Page 61 of Hard to Take

Brooke: A date? I’m at your game - which looking at the clock you should probably get off your phone to play. That must count.

Miles: No way. You, me and 20,000 people is about 20,000 people more than I have in mind.

I meet Nova and the rest of the Kodiaks Fam in the box at the arena.

Mari’s here with Harlan, plus Chloe and some other girlfriends and family. There are extra nods to the holiday before the start of the game, including T-shirts made to look like ugly sweaters.

My parents came, plus Sierra and her dad who, one game day a year, stays closed until after the game.

“So much for a relaxing holiday morning,” Chloe says, waving her iPad.

“Come on, you love it,” Mari interjects.

“Mimosa?” a server asks.

“What the hell.” Chloe tucks her tablet under an arm and takes one, toasting with Mari.

The servers pour more mimosas and I take one as I follow Nova to seats at the front of the box.

“Did you guys have a nice time waking up for your first Christmas in your new house?”

“It was better than I imagined.” She smiles with a sigh. “It would have been fun to have my fave roommate there though. Did you stay at your parents’?”

“More than just me.” I fill Nova in on how Miles wound up staying over last night, skipping the part where he came to my room and we had sex.

Unexpected, hot sex with a surprisingly sweet side.

Forget eggnog. It turns out hooking up in secret with the most popular player in the league in the bed you grew up in is a lip-bitingly decadent holiday treat.

The things he said to me, the way he touched me, felt as if I was the center of his damned universe.

I shouldn’t want that from someone. I know from experience that talk is cheap but actually having another person’s back is hard.

They announce the starters one at a time, starting with Rookie. Miles is third, jogging out with a sexy smirk and shoulder-bumping Rookie.

It’s a turn-on simply watching this man exist.

My brother follows his teammate, offering a wave to the crowd, then an extra one to the box.

“Did you see how Miles jumped on that text this morning?”

I pull out my new phone and open the group chat, studying it. “It’s innocent enough. We’re roommates.”

When I look up, Miles is watching us in the box, his grin heart-stoppingly sexy.

“Right. Roommates.” Sierra appears at my other shoulder.

“Nice phone by the way,” Nova chimes back in. “When did you find time to have that delivered?”

I angle my chin. “My roommate got it for me. In three colors,” I add under my breath.

She hears me, clapping her hands. “Oh, he’s got it bad.”

The texts he sent me after he went to get ready come back to my mind.

A date with Miles.

After last night, maybe I shouldn’t be shocked.

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