Page 23 of His Starr Player

“Yes. I watched the interview you did on SportsCenter last week. I figured this would be the perfect preseason date. Get out some of that tension before tip-off tomorrow.”

I smiled. “You’re full of surprises.”

“C’mon, baby.”

He parked his car, and we got out. He held my hand as he led me over to the four wheelers. He helped me climb onto mine. He explained how everything worked before he mounted his seat and brought his four-wheeler to life. He revved the engine, and his vehicle roared and sped down the dirt path. I mimicked his motions, but my movements were not as smooth as his were. My vehicle jerked forward, and I yelped in surprise.

“Are you okay?” Marcus asked as he looked over his shoulder at me.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” I pulled the gas and headed along the winding path.

“Don’t fall.”

“I’ll try my best.” I revved the gas and zoomed through the first mud patch. The splat was epic.

“Yeah, bae! Good shit!” Marcus pulled up beside me. He hit the gas and sped off ahead of me. He hit the next pool of mud and hit the brakes. The spin of his wheel sprayed up a lot of mud.

He ended up spraying me a little. “Hey!”

“My bad.”

“You did that on purpose.”

“I promise I didn’t.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right. You trying to race the rest of the path?”

“You don’t want those problems.”

“You sound scared.” I started clucking like a chicken to tease him.

“When you lose, I don’t want to hear no whining.”

“Never that. I’ve been trained to handle myself in losses.”

He laughed. “True.”

We lined up outside of the mud and counted down together. When we both said one, we zoomed down the path. I avoided the mud as best as I could because it would interrupt my speed.

We were neck and neck until Marcus cut through the mud to get to the finish line before me. I pouted as I stopped at the end of the path.

“Fix your face. I told you don’t whine.”

“I’m not whining!”

“C’mere, crybaby.” He hopped off his four-wheeler and headed to me. I climbed off the four-wheeler and crossed my arms.

“You hate me?” I asked.

“No. I love you.”

My eyes widened at his words.Finally.

“Ava, I?—”

“Shh.” I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him. “I love you too.”

“If we weren’t covered in mud, I’d fuck you on this four-wheeler.”

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