Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Lead the way,” he says.
I gather the players near a set of towering floor-to-ceiling windows. The city lights glitter behind them like a second chandelier. Tanner is already posing before the photographer has even set up the lighting. Coen Highsmith, a seriously good player traded from the Pittsburgh Titans last year, goes for the classic serious athlete stance while Barrett squints. Grizz stands in the center, relaxed but steady.
“Perfect,” I say as the press photographer snaps three shots in a row. “Thank you, guys.”
“I always play by the rules,” says Barrett, shooting me a wink.
“You haven’t played by any rules since you started coloring outside the lines in kindergarten,” Coen chirps.
The guys then disperse in different directions—Tanner right back to roulette, Coen back to his wife, Tillie, who is one of my favorite player wives—leaving Grizz only a few steps away.
I’m about to walk over to him, to ask something inconsequential just to have a reason to stay near him, when I see her.
A blond woman who’s young, strikingly pretty, wearing a dress that seems engineered to draw gasps, walks straight toward him with a purposeful stride.
She smiles and speaks to him, which I can’t hear over the music and chatter, but her body language is unmistakable… bright smile, hand brushing her hair, shoulders angled toward him with interest. Grizz listens, nods, responding politely enough that it doesn’t look like flirting, but also not so closed off that it appears rude.
Then she leans in.
Her hand touches his arm and I feel it everywhere.
They continue talking, she laughs at whatever he says, and he rubs the back of his neck the way he does when he’s uncomfortable. I can’t hear a word, but everything about their proximity reads intimate.
Finally, she steps closer, loops an arm casually around his waist, and gives him a warm, lingering hug.
I inhale deeply without meaning to. Every instinct within me says to insert myself into that scenario, and… do what? Stake my claim? Ensure that Grizz isn’t screwing around on me? I mean… we never agreed to monogamy, and I don’t know if I have the right to even feel jealous.
Before I can decide what to do, Grizz pulls away and it looks like he might be trying to distance himself. The woman says something else, making his eyebrow lift, but then she gives him one last smile and walks off, disappearing into the crowd.
Grizz turns and catches me looking. There’s no way to pretend I wasn’t watching. I’m terrible at feigning indifference, and he knows it.
He walks over, the noise of the room dimming as he approaches. “You okay?” he asks when he reaches me.
“Fine,” I say too quickly. “Totally fine.”
His mouth curves. “Right.”
A chill races down my spine.
“You have a question?” he says.
I take a breath, then offer the least self-incriminating version of the truth. “Who was that?”
“Someone who wanted my attention,” he says easily.
I try not to react. “What did she want?”
He shrugs. “She asked if I wanted to go to some party after this. Her friends rented out a loft downtown.”
I nod, pretending this information means nothing. “And… are you going?”
He watches me for a second, eyes steady in a way that makes it impossible to hide behind the polite mask I’m trying to hold up.
“No,” he says simply.
Pressure builds behind my words. “Why not?”
He steps closer to me and his voice drops. “Because I’m going home with you, and you can’t even begin to imagine the dirty things I’m going to do.”
I swallow, pulse loud in my ears. “You—you can’t just say that,” I whisper.
His eyes never leave mine. “I can if it’s true.”
Chapter 16
Grizz
The lobby door to my building clicks shut behind us, and all I can think about is getting Daisy upstairs, out of that dress, and tossing her under me again. She’s been glued to my thoughts all damn night, and the way she looked at me across that ballroom? Yeah, I’m turned on. The cab drive home had me near delirious with her sitting so close and unable to maul her like I wanted. She knew it too, her hand on my thigh, stroking lazy circles with her thumb.
Now she’s in my domain and I’m going to take control. As soon as the elevator door closes, I’m reaching for her waist. When my phone buzzes, I ignore it.
It buzzes again. Then again. Three short vibrations, which is Eliza’s tone. That alone puts a damper on my mood and I exhale hard as I pull the phone from my pocket.
Frowning, I see her text message: Dad had another bad day. Call me when you get a chance tomorrow.
I go still. It’s not an emergency since she told me to call when I got a moment and that’s good enough for me to ignore the problem for now.
Daisy’s hand is on my chest, warm, ready. Everything inside me slams to a halt like hitting the boards at full speed.