Page 48 of Undisputed Player
I leaned back in the passenger seat, replaying every moment of theevening in my mind: her gentleness cleaning my scrapes, how careful her small hands were, how she smelled up close when she leaned in to wrap my wrist.
The memory sent heat coursing through me, a hunger I’d felt the entire time I was near her this evening.
I shifted, reaching behind my waistband to pull out my silver gun and placed it on my lap, perfectly hiding the raging hard-on I’d been sporting for the past few hours.
“Nice,” Adrian mocked, clearly catching on to both my problem and the gun. I ignored him.
“She invited me into her home,” I reflected, my voice dropping lower. “Patched me up. Let me feed her. All because she thought I got hurt trying to do something nice.”
Adrian shot me a sideways glance, his green eyes glinting with mischief in the dashboard light. “Asking her out for coffee was an option, too.”
I laughed, the sound dark. “Where's the fun in that? Besides, she would've said no. She's...” I trailed off, searching for the right word.
“Complicated?” he offered.
“Mine,” I corrected. It was true. From the moment I'd seen her in that classroom, something had clicked into place, a recognition, a certainty. She was meant to be mine, and I'd do anything to make it happen.
Adrian whistled low. “Damn. You’ve never been worked up over a woman.”
I didn't bother denying it. Adrian knew me too well. He’d seen me cycle through countless women without a second thought. But Estelle was different. She looked at me, not with awe or desire but with caution, like I was something she couldn’t decide on.
It drove me fucking crazy. I wanted to break through that wall, to see what was under all that careful control.
“You should've seen her apartment.” My jaw tightened at the memory. “That fucking building should be condemned. Locks thatwouldn't keep out a determined teenager. Security cameras held together with hopes and dreams.”
My fingers curled into a fist at the thought of having to leave her there.
Adrian's expression sobered slightly. “So what's the plan? Buy the building? Have it mysteriously burn down so they have to relocate to your beach house?”
I shot him a look. “Don't tempt me.”
As we sat in a comfortable quiet, the memory of our earlier argument flashed through my mind, drawing a dark chuckle from my throat.
“What's so funny?” Adrian asked, taking a sharp turn that sent us both sliding across the shitty cloth seats.
“Just thinking about how hard I had to convince your ass to help me with this.”
He groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically. “Oh god, I thought you were fucking with me.”
The scene played out in my head like a movie, the two of us in my garage, Adrian looking at me like I'd lost my mind when I laid out my plan:
“Fucking run me over,” I demanded seriously. “I want it to look real.”
“No way,” Adrian shot back, green eyes wide. “I'm not killing you.”
“You're a fucking coward,” I sneered, leaning back against my Bentley. “Fine. I'll do it myself.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Adrian had exploded, throwing his arms up. “You want me to hit you with a car, a CAR, Jax, so the girl will take care of your boo-boos?”
I stared at him, unmoved. “It's a brilliant plan.”
“Daddy Easton will kill me!” He paced the garage, muttering under his breath. “I’d love to hit someone else. Anyone else. But actually hitting you with a car? No fucking way.”
I grinned, twisting his words. “So you'll do it, just won’t tell Dad?”
“Fuck,” Adrian muttered, rubbing his temples. “The shit I do for youpeople. Fine. But I'm barely going to touch you with the bumper. The tiniest of love taps. Then you better give a performance worthy of a fucking Oscar.”
“Deal,” I agreed, already planning my dramatic sprawl on the pavement.
