Page 95 of The Strike Zone

Parker: Hey Davison, are you done?

Scout: Yes

Parker: Awesome. Meet me downstairs by the elevators in five minutes.

Scout: What for?

Parker: Surprise. I want to show you something.

Scout: On my way

Giving myself a couple more seconds to stare at my reflection, I finished washing my hands, wiped the glob of mascara from under my eye, and headed back out.

The way to the elevators took me past the comms team, the group who managed the chatter around the players.

They were the first port of call for any news coming out of the club, any inquiries from the press, along with the all-important reputation management. It was a big team, and I knew enough of them to say hello to, but there were still a couple that I never seemed to recognize, including the two currently staring at me.

Or they had been staring at me. Now they were looking at anythingbutme, and totally silent, having shut down their conversation the second I came around the corner.

If they’d stayed chatting, I wouldn’t have given them another thought.

But they didn’t.

I forced myself to look straight ahead and not roll my eyes like I wanted to.

Since the girls in the bathroom last week, Alice had tried to drill into me about gossip being a sign of positivity. It was a theory I was yet to subscribe to, but I guess until I signed Parker’s form, it was something I had to get used to. Or maybe this is how it would be from now on.

It was like I was walking under a microscope with the magnifier increasing by the day.

By the time I reached the ground floor, I was still ruminating on being the subject of so much gossip and I forgot why I’d come down, until I heard a loudpssst. Spinning a full 360 degrees, I couldn’t see where the noise came from until it happened again.

“Pssst.” Parker’s head popped from around the corner, followed by his finger crooking at me.

I walked over to where he was. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh.” His head snapped left then right, and he grabbed my hand. “Come with me.”

Pulling me down the corridor away from the elevators, barely stopping in front of a door I’d never noticed, I was yanked inside and shrouded in darkness before I knew what was happening. It smelled like cleaning supplies.

“Parker…”

“Hang on. There’s a light,” he said, followed by the sound of him slapping the wall before he found what he was looking for. Yep, I was standing in a cleaning closet. “Ah, there we go.”

He looked so pleased with himself that all at once the annoyance from the two upstairs, along with the final shards of tension I’d been carrying throughout my interview, melted away when he took my face in his hands and his lips found mine. His tongue slipped along mine, leaving a hint of peppermint, like he’d just chomped down on a candy cane.

I didn’t bother to hold in the moan as I relaxed into him.

This kiss was exactly the antidote I hadn’t known I’d needed.

That was another thing about Parker. He was an incredible kisser.Incredible.I don’t know why I was surprised the guy was so good, but he was. I could kiss him forever and never get bored.

“That’s much better,” he mumbled against my lips as he eased away, his green eyes sparkling with amusement and holding my gaze. “You know, I think you’re even prettier since I last saw you.”

I arched a brow at him. “You saw me two hours ago.”

“I know, and you’ve gotten prettier…anyway, how was it?”

Blinking out of my lust-fueled haze, my forehead furrowed a little. “How was what?”

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