Page 15 of Make the Play

I’ve seen him in action, I know who he is. The grinning, reckless playboy who parties too hard, fights too often, and laughs off every bad headline with a careless shrug.

And if I let myself want him, he could be careless with me, too.

Except… he never has been.

For all his chaos, for all the ways he plays too fast and too loose with everything else in his life, I’ve never once felt like a game to him. He might drive me insane, might flirt and tease and push every single one of my buttons, but he’s always been steady with me. And maybe that’s what terrifies me more than anything else.

Because what if this isn’t just another impulse for him? What if he sees us as more?

I can’t do it. And even if I could, it wouldn’t just be my heart on the line, it’d be my career. I’m contracted to work for the Storm through Pulse Marketing Agency, so fraternizing with players is the fastest way to torpedo my credibility. It’d be messy, it’d be stupid. And it’d be over before I could blink.

I sip my drink and risk a glance at Chase, who looks unfairly good under the dim glow of the bar lights. Tie loosened, top button open, his shirt sleeves rolled up to expose his tattooed forearms. He’s sitting too comfortably, watching me with a cocky smirk that makes me think he knows exactly what he’s doing to me.

It’s just an attraction, that’s all. Beer goggles. I haven’t had sex in a while, and Chase is conveniently sitting right here, having recently kissed me senseless. It could be anyone, and I’d feel the same way, be considering the same thought.

Before I can overthink it, I knock back the rest of my drink and push away from the bar. “I’m going to bed.”

Chase raises a brow. “Tired of me already?”

“Believe it or not, my nights don’t revolve around your existence, Walton.”

He grins. “Maybe they should.”

Maybe it’s all the gin. Maybe it’s Logan and his dumb fucking words. Maybe it’s the stupid romantic lighting in this goddamn wedding venue. Or maybe it’s the way Chase is looking at me like he already knows I’m full of shit. Whatever it is, I throw caution to the wind.

“If theydid, you wouldn’t be able to keep up anyway.”

I should start walking, but I catch a slight flicker in his expression. The almost imperceptible shift from banter to something heavier as he very fucking brazenly allows his eyes to wander up my body.

“Try me.”

His voice is smooth and warm like whiskey, making something uncoil deep in my stomach. I swallow, squaring my shoulders to try and look unaffected.

“Goodnight, Walton.”

I turn on my heel, storming out toward the hotel elevator and repeatedly tapping the button to get the damn doors to open faster. Inside, I smash my floor number and inhale deeply, tilting my head toward the mirrored ceiling. My hands curl into fists at my sides, hoping it might help to push away the feeling of him still tingling on my lips.

The doors start to slide closed, and I let out a slow, measured breath as the view of the foyer narrows. Almost there. Almost—

Thunk.

A hand slaps against the metal, and the door stutters open again.

My breath catches as Chase steps inside with a slow, casual ease. He moves as if he’s giving me a chance to stop him, to say something,anythingto halt what happens next.

But all I can do is stare as his eyes trail over me again, taking me in and memorizing every curve. Behind him, the doors slide closed and he steps closer, following some instinct deeper than thought.

I shift on my heels, chin lifting stubbornly, forcing my expression into something impassive and unimpressed, ignoring the way my heart is trying to beat its way out of my throat.

His hands brace the elevator wall, trapping me in a way that doesn’t feel like a cage, but a challenge. A dare I already know I’m going to lose.

He leans in, voice barely a breath.

“Wanna try me?”

The smart response would be to walk away. To tell him no and stop this insanity before it starts.

But right now, after our kiss in that damn photo booth, and with just the right amount of gin in my system, I’ve never wanted to be less smart in my entire life.

---