Page 15 of The Players Next Door

Chapter 6

Deacon

The bar's buzzing, all noise and neon, but it’s like I’m in a bubble. My gaze sticks to Holly as she moves through the crowd. She’s all business tonight—sharp suit hugging her curves, blond hair shining under the dim lights. She’s sexy as fuck. But who am I kidding? She could wear a burlap sack and still knock the air right out of me.

"Another round, Deacon?" a voice cuts through my focus. It’s Jaxon, waving over a waitress with a tray of shots. I shake my head, eyes not leaving Holly as she laughs at something one of the staff members says to her.

I push away from the bar, my drink untouched. They say time heals or whatever, but every second since that night with Holly has been an itch I can’t scratch. I've been playing the good guy, keeping my distance. But tonight's different. Tonight, the game changes.

I want her—no secret there. And I know sharing isn’t ideal—we’ve shared for a night or two, but never like this, never withfeelings. But if it’s the only way to have her, then damn it, I’ll deal. Maybe we all will.

Cameron finds his way to her side, no surprise there. His eyes are glued to the girl and I know he has it bad—maybe even worse than I do. It’s not long before we’re drifting over there too, caught in her gravitational pull as she draws us in over and over again.

I’m a religious man, so I know what it’s like to worship at the altar of someone or something far greater than myself. She’s a goddess in her own right. And I want to spend every damn day worshiping at this girl’s feet.

Holly turns, her eyes meeting mine as I approach. There's a flicker of recognition there, a spark that ignites something deep within me. She offers a warm smile, but it's fleeting, her attention pulled back to Cameron and Jaxon as he joins us.

Conversation flows. So do the little touches as we all find excuses to be closer to her, letting her pull us in with every smile.

"Let's make tonight another one for the books," Jaxon raises his glass.

"To the Grizzlies," I join, lifting my own.

Cameron leans in and says something to Holly that I don’t catch, but whatever it was, it has heat bubbling in her eyes.

She glances around at all of us, her smile turning mischievous. "To the Grizzlies," she echoes, raising her glass in a silent toast.

As we clink our glasses together, the atmosphere shifts, charged with unspoken tension. Holly's gaze lingers on each of us in turn, as if she’s picturing that night too. I can’t seem to stop. Images of her play in my mind over and over. This girl haunts my dreams and every waking moment.

We don’t do repeats. We don’t do serious. That isn’t what we’re about. The team takes up too much of our time for anything real and we’ve never found anyone who has held our attention long enough to want more than a few nights together—if that.

But Holly?

She’s rewriting all the rules. This is a new game, and I have no idea where to begin, but I know I want to find my way to the finish line with her by my side.

Her gaze shifts back to me, a silent question hanging in the air. I can feel the weight of it, heavy and loaded with unspoken words. Cameron's subtle flirtation doesn't go unnoticed, but it's his nature to be indirect, unlike Jaxon's brazen advances.

I meet Holly's gaze head-on, my heart pounding in my chest as I try to convey everything I feel without words. The charged atmosphere crackles around us, enveloping me in a bubble of anticipation and desire.

It's as if we're standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a vast unknown abyss below. Jaxon's playful banter fades into background noise as my attention narrows to focus on her and her alone.

Then someone calls her name, and the spell is broken. She excuses herself as she makes her way to someone else who is desperate for her attention. I try to hold back; I really do. But I don’t want to wait any longer. I want this girl. And I need to know where Jaxon and Cameron are on this.

I catch Jaxon's eye, motioning with a tilt of my head toward the back of the bar. It’s a silent call to arms—or maybe it's a call to our hearts. Cameron sees it too and he's on our six without a word. We weave through the thumping music and clinking glasses, finding an empty stretch of wall away from the noise.

"Guys," I start, with no preamble, "I'm all in with Holly. I'm going after her, with or without you."

Cameron lets out a breath, his shoulders dropping like he's been holding them taut for hours. "Thank fuck. I'm in too, Deacon. I—I can't get her outta my head. She’s everything I never knew I wanted and now that I’ve had a taste…” he stops talking and shakes his head.

“I know exactly what you mean, big guy.” I slap his shoulder in solidarity. Then, the two of us turn our eyes on Jaxon and wait.

Jaxon's quiet, his brow pinched as if every word we are speaking weighs a ton. Finally, he looks up from the scuffed floor, eyes meeting mine dead-on. "Dammit, I'm in too." His voice is rough, like it hurts him to speak the truth.

"Then it's settled." I clasp hands with each of them, sealing this pact that's crazier than any play we've ever drawn up on ice. "We go after her. Together."

“We’re really doing this? Asking her to be ours?” Jaxon looks to both of us for confirmation. “And ours alone,” he adds with a growl.

"Let's do it," Cameron says, a hint of his usual shyness breaking through his relief.

---