Page 14 of Hard to Take

My traitorous nipples harden at the contact.

I’m tall enough that I don’t spend a lot of time looking up at anyone, even basketball players. Usually I’m in heels, but my toes curl against the carpet.

In the dark, I can’t see him but God, can I feel him.

His fingers press into my ass. His breathing is shallow in a way I’ve only heard it a the on-court interviews at the end of the fourth quarter in a tough game.

Every moment of our night together in Vail comes rushing back.

I want to feel it all again.

“Brooke?”

Hunter’s voice sounds far away but it snaps me out of the moment.

I wrench myself out of Miles’s grip and reach for the door.

“I can’t believe you live alone,” Hunter says from my doorway when I emerge, as if it’s totally normal for a woman to emerge from a shut closet. “It’s so big. And nice.”

Miles makes a sound like a growl at my back. I toss a glare over my shoulder before turning back to Hunter, who at last looks slightly surprised to see the huge man who tumbled out of the closet with me.

“Hunter, you can start filling out the application.” I walk him to the couch, then go back to my room and shut the door. “You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I inform Miles, who’s wearing holes in the carpet.

Especially since his interest in my life and well-being is attached to my brother.

I stare at the floor as Waffles circles my legs. I hoist him in my arms, scratching behind his ears.

“Now that your hands are busy, let me say this,” Miles starts. “You’re too proud. You want to look out for yourself to a fault. But I’m looking out for you, Brooke. Whether you want me to or not.”

“By scaring off prospective roommates?” I accidentally squeeze Waffles hard enough he lets out a little grunt of protest.

“There will be no roommates. No rando is finding his way into your room at night. You’re moving in with me.”

I blink as if it’s my vision and not my hearing I’m second-guessing right now.

Miles Garrett is a player. One of the biggest players around.

The idea of him taking a roommate is ludicrous.

Sure, he’s a fundamentally decent guy behind the broad smile and the cut body and the huge…

Everything.

Point is, there are a thousand reasons that spell disaster for my sanity and my life.

“There’s no way,” I scoff as I set Waffles down, stroking his soft fur because it keeps me from smacking his owner. “I need a certain setup for my work.”

I’m reaching. I remember every inch of his place, and it was pristine, spacious, and more than comfortable.

“I have an extra bedroom. My building is in a prime location. And,” he pauses for emphasis, “I make an elite latte.”

Hunter knocks on the door, looking in with a tentative smile. “Am I interrupting?”

“Yes.”

“No,” I say, and Miles frowns.

“Come to my place tomorrow and look around,” he insists.

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