Until Forever (ROYAL RIDERS SERIES BOOK #1)

6| Drink

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Drink

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Chapter 6: Drink (Vince's POV)

I grabbed my cologne, spraying it onto my neck before putting it back down. I glanced at myself once in the mirror, then put my shoes on. We're all going to drink at the bar that's downstairs, within the hotel. All, as in the team and our assistants. 

Coach doesn't drink. He faced a problem with his addiction in his thirties and never touched a bottle since he turned sober. 

As I tied my laces, I thought about Demi. She's always like this after we win a game. Cheery, smiling wider, chattier. And so am I. But today was different. I let myself laugh in front of her, and I'm pretty sure that was the first time. She fangirled. Which I know she does sometimes but she usually hides it pretty well. 

I notice because I can but today it was hard not to notice. 

I don't know if it's because we won the first preseason game and I'm still bathing in its afterglow like my teammates, or if something really has changed about Demi, or if my mother's words have engraved themself into my mind, but she's running circles on my mind and it's like I'm paying extra attention to her. My eyes are drawn to her, I'm noticing the little things. And it's... weird. 

I've never seen Demi in a light like that, I refused to. It's unprofessional to think about your assistant like... that. I remember how things were when she first came to work for me. 

Before anything, the first thought that I had the moment I laid my eyes on her was: 

She's pretty. 

Followed by: 

Wow, she's tiny. She's kind of cute. Can she even last working for me? She's scared of me. She seems determined. 

And the last one: 

She'll stick around, she's the one. 

"Goddamn you, Mom," I hissed under my breath. 

My mother wasn't the first person to ask or insinuate that something was going on between Demi and me, I've heard that thousands of times. It was released as an article in numerous magazines when she first started working for me. But it wasn't true. I knew it wasn't true. But when you hear your mother saying it, you start to doubt it a little more. And then Demi responded like that. 

As if there was no chance in hell that something could ever happen between us. If she wasn't my assistant, why couldn't it? Does she not think I'm handsome anymore? Does she not fangirl over me any more? Well, I proved that wrong tonight, she does. I couldn't pinpoint what it might be. Maybe she's just being professional and not even thinking thoughts like I am, like I have been since that lunch. But if she wasn't my assistant, why couldn't something happen between us? Was she not attracted to me? Not into me even a little bit? 

I frowned to myself as I pocketed my wallet, phone, and room key. Even if she is my assistant, why can't something happen between us? It shouldn't be a problem as long as nobody finds out. When you're doing something you're not supposed to, it's only a problem if you get caught.