Page 8 of Poke the Bear

He seemed to sense I was staring at him, looking down and smiling. Fuck, I had no chance of staging a defence against him.

“Your date?” The guy looked me over much more closely then and I didn’t like that at all. His response was the thing I expected, the narrowing of his eyes, the slight curl of his lip. He judged me and found me severely wanting, which was when I tried to slide unobtrusively out of Adam’s grip.

Only for his arm to tighten around me.

“My date,” Adam said, much more firmly, resulting in his friend’s brows jerking down lower. “Freya, this is Darryl. He plays on the same team as me…”

I blanked out through the introductions. There was some kind of masculine ribbing going on, putting shit on each other in front of the ladies, and then I was introduced to each of the women. Their smiles were a lot less bright now that it seemed there was no chance of them joining Adam. One even pulled away the moment Darryl turned away to join the party. But Adam, he spun me around and pinned me to the bar the minute they were out of earshot.

“I know we’ve only just met, but if you could be my date for tonight, I’ll do anything,” he said in a low, urgent tone. “Anything.”

“You want to fake date?” I asked. “Did Jack put you up to this?”

“No, I want to real date.” He moved closer. “I want to do a whole lot of real things with you, but we met tonight rather than on the street or at a party, so I can’t. But…” His eyes dropped down, seeming to pay way too much attention to my lips, making me worried I had lipstick on my teeth or something. “But if we can get through tonight, I promise to take you on as many real dates as you want. Can you do that for me, Freya?”

I was used to hearing my name shouted or ground out, or ignored altogether, but not like this. It sounded like the whisper of wind in the leaves when he said it. I understood now why he’d been staring at my mouth, because I couldn’t help but to do the same now. Taking in the shape of it, seeing the light sprinkle of golden brown stubble and a small scar just above his lip. My heart pounded loud in my ears as I considered what he was asking, all of it, my brain unable to parse it, so I just responded the only way I could, with a nod.

“Thank you.” He leaned in close, pressing his lips to my ear, there and gone again before he dragged me out into the ballroom. I could still feel the tingle in the spot he’d touched. But right as we moved towards the tables, Jack intercepted.

“Hey, thanks for looking after Freya for me,” she said to Adam. “Now, do me the biggest favour and see if you can get that fucking mate of yourself to behave himself tonight? Remind him he is not the main character in this scenario.” Then she turned to me. “You must be just about ready to kill me right now. I didn’t think I was going to be putting out this many fires tonight. Do you want to bail?” She rummaged around in her pockets and pulled out the hotel room key. “Or just go upstairs and soak in the tub? I’ll totally understand.”

I’m not sure if I was supposed to sense this, but I felt Adam’s body tense. I was moved slightly closer, that long, slow, throbbing sensation swelling as our bodies slotted together. He didn’t ask, try to influence, or put pressure on me, just let his fingers trace lazy circles along my hip.

And that’s when I made my decision.

I had literally no idea what this guy was like and I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to be his date, but right now? I wanted to be sure either way. I felt light and heavy all at the same time, my pulse racing as my skin seemed to grow exquisitely sensitive. Right then I thought I understood what Jack had said beforehand.

“Your drawings, your room, your flat, will all be there after tonight,” she’d said, putting her hands on my shoulders. “You’ll be drawing masterpieces in the privacy of your own room in less than twenty-four hours. Just give me tonight, Frey. Just come and see what happens when you leave your room and decide then whether or not you like it.”

I’m sure she hadn’t meant this. Just because I’d never had a boyfriend, didn’t mean I didn’t understand sex or desire. I had a very fine selection of sex toys tucked in my bedside drawers, but none of them made me feel like this.

When the shock subsided, something dense and warm washed over me. I raised my hand, brushing the back of it across my forehead, sure it would come away damp, but instead I was so very hot. I swallowed hard, watching the concern grow on Jack’s face, right before I shook my head.

“Adam asked me to be his fake date for the night,” I told my bestie, hoping to god that she didn’t look at me too closely. I was always a shitty liar. “I said yes.” Jack didn’t look at me with suspicion, but surprise, then relief.

“Oh my god, you’d do that?” She surged forward, wrapping her arms around me and then planting a kiss on my cheek. “If you can make sure at least one of my players are behaving, I’ll do anything, anything.” She tapped her bottom lip. “What about those fancy markers you’re always drooling over. A full set—”

“That’s like five hundred dollars’ worth—” I started to protest.

“If it stops me from having a migraine by the end of this, I consider it a sound investment. I wonder if bribes are tax deductible?” Before I could answer, she looked at Adam. “Look after her and treat her right. Frey is my ride or die bitch and if you ride her, you die.”

“I’ll look after her,” he assured her, his grip tightening. “I’ll be on my best behaviour, promise.”

Before any of us could say another thing, a man in a suit with the kind of well-practised smile only professional performers wear came out with a microphone. “If I can have everyone taking their seats, please, we’ll get the night started.”

The energy in the room changed in an instance as people moved to find their place.

And that’s when I saw the big flaw in this plan.

Adam was a potential medal finalist, so he wasn’t hanging at one of the tables at the back. He wove his way through the tables, keeping a hold of my hand, then pulled out a seat for me at one of a few tables close to the front.

I felt the glare of the lights on me as Adam’s teammates got to their feet and greeted him, some patting him on the back, some giving him shit, but I didn’t hear it. I just blinked, blinked, as I saw everyone turn around to look, the cameras focussing their lenses on us, and then sat very abruptly down.

Chapter 4

Adam

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.

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