Page 88 of Game Misconduct

---

Because I’m trying to do the right thing.

Because wanting her doesn’t make me worthy of her.

My Uber pulls up.

I stand, tip the glass into the valet’s trash can, and climb in without a word.

We drive toward The Apex in silence, the city blurring past.

When the car stops at the front entrance, I get out and walk into the building I’ve lived in for a little over a month now, nodding at the night doorman.

In the elevator, the PH button taunts me. But I stab the number seven button like it personally offended me, heading to my apartment.

Alone.

Because for now, restraint still wins.

But I know damn well it won’t last through the night.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Maddox

The city’sstill lit when I walk into my apartment.

Not that I notice any of it.

I toss my keys into the tray by the door and scrub a hand over my face, still wired from the gala.

From her.

Fromeverything.

Two floors. That’s all that separates us now.

Sloane fucking Carrington is two floors above me, probably unzipping that green dress I haven’t stopped thinking about since the second she walked into that ballroom.

And I’m down here—pacing my apartment like a lunatic.

I pour myself a drink, only to find the only taste I want is of her.

The image of her—flushed from dancing, lips parted from laughing, hair falling loose around her shoulders—won’t let go.

Neither will the memory of her eyes finding mine across the room. Or the feel of her body in my hands, moving with me like it meant something.

Itdidmean something.

I don’t care how many lines are between us. Don’t care thatshe’s my boss, or that I’m the last man someone like her should want.

Because I do want her.

I want her in every way I’ve spent the last six weeks trying not to.

And pretending otherwise isn’t noble anymore.

It’sbullshit.

I stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows of my apartment, chest tight and blood hot.

---