Page 46 of Rookie Season
“You keep talking about my bed,” I say under my breath, my hands resting lightly on her shoulders, “I’m gonna have to give you a tour.”
Her skin is soft. I can’t resist stroking the back of her shoulders with my thumbs.
She arches a little, a small adjustment only I notice.
“That a promise?” she murmurs.
Her lips part as I release her, but it’s my turn to be left speechless.
After a year of second guessing and wanting, my literal dream girl is picking up what I’m putting down.
Fuck. It’s on.
Will it make me a bad host if I grab her and carry her out of the hot tub and up to my room this second?
Might be worth it.
“You guys had the best meeting story,” Chloe’s saying to Nova as I try to focus.
“Did you ever tell me?” Sierra asks.
“It was on a plane.” Nova smiles, exchanging a look with Clay. “I was coming for my sister’s wedding. She booked me in first class. I was already nervous and the flight was running late, and this massive guy with tattoos and headphones and ‘fuck off’ energy comes and sits next to me. They were holding the plane for him, and I had no idea.” Everyone’s cracking up, and even Sierra’s shoulders are rocking. “He was a total dick.”
“I wasn’t a dick.” Clay brushes Nova’s hair off her shoulder, rubbing her neck.
“It fucked him up every bit as much,” Jay says. “The next day, I could tell something was wrong.”
“How about you guys?” Sierra asks Brooke.
“We don’t need to hear this,” Jay protests. “That’s my little sister. She was in college.”
Brooke and Miles exchange a look.
“I’m going to throw this at your head, man,” Jay promises on a groan, reaching for Chloe’s tablet.
“It’s not yours.” She resists, wrenching it back.
“What about you two?” I hear myself ask.
Jay and Chloe freeze, both caught out like deer in headlights.
“You used to date. Everyone knows it,” I say.
“It was a full moon,” Chloe says at last. “I needed a save. He gave me one. Even blew off a game to do it.”
“Jay blew off a game?” Miles chortles.
“She made me do a lot of things that weren’t me,” he says with a half smile.
Chloe’s gaze lingers on Jay.
“But you guys split. How is it not awkward?” I ask.
“We work together. We’ve both moved on.”
“So, what went wrong?” Sierra asks, and it’s not unkind.
“We need the secret to lasting relationships,” Nova adds.
