Page 380 of Branded
Her eyes holding mine. “Ace will be there if I need him.”
Fuck.
That sat heavy on my chest, squeezed my heart, stung my eyes. I knew she and my dad had gotten close, but the fact they had that, the fact that Jules saw it that way…
I loved her and was so thankful she had it.
That I’d helped her get it.
“My picker isn’t broken.”
Her lips curved. “No, honey.” One more brush of her lips. Except this time it turned into something more, something hotter and longer and wetter—and for my part harder.
But then footsteps echoed our way, and we pulled apart, turning to the hall just in time to see Ethan appear, fully kitted out in Breakers gear. “It’s Game Day!” he shouted and turned for the family room, giving me a glimpse of the back of his jersey, showing me my name there.
And that hit heavy too.
And that was…perfect.
“Get ready for the game, baby,” Jules murmured, nudging me toward the stairs.
I didn’t argue further, just got ready, and later that night, when I looked up into the stands and saw my family—all of them—cheering like lunatics, I knew my earlier statement was right.
My picker wasn’t broken.
It had been a little dinged from misuse, dusty because I’d thrust it up on a high shelf, but mostly it had been on standby.
Waiting.
For Jules.
Eva
I slipped out from the arena, leaned back against the wall.
The playoffs were closing in, and I should be down in the locker room, asking all the questions I’d spent hours preparing.
But Theo was down there.
I’d heard his voice echoing out into the hall.
That I could identify him talking through the din of other noises was concerning, but there had been a lot of concerning things about Theo from the very beginning.
Like the fact that we’d fucked.
And it had been life changing.
The man was built, his cock was magnificent, and he knew how to use it—and his lips and teeth and tongue and fingers and?—
He’d blown my mind.
Then had moved right on.
Ouch, yeah?
But he was a professional athlete. I was familiar with their antics and how many of them had an allergy to committing to one woman.
And I was just one woman.
