Page 9 of Half-Court Heat
I squeezed the soap into my hand and stepped closer. I started at her shoulders, working the lather over her sun-warmed skin. My fingers moved in slow, circular motions across her back, down her arms, and over the elegant slice of her shoulder blades. I tried to keep my touch innocent, but it was impossible not to notice how soft her skin felt under my palms, or the way she leaned into my hands.
“Turn around,” I urged.
She obeyed, eyes still fixed on mine, and I traced the lather down the front of her torso. My hands moved over her ribs, along the flat plane of her stomach, and back up between her breasts.
Eva mirrored me next, taking the soap and working it into my skin with the same deliberate slowness. When her fingers slid along my spine, I closed my eyes. There was nothing hurried about the way we moved. No frantic groping or rush to take things further. Just a shared silence, filled with steam and the occasional catch of breath.
“I like this,” she murmured, her mouth close to my ear. “I like taking care of you.”
I turned into her, the water streaming over us. “I like it, too.”
I meant it. Not just the touch of her hands or the warmth of her body against mine, but the whole of it—the unspoken care, the gentle attentiveness that neither of us would have dared back when we were just teammates. Or rivals. Or whatever we were pretending to be. Back then, everything between us had teeth. Now it had tenderness.
We toweledoff in the steamy bathroom, moving around each other like a well-rehearsed dance—quiet, unhurried, bare. Eva dabbed gently at the back of my neck, then turned to inspect her braids in the foggy mirror. I trailed my fingertips down the center of her back and pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades before heading into the bedroom.
The air conditioning had chilled the room in our absence, and I tugged back the covers on the king-sized bed before slipping beneath them. The sheets were crisp and cool against my skin, and I let out a long, satisfied sigh as I burrowed into the pillows.
Eva padded in moments later, freshly moisturized and smelling faintly of warm vanilla. She smiled when she noticed me snuggled amongst the blankets and pillows.
“I didn’t think you napped.”
“I don’t.”
I lifted the covers and invited her in.
Our relationship wasn’t new, but sharing a bed was. We hadn’t dared to do so when we were keeping our relationship private, with the exception of road games when we’d been assigned to the same hotel room. And then Eva had been traded to Chicago and the distance had become even greater.
She curled against me—one bare leg hooked over mine, her head resting on my shoulder. Her skin was warm from the shower, and her damp braids smelled like sun and salt and her favorite oil. I ran my hand slowly up and down her back, a steady rhythm meant for comfort rather than seduction.
“Are you always this cuddly after a shower?” I asked, my voice low in the hush of the room.
“I’m only this cuddly with you,” she noted, her lips brushing my sternum.
I smiled into the top of her head and let my cheek rest there.
Outside, the waves beat a lazy rhythm against the shore. Somewhere beyond our room, tropical birds called to one another. I could feel Eva’s heartbeat where our bodies touched.
Neither of us spoke. We didn’t need to. Touch said more than words ever could. The weight of her leg draped over mine. The occasional brush of her fingers against my side. The way her body curved into mine like the final piece of a complicated puzzle.
She tilted her head slightly. “What are you thinking about?”
I paused, fingers playing with the ends of her braids.
“You,” I said honestly. “This. How it still doesn’t feel real sometimes.”
Because it didn’t—not when I thought about how we’d started. The tension, the competition, the way we pushed each other. I used to watch her on the court and think she was infuriating—too precise, too poised, too perfect. And now? Now I couldn’t imagine a version of my life without her in it. Somewhere along the way, we’d stopped being rivals. And then we’d stopped pretending we weren’t something more.
Eva leaned back just enough to look at me. Her eyes were soft but serious. “It’s real,” she said. “You’re not dreaming.”
I held her tighter, my cheek still resting against the top of her head.
Sleep came easy with her wrapped around me.
From Courtside to Couple:
Eva Montgomery & Lex Bennet Vacation PDA Has Fans Talking!
Basketball power duo Eva Montgomery and Lex Bennet are making headlines off the court this week after intimate vacation photos surfaced online, officially setting the internet ablaze.
