Page 90 of Beauty
“War will do it,” I holler without slowing.
My best friend steps in front of me, pulling me up short, and punches my shoulder. “Dick. You’ll owe me.”
I pull in a deep breath and hold it, looking him in the eye. Then, exhaling, I nod. “I owe you a lot. Thanks, brother.”
With a shake of his head, he squeezes my shoulder. “It’s what we do. When you’re ready to talk about what that was all about…” He dips his chin, leaving it at that. We both know that the time is not now.
I sidestep him and shuck my gear. Then I head toward the shower.
Half an hour later, I’m dressed in my game-day suit and exiting the locker room. I’m too keyed up to play nice, so I bypass the family suite altogether and don’t bother saying goodbye to any of the guys.
My pulse is still erratic when I pound on Sienna’s door. There’s no way I’ll get an ounce of sleep until I see her. Even then, rest will not come easy.
Almost instantly, her door flies open and she appears, her expression taut and exhausted. “Noah, I can’t do this tonight.”
I push past her, my head a jumbled mess. “I can’tnotdo it tonight. Because what happened tonight can’t happen again.”
“Oh, by all means, come in,” she sneers, holding an arm out in a sardonic gesture. “We’ll just run on your schedule again.”
I spin to face her, my breaths choppy. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
She hasn’t changed. She’s still wearing those damn leather pants and that jersey under her black jacket. She looks incredible, even standing with her arms crossed, glowering at me.
“Itmeans,” she drags out the word, “that apparently you decide when we talk. You decide when you’re ready to deal with this. You decided to wait months andmonthsto approach me. You waited until you were ready for us. Well, guess what? I’m not.”
I bark out a bitter laugh. This girl. If she only knew how the dollar bill I carry in my wallet is a living, breathing entity, taunting me, telling me that this is exactly when we were supposed to meet again. Our reconnection has nothing to do with whetherI’mready. Fate has decided. Fate brought us together at Brooks’s wedding. And since I didn’t listen, fate brought the dollar bill to me. Fate put her in this role, where she’s my boss. It’s fate’s fault that she’s become friends with my sister. And whenshetried to ignore it, fate brought her to this apartment.
None of this is happening on my timeline. I’m at the mercy of the universe, and it’s only compounded by my instinct to claim her and the physical impossibility of walking away. “Whose name is on the back of your jersey?”
“Oh my god.” She drops her hands to her sides and fists them. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I’m not. Not a single thing about this is funny.
I stalk toward her. When I’m a foot away, she backs up, but I don’t stop until I’ve got her pressed up against the door.
“Take off the jacket, Sienna.”
“You are absolutely insane.” She glares at me, chin held high. Fucking beautiful.
“I am.” My control is hanging by a thread. I’ve never been like this over a woman, but I am 100 percent certifiable where she’s concerned.
“It means nothing.” She pushes me away, then darts a few steps to the side. “I didn’t have a jersey,” she says as she pulls the black jacket off one shoulder and the Bolts logo on the jerseycomes into view. “Hannah gave me shit about it and forced me to wear hers. So don’t go acting like it means anything.”
Attention averted, she shucks the garment, letting it fall to the floor, and turns. I bring my fist to my mouth and bite down.Fuck. There, across her shoulder blades, in block letters, isHarrison. The sight of the number below it, the 69, my number, is almost enough to bring me to my knees.
Darting forward, I grasp her wrists and bury my face in her neck, inhaling the scent of her. I run my nose along the side of her throat and down toward her shoulder, and when goose bumps erupt beneath my palms, a heady satisfaction fills me. “Another happy coincidence, Sienna? My jersey was your only option? Is that the line we’re going with now?”
“Fuck you,” she pants. Like her body has taken control, her hips roll, causing her ass to brush against my already stiff cock.
Stars dance in my vision. Holy fuck. I need to be inside this woman again.
While I keep her wrists locked in one hand, I loop one arm around her waist. Then I flatten my palm over her stomach so she’s flush against me. Against her ear, I murmur, “No one has ever had me like this. I don’t get distracted on the ice. I don’t get into fights. But one look at you, one mention of your name, and I’m ready to rip a man to shreds.”
She sucks in a breath. “That’s why you got into a fight?”
It’s my turn to laugh bitterly. “Why else? You’re my obsession. No one else has the power to make me lose my mind.”
“That—” she pants. “That sounds like a problem.”
