Hoops Holiday (Hoops 2.50)

Kenan’s laughter booms in the nearly-empty parking garage.

“From the mouths of babes,” he says. “I keep trying to tell him that jump shot will only go so far. He better bow up.”

“You’re right.” I walk Iris over to the car. “I should listen to my elders.”

“Boy, I’ll be playing til I’m forty if I want,” Kenan says, patting his famous rock-hard slab of abs under his sweater. “The older you get, the smarter you better play.”

“Okay, okay,” Iris says, laughing and turning toward the open door. “How about you guys talk ball when we get to the party?”

I help her step onto the running board and into the back seat. I buckle her in and rest a hand on her stomach.

“How are we doing today?” I ask, an irrepressible grin taking over my whole face. I’ve been smiling for a week straight. I’ve probably been smiling in my sleep, I’m so thrilled.

“Um . . . we’re fine,” Iris whispers, casting a cautious glance over my shoulder at Kenan. “And aren’t we supposed to be waiting to share things?”

“Yeah. Right.” I turn to face Kenan and decide to rib him a little before we part ways for the party. “Iris, is Lotus still coming? Kenan wanted to know.”

Kenan’s smile drops, and it looks like he wants to turn all that power and muscle to grinding me to dust.

“What?” I offer him a nonchalant shrug and wide eyes. “You did ask.”

A muscle ticks under the taut skin of his jaw.

“She’s coming, yeah,” Iris says, leaning forward a little to smile at Kenan. “She’s swinging through just for a little while.”

“I’ll see you guys there,” Kenan says without acknowledging Iris’s statement. He gives her a tight smile, glares at me, and turns to walk toward the SUV the team sent to take him to the party.

“You’re awful, teasing him like that.” Iris belies her scolding with a mischievous smile. “But I did kinda love the look on his face.”

“Right? What did Lotus say when you told her Kenan was coming to the party?”

“Weeeelll,” Iris says, drawing the word out, a sneaky grin lighting her pretty face. “I didn’t exactly mention it.”

“Oh, this should be interesting.”

The car pulls off and heads for the parking lot exit. I turn my attention to Sarai, who has been uncharacteristically quiet.

“You okay over there,

Princess?” I push her hair back and lift her little chin to study her unique violet-blue eyes. She nods wordlessly, and long lashes droop lazily over drowsy eyes.

“She’s tired,” Iris says. “But refused to skip the party altogether. Always afraid she’s going to miss something. I don’t want to stay long, though.”

Iris rolls a lust-filled glance from my head to my toes, and my dick gives a knowing twitch.

She bites her bottom lip and looks at me from under her lashes. “I want to get back to the room. We have unfinished business, Mr. West.”

I glance from Sarai, watching us with sleepy interest to the rearview mirror, checking if the driver is tuned into our conversation. I lean over, nudging Iris’ hair back with my nose and biting her ear lobe. A shiver runs through her.

“You are so damn horny lately,” I whisper. “Is it the baby?”

Saying it out loud, even just for the two of us, feels amazing. We’re having a baby. We haven’t told Sarai she’s getting a little brother or sister. We haven’t told my parents or Jared and Banner. We’ve held it close like a secret for the last few days. A secret we made, just the two of us, and for a few days at least, it belongs only to us.

“The hormones may heighten things,” she whispers back, her eyes, glinting with amber and onyx. “But I’ve always wanted you.”

“And there hasn’t been a moment since the night we met that I haven’t wanted you.”

God, it’s true. Ships that pass in the night. Star-crossed lovers. Whatever you call us, however you’d characterize our relationship before, we’re together now. And the ache I lived with for years, the longing to be with her is a distant memory. I have the career I’ve wanted since I was old enough to hold a basketball, married to the woman of my dreams, a daughter who is mine in every way that counts, and now another on the way.