Page 17 of Hold Me Closer
It's the first time she's called me Teo all night. I've been Mateo since she set eyes on me. But now, I'm Teo. Hearing it is heaven and hell. I want to be Teo every moment of the day to her. I want back what we had, back before she decided I was the devil. Back before I destroyed her.
Christ, I just want my best friend back—the one who looks at me like I'm her hero. I fucking miss her. Half the world looks at me like that, but it's not the same because they aren't her. They'll never be her.
"Go back inside," I murmur, brushing my lips across her forehead.
"Teo."
"Go back inside, Nadia. Before someone sees us together." The last thing she needs is to be linked to me in the press. They'd tear her reputation to shreds. A good girl like her with a motherfucker like me? The headlines practically write themselves.
Hurt flashes in her eyes, and I realize a second too late that she misunderstood. But she doesn't give me time to explain. "Of course," she mutters, spinning on her heel. "Who cares if you're called aggressive or violent, just so long as you aren't linked to me? God forbid your football groupies think you have a girlfriend."
Football groupies? What the fuck has she been reading?
"That's not what I–""Save it for someone who cares, Mateo!" she yells, storming toward the building, her round ass swaying in those jeans.
"Fuck," I mutter, watching her go. Because, of fucking course, I do. And then I scrub a hand down my face, wondering how it's possible to screw things up as badly as I do as often as I do. I mean, Jesus Christ. At this point, I deserve a goddam award for it.
Chapter Four
Teo
"Fuck, baby," I moan,throwing my head back as Nadia rocks her hips, taking me deep. Her perfect tits bob in my face as she bounces on my cock, her hot little pussy squeezing me in a vise. "Just like that. Don't stop."
She feels so damn good. Jesus.
She opens her mouth, her lips forming my name. But instead, ice-cold water spews out, spilling all over me.
"What the fuck?" I jerk upright, shock surging through my system as I reach for her.
Only…she isn't on top of me.
My publicist, Emelia Jónsson, is standing over my bed, an empty water pitcher in her hands and a scowl on her face.
"Look who is finally awake," she snaps, flinging her blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Emelia?" I yank the covers up over myself, trying to hide my rapidly shrinking cock. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Making sure you're still alive." She slams the pitcher down on my bedside table hard enough to rattle my brain inside my skull. "You weren't answering your phone, your email, or your front door. I used the hide-a-key to come in and check on you since you were supposed to be meeting me for breakfast two hours ago."
"Fuck." I scrub my hands down my face, trying to get my shit together. "That was today?"
"Yes, Teo. That was today." Her brows wrinkle with distaste, her green eyes narrowed. "Not that I expect you to remember since you smell like you fell into a distillery last night."
"I'm not hungover." I'm lying like a motherfucker.
She snorts, crossing her arms and hitting me with this look that screamsdon't bullshit me. It's honestly a little terrifying. Then again, rumor has it that she takes after her mom. Kelsey Jónsson is a legend. She's been terrorizing the hockey team back home for two decades. I lucked out when Emelia agreed to represent me. And I lucked out again when she didn't boot my ass to the curb when I got traded to the Sabres. For some reason, she decided to stick with me.
"So you weren't drunk when you got into a bar fight last night?" she asks.
Fuck my life. How does she possibly already know about that?
"It wasn't a bar. It was a nightclub."
"Hold that thought." She snatches the pitcher off the table and marches toward the bathroom, her heels clicking against the tile floor. A few seconds later, I hear the water running.
I may be hungover, but I'm not an idiot. I jump out of bed before she decides to try drowning me again for pissing her off. She's got a temper. At least, I give her a temper. Something like that.
I quickly jerk on a pair of sweats, covering my naked ass, before she materializes in the doorway, her pitcher of water full to the brim.
