Page 51 of The Baller

ELEVEN

RADLEY

“Oh my God, it’s true!”

I bolted upright. My eyes scrunched tight before the burst of light from opening them so quickly burned my retinas. I attempted to cover my ears from the vicious and unnecessary way the door burst open and banged against the wall, not to mention the volume of the yelling, but it was too late.

Why was there yelling? It had to be the middle of the night, which meant I had to force myself back to sleep so I could continue with the most perfect dream I’d ever had; one that involved running and books and hot chocolate… and Lux.

Lux and his muscles.

Ugh, his muscles, and his ass. During every run we’d been on since the first one when he’d moved ahead of me, I’d stared at his ass. It was impossible not to. Firm, round… the by-product of a million squats.

I tried to open my eyes again, slower this time. One after the other lifted to find Millie standing over me, hands on her hips.

Maybe it wasn’t the middle of the night.

Shuffling up the mattress and yanking away all the hair which had caught under my shoulder, I yawned wide and sat up.

“What?”

“It’s true.”

“What’s true?”

She turned and threw her bag onto her bed, then opened the blinds. This time I was prepared, and ducked under the comforter.

“You’re still in bed. I saw Meg outside and she said you hadn’t emerged yet, but I said that couldn’t be true because you never slept in.”

I rubbed my eyes while I tried to figure out what was going on. “What time is it?”

“Eight thirty. Have some of this.” She placed a cup of coffee on my nightstand, along with a package wrapped in the familiar envelopes I knew so well; the ones which traveled through a secure network of federal agencies instead of U.S.P.S. “And something came from your mom. Meg handed it to me.”

I ignored the package because one arrived every week, and I knew contained a note, plus a dozen packets of the White House M&Ms with the seal of the President on them, and picked up my phone. The time read eight thirty-two a.m. though my eyes immediately shot to the one message flashing up on my screen.

Lux: Good morning, Goldilocks! What’s on the agenda for today? Big bowl of oatmeal and a nap? ??

I grinned wide; I’d become one of those people who responded as quickly as possible.

Radley: I’m a pancakes girl, actually.

Lux: Good to know. *wink*

Sucking in my cheek, I tried to ignore the hot glow spreading over my body.

It happened every time I thought about Lux, or received a new message, or saw him… which was becoming more frequent. While I hadn’t seen him every day, I did talk to him. And I soon realized how much I looked forward to seeing my phone light up with a message, or the buzz of an incoming FaceTime. Even thinking about it made my skin tingle.

I looked up to find Millie peeling off her sweaty gym clothes. “Did you work out already?”

“I said goodbye to you when I left, and you grunted.” She kicked a leg out, and her panties flew through the air to the laundry basket. Her hands shot up as they fell in. “Score!”

“I do not remember that.”

I plumped my pillows and leaned back into them as the sound of the shower echoed through from the bathroom Millie and I shared. We’d known each other so long, she never bothered closing the door. Sometimes it was like we were an old married couple. I wasn’t sure if it would be the same if we’d had to share with other undergrads, but luckily the dorms either side of ours were taken by my detail, and they had their own bathrooms.

So we had this one to ourselves.

I stifled another yawn, though I think it was more out of habit than feeling tired. I didn’t feel tired. I felt… energized. Rested. I felt like I could jump out of bed and tackle the day head-on, which I’d do once Millie was out of the shower and I’d finished my coffee. No point hanging around waiting for a shower to be free when you could stay all cozy in bed…

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