Page 38 of Game Changer

I wait for him to say something else. Anything else.

He doesn’t.

My limbs are still heavy, but I force myself to move.

I grab the door handle and launch myself out, slamming it after me before I remember I’m trying to be quiet.

I sprint up the driveway without looking back. I’m halfway to the house before I notice the throbbing in my wrist start up again.

That moment of exercising my own powerwasa bad idea. Not because I touched the baddest guy in basketball, my brother-in-law’s troublemaking all-star, all while my sister thinks I’m engaged to someone else.

No, it’s because instead of being like every girl who wants to kiss Clayton Wade, I’ve moved into the slightly smaller pool of every girl he’s kissed who wants more.

10

NOVA

Sleeping is hard. I toss and turn, agitated and hot.

I’m still cursing Clay the next morning.

He barely touched me, and I caught fire.

He was as cool as ever afterward, as if we shared dessert recipes last night instead of a scorching-hot kiss.

Even though I tried to shove him from my mind and my fantasies, he’s been the star ever since I met his gorgeous, grumpy ass.

So, this morning in the shower, I pictured him on his knees, begging me to forgive him for the mixed messages.

Last night wasn’t a date. He made it clear that he’s not looking for that.

Except every time we were close, he had zero problem staring.

Grumpy Baller: How’s the wrist?

The text came through when I got out of the shower. I named his contact that after I arrived home last night.

Another message followed half an hour later that was only two question marks. He probably expected me to jump at hearing from him.

I didn’t reply. I’ve got other things to do today than join the millions of people lining up for a glance from Clayton Wade.

“Nova?”

I look up from my borrowed car to find Harlan in the doorway of the garage, dressed impeccably in a dark suit and silk tie.

“Everything okay? I’m off to meet Mari and Chloe for a dress fitting.”

“Yes, I don’t want to keep you.” But he doesn’t move, and I wait him out. “The past few months, I’ve been focused on the team, and when the season starts, it’ll only get more intense. That’s why I want to give Mari a wedding she’ll never forget.”

I lean a hip against the car door. “It will be.”

“I want to surprise Mari with a gift. A new philanthropic program in her name to help kids with challenging upbringings find passions they can turn into careers. Do you think she’ll like it?”

My heart melts at his thoughtfulness and generosity. “She’ll love it.”

“Good. It’s becoming more of an undertaking than I thought, but I don’t want to let her in on the secret. In a way, I blame myself for wanting to move ahead with this wedding instead of waiting. But after she was passed over for that promotion last spring, she’s been working harder than ever, and if she gets promoted now, I’m afraid she’ll never take time off.”

My smile falters as I remember when I got kicked out of my apartment for falling behind on rent last year. The job I was working at the time, the one before the agency, didn’t pay me for two months. They kept saying it was coming, but they went bankrupt first.

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