Page 105 of Play the Game

“Infuriatingly?” I try to crack a joke, but I’m pretty sure he can hear the desolate tone in my voice. “Rude.”

His deep chuckle fills the room again before he turns to his side.

Just when I think he’s going to sleep, after I just spilled one of my deepest, darkest secrets, the room is illuminated in a bluish glow again. Hockey fills the screen, and when I peek at him, he’s looking directly at me.

“We can watch it for a little longer, yeah?” he asks.

I turn away to hide the gloss in my eyes that’s been there since the second he asked about her.

I nod and settle further into the bed, basking in the little bit of comfort he’s giving me.

Forty-Four

EMORY

I’m hot,yet I feel no covers on top of me.

I squint at the dim glow filtering through the window. I shut my eyes again, feeling entirely too comfortable. My fingers stretch before I place them back down on something silky smooth. My neck cracks as I lean toward the right, and when I inhale, I’m wide awake.

God damn, she smells good.

My hand is on her thigh, and that thigh is resting on top of my leg.

Ever so slowly, I peer down at her head on my shoulder. Her soft breaths caress my bare skin, and I’ve never felt so content in my entire life.

There is something about her touch that calms my world, and the urge to pull her in closer is getting worse as each day passes by.

I wish I could snap a picture so she could see how content she looks wrapped around me in our bed.

My bed.

Not my,our.

Tension pulls on all my strings, and I low-key panic at the annoying thoughts that keep hitting me at all the wrong times.What the fuck is going on?

Scottie shifts in her sleep, hiking her leg up higher on top of mine. I practically swallow my tongue when the inside of her thigh brushes against my dick.

I promised her I wouldn’t touch her, but this is obviously her doing. I’m in the exact spot I was in when I fell asleep hours ago, after I admittedly watched her like a fucking creep with the hockey game well over and the glow of the TV swiping across her features.

My head wouldn’t stop spinning.

I kept chasing all the negative things I thought about her weeks ago, wishing I could make them ring true, but they just don't.

She may be mouthy and defiant with a streak of independence flowing through her thatoften comes off as patronizing, but I can’t deny that she’s a good person down to her soul. She’s sweet when she becomes vulnerable. She’s kind to the homeless community, donates clothes and food, checks in on her drug addict mother who she shouldhate, rescues asshole cats, watches Rhodes’s daughter without any hesitation, and Jack told me about how Scottie rocked his daughter to sleep during one of the games because his wife needed a break.

Scottie is much too kind to be stuck in an arranged marriage with me, and it's irritating that I still don’t know why she needs the money.

I won’t pressure her to tell me, though.

I pressed too much last night. I regretted it the second I saw her pretty eyes fill with unshed tears.

Scottie adjusts in her sleep again, and my hand tightens. My dick is sensitive to the touch, so in an attempt to keep my wordfor the first time since meeting her, I try to slide my palm away. But then…she makes a noise.

My jaw slacks.

She doesn’t want to cross any more lines.

I have to respect that.

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