Page 18 of Before I Loved You

A loud thrumming noise echoes near my ear as the light from my phone screen awakens. Grabbing my phone off my nightstand, I see my agent’s name, Dan, flash across the screen. My finger hovers over the red button before pressing it, sending him straight to voicemail, and then flipping my phone over.

I’m in no mood to hash over my future tonight, and I certainly don’t give two shits about numbers on a piece of paper.

Especially when it means nothing if I don’t have someone to share it all with.

With a frustrated sigh, I throw the covers back and hop out of bed, taking a few steps toward my computer.

Aka, the one thing I use to distract myself with when nothing else seems to work.

I rotate my blue gaming chair and sit, facing the monitor. Adjusting the headset over my ears, I position the microphone away from my mouth, not wanting to talk to anyone tonight. I slide the cover over the camera situated on top and power on the desktop. The screen fills with bright colors as the futuristic scene appears, my standard avatar waiting for me to begin.

I spend the next half hour making it only one level ahead before getting my ass kicked by a twelve-year-old in New Zealand.

Pathetic.

God, if people knew the real me behind the highly recognizable last name, the one I only show to my closest friends, they’d probably think I was weird.

I let out a laugh, leaning back in my chair as I scrape a hand over my face.

But come to think of it, Sarah didn’t know who I was that night, and she didn’t choose me because of the last name on my jersey.

She chose me because she wanted…me.

The girl clearly had a lot on her mind that night, searching for a distraction in a bar. And maybe that’s what I was doing, too.

I didn’t want to go out with Glen and the guys that night.

I wanted to stay home and read a book or rewatch an episode or two of Game of Thrones.

But there was also a tiny part of me that thought I could find someone out there to distract me.

To make me not feel so alone anymore.

At least just for one night.

And I did.

And goddamn, I’ve lost count of the nights I’ve spent thinking about her. About how good her curves felt in my hands. About her soft moans and whimpers that escaped her as I pounded into her, making her forget, just like she asked me to do.

And as I fell asleep with Sarah snuggled up in my arms, I envisioned myself doing this every night with her. I had never felt a connection like that before with someone, so I was optimistic that there might not be an expiration date on our one-night stand.

Maybe it never had to end.

But waking up in the morning to find an empty spot on the bed beside me ultimately hindered those dreams.

And just as swiftly as the loneliness left me, it returned.

Shutting my game off, I throw my headset to the side and make my way to my bed and under my covers. Closing my eyes, I bring the blanket to my waist, enjoying the slight breeze from the open window near my head, stretching out on my extra-long bed. As I turn on my side to look out the window toward the bright moon shining high above, feeling that extra thick memory foam contour to my body, I wonder what Sarah is doing right now.

* * *

My fingers grip the familiar orange leather, looking to my left and right for an open teammate but finding them all guarded, leaving me with no option but to handle business myself.

Seeing that it’s just a practice, everyone on the court is my teammate. But you wouldn’t know that from the way Greyson is covering me.

He’s been on me like bees to honey.

When I move, he moves.

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