelines while the bright light constantly shines on the Jordan Tuttle?

“What are your plans tonight?” Cannon asks us, thankfully forcing me to stop thinking about all the negative parts of dating Jordan.

We both turn to face him and Susanna. They’re standing next to each other, Susanna looking a little uncomfortable. A lot awkward.

“Not sure,” Jordan answers. “All I know is I’m starving.”

“Same,” I add.

“All four of us should go to dinner,” Cannon suggests, slipping his arm around Susanna’s waist and pulling her in close. “What do you think?”

Susanna stares up at him adoringly. I think she wants him to be all lovey dovey, which isn’t normally Cannon’s thing. At least, it wasn’t when we were in high school. “That sounds fantastic,” she tells him.

Jordan is watching the two of them in confusion. I’ll have to update him on what’s going on later, but for now we have to just roll with it. “Yes, let’s go to dinner. Have any suggestions, Susanna?” I ask.

She grins and nods. “Definitely. I can even drive us! I brought the family car.”

The family car?

We walk out into the mostly empty parking lot, headed straight for an older, silver Mercedes sedan.

“It’s a beastly thing. My father drove it when he was a teen, if you can even imagine,” Susanna explains while we walk. “It’s one of the safest cars on the road. That’s why he insists I drive it.”

“Protecting his baby girl?” Cannon asks, tugging on the ends of her hair.

Susanna darts away from him, her heels sounding loudly as she walks. “That and, well, I wasn’t the best driver when I first started out.”

Jordan grabs hold of my hand and tugs me close, whispering into my ear, “She’s not going to kill us, is she?”

I shake my head, trying to contain my laughter. “I hope not.”

We pile into the vehicle, Jordan and I taking the back seat while Cannon barely fits his huge frame into the passenger seat. Susanna pulls a pair of glasses out of her purse, putting them on before she starts the car.

“My driving glasses,” she explains when Cannon looks at her funny. “They really do help.”

“Holy shit, you’re adorable,” Cannon says just before he leans over and kisses her on the cheek.

They keep talking as she starts to exit the parking lot, and Jordan sends me another one of those confused looks. He ducks his head, our cheeks practically touching as he says, “You need to tell me what’s going on. Unless you’re just as clueless as I am.”

“Lucky for you, I’m not clueless.” Thankfully, Cannon turns the radio on, and Susanna starts bopping her head to the music. “They met last night.”

Jordan’s frowning. “Last night? I didn’t know Cannon could move so fast.”

“Well, he did. I guess they really hit it off. He invited her to watch the game, so here she is.”

“And who, exactly, is she?”

“Lady Susanna Sumner. Youngest daughter of an earl. She’s twenty-three and doesn’t know a thing about American football.” That’s about all I know. “Oh, and I get the sense that she grew up very sheltered on her family’s estate.”

“Estate?”

“I did mention she’s the daughter of an earl? Meaning she’s nobility.”

“Actually, we’re distant relatives of the queen, so yes. We’re technically part of the royal family.” Susanna’s gaze meets mine in the rearview mirror, her eyes looking huge behind her glasses. “Sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“I should apologize. We’re the ones blatantly talking about you in the back of your car,” I say.

“Saying only good things, I hope.” Susanna appears truly worried.

“Just giving Jordan the rundown.” When Susanna frowns, I continue. “He didn’t know who you were, so I was letting him know.”

“She’s my future girlfriend,” Cannon says proudly.

Susanna pushes his shoulder, not that he’s going anywhere. He’s such a giant hulk of a man. “Please. You’re leaving in a few days.”

“I’ll miss you.” He sounds sincere. “You’ll spend the next few days with me, right?”

“Um…” A horn honks and Susanna jerks the steering wheel, causing the car to veer sharply. Another horn honks and she hits the brakes, glaring at Cannon once she has the situation under control. “You’re distracting me.”

“Stop distracting her,” Jordan tells Cannon, his voice firm. “I want to make it to the restaurant in one piece.”

Jordan’s scowling so hard, I almost start laughing, but don’t.

This is going to be an interesting night.

We end up at an Italian restaurant not too far from our hotel, and the food is amazing. The place is packed when we arrived, but the maître d’ is an old family friend of Susanna’s—and the son of the owners of the restaurant. We’re whisked to a table almost immediately, and given extra appetizers and wine.

“I’m so full,” I say, pushing my plate away from me. I ate almost every bit of my carbonara, especially the bacon. I love bacon.

“Aw, you can’t be full.” Susanna mock pouts. She’s sitting directly across from me, her half-eaten plate already pushed aside. “You must save room for dessert. Their cannoli are to die for. Or the tiramisu.”

“You should’ve warned me. I wouldn’t have eaten all this.” I wave my hand at my plate. “Tiramisu is my favorite.”

“We’ll share a dessert,” Jordan suggests, resting his hand over mine and giving it a squeeze.

I smile at him, enjoying how relaxed, how happy he looks tonight. The game is over and they won. Now we’re just two people with friends, on vacation in one of the most exciting cities in the world.

“Let’s order the entire dessert menu,” Cannon says as he looks it over. “They all sound amazing.”

“That’s because they are amazing,” Susanna says, plucking the menu from Cannon’s fingers. Her eyes bug out when she takes in the entire list. “But we can’t eat them all, Cannon. There’s so many!”

“We can try,” Cannon says with a shrug, taking back the menu. Our server happens to choose this moment to stop by our table and check on us. “We want every dessert on the menu.”

The server frowns. “Excuse me?”

“The dessert menu? We want all of them. One of each,” Cannon explains.

Susanna starts giggling, then takes a sip from her wine. I think she’s drunk. I barely touched my glass, not that anyone noticed.

Thank goodness.

“Are you serious?” the server asks incredulously.

“He’s serious,” Jordan says, his voice firm. He’s scowling at the server, and I almost feel sorry for the guy. “One of each, like he said.”

“Right away, sir.” The server nods once and then buzzes away.

A shiver moves down my spine as I gawk at Jordan. I love it when he takes command of a situation, which is often. He’s a natural born leader, and it’s so damn sexy I sort of want to throw myself at him.

Fine, I totally want to throw myself at him.

“You are so demanding,” I tell him, resting my hand on his rock-hard thigh.

Jordan turns to look at me, his scowl immediately softening. “I got tired of hearing him argue with Cannon.”

“He wasn’t arguing. I think he was in shock by the order.”

“Whatever. They were annoying me.” Jordan shrugged.

I squeeze his thigh, my fingers trailing up. “You are so sexy when you act like that.”

His brows lift and he leans in closer. “When I act like that?”

“Like you own the world.” My fingers brush the front of his jeans.

He grabs hold of my wrist, stopping me. “Wine making you daring tonight?”

Nope. I barely drank a drop. I’m a little too freaked out by our having sex with no condom to want to drink. “You make me daring,” I tell him, trying to work my wrist out of his grasp so I can touch him again. He’s smirking, looking far too cocky for his own good. Susanna and Cannon aren’t even paying attention to us. They’re too engrossed in their own intimate conversation. “Stop being so sexy all the time and maybe I won’t try and grab you.”

“Is that what you’re doing? Trying to make a dick grab?” He’s smiling as he lets go of my wrist.

I smack his shoulder lightly. “So crude.”

“You’re the one trying to maul me at the table in a public restaurant.” His smile is wicked. “Not that I mind.”

His words, the look on his face, leave me breathless. “We should go,” I whisper. “Don’t you think?”

“We still have approximately ten desserts coming to our table,” Jordan reminds me, just before he leans in and kisses me. His lips are soft and warm, and taste vaguely of wine. “Then we can leave.”

Those four words are so full of promise, I have to press my thighs against each other to stave off the sudden want.

“Do you two want to go out with us after we finish dessert?” Cannon asks, interrupting our moment.

We both turn to look at him, then at each other. “Sure,” I say as Jordan says, “No,” at the same time.

“What are your plans?” I ask, my cheeks hot. I’m sure they could guess what our plans are.

“Not sure.” Cannon turns to look at Susanna. “What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know. Go to a pub?” The color in her cheeks is high, and I’m wondering if she’s thinking of doing something else.

Like some alone time with Cannon.

Jordan yawns, his movements exaggerated, and he covers his mouth. “I think we’re going to have to pass. I’m exhausted.”

“No problem,” Susanna chirps, her gaze meeting Cannon’s. “I’ll take you to my favorite pub.”

“Sounds fun.” Cannon smiles down at her. I can’t help but think these two are making a possible love connection.

“You okay with going back to the hotel?” Jordan asks me.

“Yes, sure. Of course. I totally understand if you’re tired,” I say sympathetically. “Do you want to leave now?”

“And miss dessert? No way.” Jordan leans in, whispering in my ear, “Though you’re the dessert I want to taste later.”

My cheeks go hot at his words.

I can’t freaking wait.