pieces of toast and hash browns. I looked up and said, “You’re kidding, right. Your arteries haven’t frozen in your veins yet.”
His face softened and his lip tilted up. It was adorable. “I’m a big boy, and I need my protein and carbs before a match. I’ll eat some veggies about two hours before the kickoff whistle, but it’s too long until then and I play better if I get my energy going early.”
Maggs placed our cups in front of us and poured the coffee. “Have you decided what you want, Cami?”
“I’ll have the two eggs and toast. If I have any left over, I’ll shovel it to Joel’s side of the table.”
Maggs winked at Joel. “She’s a keeper,” she said before walking off.
Heat traveled to my cheeks, but Joel ignored it and started prepping his coffee with sugar. I added cream to mine and a packet of sugar-free sweetener. It was surprisingly good and helped with the post-alcohol yucky feeling that had lingered since I woke up.
I gazed at Joel as soon as we had both enjoyed our first sips. “So… are there any more match-day habits that help you win?”
He took another sip. “Several. Will you use them in your article if I tell you?” he said with a clear twinkle in his eyes.
“Not if you don’t want me to , but they better be good.”
“ Coming here for breakfast is the second game day ritual. The first is going on a date the night before a game. I took a lovely woman named Evelyn out last night.”
Why did that make me sad? “Is she your girlfriend?”
“No,” he said with a smile, “she’s a friend of a friend. It was a blind date.”
That made me chuckle. “I hate to ask how the blind date went.”
For just a second, the same bad -boy expression that Van had flittered across Joel’s face. “I wasn’t going to tell you.”
“Not fair at all. You saw how my date turned out.”
He looked at me over his cup. “I hope mine ended without her crying , but it doesn’t change that I won’t kiss and tell.”
“Ahhh, you kissed her.”
He frowned. “Cami.”
I put on my innocent face. “What?” I asked shyly, though for the first time around Joel, I didn’t feel shy at all.
He gave me stern eyes. “I won’t ask you what happened with my brother. You won’t ask about Eileen.”
“ You know exactly what happened with your brother and I thought you said her name was Evelyn.” I knew my grin was growing, but I couldn’t help myself.
His cheeks tinged the slightest bit pink.
“You don’t even remember her name ,” I said and bit my lip to keep from laughing aloud.
“We didn’t have sex , just a few kisses. I probably don’t remember the names of several of the women I’ve kissed.” He huffed out, truly affronted.
“You’re fun to tease.”
It was priceless. He growled—a low rumbling bear sound. I burst into laughter and he smiled at me.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked with a quizzical look.
“For turning something really bad into something better.”
“My brother was that bad ?” he deadpanned.
It was my turn to growl. “We’re not going there.” Sadly my lady parts were feeling the lingering effects of not -quite-ready sex. Now that my mind wasn’t as blurry because I had a cup of coffee, I was remembering last night’s first encounter. Van was a jerk, but I was so lost in wild Cami that I was blind.
“Hey.” Joel tapped my hand , which was resting on the table.
No sulking for me. “Are you going to tell me your other match day superstitions?”
“I prefer you call them rituals.”
“Whatever,” I said in my best juvenile voice. I was having fun and the memory of last night was fading quickly. For now.
“I wear orange laces on my shoes.”
“Orange? Your team color is red.”
“In college it was blue, but in youth league, we were red one year. My mom accidently bleached my red laces a nice orange before a match and it’s all I had to wear. I wore them and played the best game in my young career. Now
His face softened and his lip tilted up. It was adorable. “I’m a big boy, and I need my protein and carbs before a match. I’ll eat some veggies about two hours before the kickoff whistle, but it’s too long until then and I play better if I get my energy going early.”
Maggs placed our cups in front of us and poured the coffee. “Have you decided what you want, Cami?”
“I’ll have the two eggs and toast. If I have any left over, I’ll shovel it to Joel’s side of the table.”
Maggs winked at Joel. “She’s a keeper,” she said before walking off.
Heat traveled to my cheeks, but Joel ignored it and started prepping his coffee with sugar. I added cream to mine and a packet of sugar-free sweetener. It was surprisingly good and helped with the post-alcohol yucky feeling that had lingered since I woke up.
I gazed at Joel as soon as we had both enjoyed our first sips. “So… are there any more match-day habits that help you win?”
He took another sip. “Several. Will you use them in your article if I tell you?” he said with a clear twinkle in his eyes.
“Not if you don’t want me to , but they better be good.”
“ Coming here for breakfast is the second game day ritual. The first is going on a date the night before a game. I took a lovely woman named Evelyn out last night.”
Why did that make me sad? “Is she your girlfriend?”
“No,” he said with a smile, “she’s a friend of a friend. It was a blind date.”
That made me chuckle. “I hate to ask how the blind date went.”
For just a second, the same bad -boy expression that Van had flittered across Joel’s face. “I wasn’t going to tell you.”
“Not fair at all. You saw how my date turned out.”
He looked at me over his cup. “I hope mine ended without her crying , but it doesn’t change that I won’t kiss and tell.”
“Ahhh, you kissed her.”
He frowned. “Cami.”
I put on my innocent face. “What?” I asked shyly, though for the first time around Joel, I didn’t feel shy at all.
He gave me stern eyes. “I won’t ask you what happened with my brother. You won’t ask about Eileen.”
“ You know exactly what happened with your brother and I thought you said her name was Evelyn.” I knew my grin was growing, but I couldn’t help myself.
His cheeks tinged the slightest bit pink.
“You don’t even remember her name ,” I said and bit my lip to keep from laughing aloud.
“We didn’t have sex , just a few kisses. I probably don’t remember the names of several of the women I’ve kissed.” He huffed out, truly affronted.
“You’re fun to tease.”
It was priceless. He growled—a low rumbling bear sound. I burst into laughter and he smiled at me.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked with a quizzical look.
“For turning something really bad into something better.”
“My brother was that bad ?” he deadpanned.
It was my turn to growl. “We’re not going there.” Sadly my lady parts were feeling the lingering effects of not -quite-ready sex. Now that my mind wasn’t as blurry because I had a cup of coffee, I was remembering last night’s first encounter. Van was a jerk, but I was so lost in wild Cami that I was blind.
“Hey.” Joel tapped my hand , which was resting on the table.
No sulking for me. “Are you going to tell me your other match day superstitions?”
“I prefer you call them rituals.”
“Whatever,” I said in my best juvenile voice. I was having fun and the memory of last night was fading quickly. For now.
“I wear orange laces on my shoes.”
“Orange? Your team color is red.”
“In college it was blue, but in youth league, we were red one year. My mom accidently bleached my red laces a nice orange before a match and it’s all I had to wear. I wore them and played the best game in my young career. Now
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