Page 53 of Lucky Shot
“Unlikely,” Elixon says.
“Oh?” I ask.
“He’s not your type,” he says.
I raise a brow. “How do you know what my type is?”
“Because you told me. Someone who isn’t looking at you because of your pretty face.” He brushes his fingers along my cheek and winks.
I flush and let out a breath. Stepping in close, I bury my face in his neck again and force myself to unclench my hands from his jacket. I’m sure it’s impossibly wrinkled now.
“You’re okay,” he says quietly, his hand on my back once more rubbing up and down in soothing motions. “I’ll keep all the bad guys away.”
I snort and close my eyes. For the rest of the night, I stick close to Elixon and count down the minutes until I can get back to my room and turn my game back on. Where I can lose myself in Demi and wish to fuck knows what that he was real and here and holding me. Though if I had to choose a second option, Elixon’s arms definitely aren’t a bad place to be. Even if I’m here because he took pity on me.
SEVENTEEN
ELIXON
Noah remainedtense for most of the night. Especially when I took my hands off him for any length of time. His eyes would go wide, and he’d basically lose two inches of height because he tried to fold in on himself.
The only time I left him was to go to the bathroom, but I left him with Max. Picking up Max’s arm and tucking Noah under it, telling him to fend off all the vultures until I got back. I logged into the game while I was making my way to the bathroom and Pretty’s note popped up. I grinned like a fucking sap as I sent back a quick, ‘miss you too’ and a piece of moss. No reason. Just for fun.
Then I spent the rest of the night with Noah. While he didn’t ever fully relax, we talked for quite some time and danced for the last hour. As with the last time we wound up together in the evening, I enjoyed it. Which, again, surprised me. Not that I ever doubted he was a good guy, but there’s depth there. When he can relax, he’s a sweet, funny guy. I’m reminded of this again as we walk out of the gala and wait for our rideshare.
“Where are you staying?” I ask.
“Marriot Marquis,” he says. “You?”
“Casablanca. I’ll walk you back.”
Noah smirks at me. “You don’t have to continue to be my pretend date, Lix. But I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you tonight.”
“Hush,” I tell him, nudging him with my elbow. “It did us both a favor. These things bore me more than I can ever express. You’re good company.”
His smile is softer when he bows his head.
Our car arrives and we climb in. The ride is quiet and drops us off at my hotel. His is two blocks away, so I do as I said I would and lead him toward his temporary home.
When we get close, I ask, “You’re okay?”
Noah looks up at me with his beautiful brown eyes. As I stare at him, I swear I can glimpse a hint of pearls just under his shirt collar. “Yes. I’m good now. Especially since I’m away from everyone and in the… fresh-ish air.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, nothing fresh about the city these days.”
He shakes his head. “Thanks again,” he says. “I might have snapped and just… caused a Max-worthy scene. He’d have been proud.”
“He’d have been horrified because that’s incredibly unlike you. Maybe you should talk to your team management about not sending you to this shit. Your mental health is more important than publicity.”
Noah nods, sighing. “Maybe I will.”
He won’t. I can already tell.
“What else do you have going on this summer?” I ask. “I anticipate we’ll be at like three more things together before pre-season.”
His grin doesn’t disappoint. He rattles off a few things and I’m right that we’ll cross paths again although, only once. There’s a charity game that we were both signed up for at the beginning of July.
“How about we skip the stress of finding a pretend date and we’ll just go together?” I suggest.
