Page 112 of Going All In

Her heart froze again. It was just a turn of phrase.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Never better,” she said nonchalantly. “Now, what should we do to celebrate your win?”

“Oh. I have so many ideas for that.” He grinned, and all freak-outs over the word love being thrown around evaporated as he tugged her into his arms and kissed the hell out of her.

The elevator arrived at his floor. They stumbled down the hallway and rushed into his condo. The clothes were flying and she was thrown over his shoulder fireman-style, laughing and trying to catch her breath as he rushed into his bedroom.

“We’re still onfor Harty’s party tonight, right?” Jake asked from the doorway of his guest bedroom.

Darcy spun in her chair to look at him, glasses perched on her nose, her hair in a messy bun, and he gripped the edge of the doorframe, to stay out of the room. She’d told him he had to leave her alone for at least two hours before he could suggest another stress reliever. He had another twenty minutes to go but he was bored and horny and had already worked out and taken a shower—alone.

“Two hours aren’t up yet,” she said, her toe on the floor slowly spinning the chair back and forth.

“I’m just asking a question about tonight. I’m not trying to encourage you to take an early study break,” he said as seriously as possible.

She laughed. “You’re full of it.”

“And you could be too. Now or in twenty minutes.”

“You had to go there, didn’t you?”

“I can’t help it if you walk right into these things. Eighteen minutes.”

“You are not helping. I have to finish this revision tonight, send it off in the morning, and then set up my meetings in two weeks. This is important.”

He knew it was, and he should give her the time she needed, but he also wanted to drag her into his bedroom and pull her under him and make up for the days he was away in Vancouver.

“I’ll be back in sixteen minutes,” he said. “So, the party?”

“If you leave me alone so I can finish, then yes, I’ll go to the party. I mean, I probably shouldn’t go. I should stay here and make sure everything is perfect before I hit send,” she rambled, and he couldn’t stop himself from walking into the room, putting his hands on the back of her chair, and lean toward her.

“Hey. Sixteen minutes,” she said.

“Stop freaking out. You’ve put in the time, and you know it covers everything you want to say, and they are going to be so fucking impressed with how amazing you are. Never doubt that,” he said.

She sucked in a breath. “Sixteen minutes.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Fifteen,” he said, then spun around and walked out of the room, resisting the urge to ignore her frustrating sexual timeout.

Yes. That’s what he was calling it now, after he’d gotten close enough to her for her spicy scent to wrap around him and make him hard.

It was going to be a long fifteen minutes.

***

Five hours later,they walked into Harty’s house. He’d convinced her to take two study breaks, and she was almost done with her paper. But he hadn’t guilted her into coming tonight. At least not completely.

“Pookie’s here,” Baz called out before the front door could shut behind them.

“Oh my god, are they really calling you that?” Darcy asked, and laughed.

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” he muttered good-naturedly. The nickname might drive him crazy coming from his teammates, but it meant he was part of the team. He’d been on shaky ground at the start of the season, but no matter how it ended, this was his team and he was glad they’d accepted him.

“Ally’s,” she replied, her smile bright, along with her cheeks. “And yours. You did buy me that jersey and got it personalized.”

“Yeah, to wear at home. As a joke,” he grumbled, but he wasn’t mad, and she knew it.

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