Page 34 of Resisting Temptation

“Em, this is bigger than just me and Paisley. I can’t talk about it even if I wanted to.” I sigh, frustrated.

Beckett and Hamilton Prescott walk through the door and head over to Paisley. I square my shoulders, prepared for a confrontation. It’s been a long time since I last saw Hamilton Prescott. When I first received the scholarship, I felt a sense of guilt, as if he deserved it more than me. The Bay Raiders team had him as their star player. Everyone expected him to earn a scholarship and achieve great success. But he was in the passenger seat the night of the car accident. He bore the full force of it. That game was his last. And I stepped into the limelight as the new superstar of our team. Would my life have been very different if it weren’t for that awful accident? Probably. Would Hamilton’s have? Absolutely. He blames me, thinks I stole his dream. But I wasn’t driving the car that ran into us. Even if it was my fault that we were driving down that particular road.

Emerson mutters something under her breath I don’t catch.

“What did you say?” I ask, looking over.

She shakes her head. “I said I don’t like this, and you need to fix it. She shouldn’t be over there talking to the Prescotts.” Bitterness drips off her every word, but it’sthe way her cheeks flush with heat that has me the most curious.

I lean into her closer so no one else can hear our conversation. “You know my secrets. What’s yours?”

Her eyes go wide. “Nothing, I… I don’t have any secrets.” Her voice trembles, and I know she’s lying.

Worry courses through my veins for her. The Prescotts are dangerous men. I wouldn’t want the sweet little thing anywhere near them. “Do you have a thing for Beckett?” I ask, my voice heavy with concern.

Her eyes rise to meet mine in utter disgust. “Oh, dear God, no!” she snaps. But by her guilty expression, I know there is something she’s hiding.

“Hamilton then?” I growl, hating the idea just as much.

“No way in hell would I touch either of them with a forty-foot pole,” she says with more determination in her voice.

I look her over, wondering what she’s hiding from me. Her brother won’t like this. He knows as well as I do how dangerous those brothers are. “Stay away from him, Em. He’s dangerous.”

“I know,” she whispers. “I would never…” Her words trail off as she notices Mae.

“What are you two whispering about?” asks Mae, squeezing in between our shoulders, surprising us.

I smirk playfully. “Which Prescott brother little Alexander’s crushing on.” Emerson slaps my arm for having the audacity to say it, but I want to make it very clear to all involved this is a bad fucking idea. Whatever she’s thinking. If she was my little sister, I would be keeping her away from them, and I know Brody would feel the same.

“She better stay the fuck away from both of them.” Brody’s voice booms over us, and I realize he and Gisele were right behind us and probably heard too much just now as well.

Em’s cheeks radiate heat, and she glares daggers at me. “Oh my God, how did this just become about me? Just so everyone knows, Noah is joking, I have no interest in either of them. I’m going to the bar for another drink.” I receive a well-deserved death glare from her, and I respond with laughter. I like to play around, she knows that. But she also knows I’m deadly serious about this.

“We playing a game or what?” Parker calls over us, stepping up to break.

I check my watch. It’s nearly seven, and when I search the room for Paisley, I find her sitting at the bar talking to Elliot’s little brother, Jake. Walking right up next to her, I lean on the bar. I couldn’t get closer to her. “Burbon, thanks, Jake.”

He acknowledges me with a cautious nod and proceeds to pour my drink.

“You’ve sulked for long enough. Come and join the rest of us.” I glance at her, my eyes lingering on her red lips a little longer than they should. But fuck, she looks edible tonight.

Her eyes narrow as she looks me over. “I’m not sulking. I’m enjoying some time with my friend, isn’t that right, Jake.”

“Sure, Paisley.” His raised brow toward me suggests that he is just as skeptical about her story as I am.

She angles her Coke toward him, trying to block me out.

“Not drinking tonight?” I ask her, surprised.

“I’m having a break from alcohol while I’m working the campaign. Got to keep my head straight so I can beat you,” she snips. Her lips turn into a grin, only happy when she’s sassing me.

Jake chuckles under his breath as he slides my drink onto the bar.

“You should come join the winning team, and then you wouldn’t have to try so hard.” I smirk back because I’ll take whatever I can get. Right now she’s still talking to me, and I need to keep her close. “Come and join us, your friends miss you. Emerson’s not happy with me. She wants me to fix this problem.”

“Well, Em’s just going to have to get over it because while they’re all on your side, I’m keeping my distance.” She looks confused, searching the group. “Where is Emerson anyway?”

I glance back toward the group and notice she’s gone as well. She was just with the rest of the crew.

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