Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 62700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
I set aside melancholy thoughts and stayed firmly in the moment. I held him close when I moved inside him later that night, letting the gentle push and pull tell him how fucking lucky I felt to be the one he wanted. I swore he understood. He met my thrusts with soft moans as he stared deep into my eyes. And when we came apart, we did it together. Braden wrapped himself around me and held on tight until I stopped trembling.
There was some kind of magic in the silence afterward that made me think he knew how I felt. I wanted Braden. I loved him. I just had to figure out how to keep him.
I had two weeks, maybe more. Plenty of time.
10
Elliot
I ran out of time.
Or maybe I misjudged the situation and misread a few signs along the way. Not totally surprising. I tended to ignore things I didn’t want to deal with. It was no wonder I didn’t see what was coming until it was too late.
I’d been so busy tuning out Gus’s nonstop chatter about how to sell our brand that I didn’t realize that he’d been feeding me clues for weeks. I should have known there was trouble ahead based solely on the fact that he’d asked Sophie to help out.
To me, that part was white noise. Not as important as the game. What difference did your “story” make if your cross-court shot sucked? And truthfully, I didn’t have much experience when it came to official press events. I was a total newbie; Gus was the veteran. I figured he knew what he was doing, and all I had to do was show up. Totally reasonable, right?
Wrong.
I grabbed a shrimp skewer from a waiter passing around a tray of hors d’oeuvres and stole a peek at Braden chatting with Colby and Sky across the room. He looked sexy as fuck in that blue gingham shirt. Of course, I thought he looked much better out of it.
But a crowded room full of sponsors, friends, and volleyball fans wasn’t an ideal place to conjure sexy thoughts. My job was to paste a smile on my face, woo the sponsors, and play the best ball of my life this weekend.
“Elliot, are you listening to me?” Sophie huffed, tugging at my sleeve.
“Hmm? Um, yeah. We’re doing a Pride deal. My partner is dating my ex, and everything is rainbow groovy. Am I right?”
“Yes. The theme is Love and Pride. Did you see the T-shirts we’re selling at the tournament this weekend? Love is exes and ohs, right?”
“That’s hugs and kisses. How cute,” I snarked, tipping back my water.
Sophie nodded excitedly, then glanced around the crowded room. The event was billed as a casual indoor-outdoor affair in a warehouse close to the ocean. Fairy lights hung from palm trees, a band played kitschy beach tunes at one end of the space, and a volleyball net was set up on the opposite side for whoever felt like jumping in to play. There were a couple of bars and food stations too, but I’d stuck to water and whatever happened to be on the trays being passed around.
“Yes, I think everything turned out nicely. I didn’t plan the party, obvs, but I see myself being more of a theme manager anyway. I think I could be good at this,” Sophie said, standing on her tippy-toes to scan the crowd again.
“Who are you looking for?”
“Your date,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“He’s over there.” I gestured toward Braden and my buddies before focusing on Sophie, craning her neck to see above the crowd.
“Not your friends. Your date. I took care of that for you, remember? Exes and ohs and, oh—there he is! Drew! Over here!” Sophie yelled, waving her hands above her head.
Oh. Wow. Oh, fuck.
Drew made his way through a throng of partygoers, looking hotter than I wanted to report in a snug-fitted light-blue shirt and tight jeans. His friendly smile was a tad more familiar than I liked. It wasn’t an ex-boyfriend smile. This one was laced with an intimacy that in no way fit who we were now.
“Hi. How are you?” he asked, moving directly to my side.
“Good. Surprised, but—what are you doing here? I don’t understand,” I stammered.
Sophie squealed and clapped excitedly. “Surprise! Oh, my God. I’m having a moment! I just knew this was the perfect opportunity to reignite the flame burning bright between you.”
“The flame that what? What are you up to, Sophie?” I asked sharply.
“I saw that kiss at the restaurant and at first, I was thinking maybe Braden and Drew would be a nice match, but there’s so much passion between you still. And now you have a chance to get reacquainted.” Sophie motioned madly at someone behind me. “Gus, Anna! Over here. The photographers will want plenty of photo ops with the four of you tonight. And at the tournament this weekend too.”