Hoops Shorts: A HOOPS Novella Collection

“They aren’t my brothers!” I called as tattoo guy scurried away. Then I spun and glared at Bishop. “What the fuck was that? How did you even know where I was? Did you follow me?”

Meanwhile, around us, murmurs had started up and phones were coming out.

“Time to get back to the bus,” Bishop said, stone-faced.

I threw my hands up. “That’s not an answer!”

He leaned in as cameras started flashing around us. “Sorry, honey, you can have yet another unfulfilling back alley fuck another time. We both know it won’t satisfy you anyway. So stop throwing a fucking tantrum and get your ass back on the tour bus.”

I sputtered, so pissed at him—

And so, so horny.

It was utterly wrong that it turned me on when he talked to me like this.

It was just the sexual frustration talking. That was all. And daddy issues, probably.

I slammed Bishop in the chest, getting more pissed off when it didn’t even rock him from his steadfast stance. As if he were a mountain and I were just a fly. God, what I wouldn’t give to rattle him for once.

I slapped a twenty on the counter and stormed out of the bar. I could feel two tall shadows following me. And the crowd that followed them. Had they really come after me without any security?

Bishop was mobbed everywhere he went these days. Idiots. They ruined everything.

I speed-walked the entire way back to the arena parking lot where the bus was. The crowd walking with us had grown larger and larger until Bishop was having to toss fanboys out of his way so we were able to keep moving forwards. He did it with a little too much glee if you asked me. But that was Bishop for you.

The bus door opened right as we rounded the arena and came around to the parking lot. Security hurried towards us to help form a perimeter so we could get there. I stomped up the stairs and into the bus. They made me feel like a school kid in detention and I didn’t care if Bishop called my attitude pouting.

Rick, our driver, had his earbuds in and was on his phone. Bishop paid him well to ignore us and drive us around the country. I passed by him and slammed the sliding door to the back of the bus open. The living area of the bus was empty but the back door was closed, so I didn’t know if Tank was home or not.

“Stop pouting,” came Bishop’s voice from behind me. He followed me in and Mason followed, shutting the door behind us.

I spun on them in the sleek living area of the bus. “Stop cock-blocking me!” I tried to shove Bishop in the chest again but he caught my wrists before I could. I tried to yank them back but he wouldn’t let go. I made a furious noise. “You’re a fucking hypocrite. All of you go out and get laid all the time. So what gives?”

“Don’t pretend you’re a little virgin,” Bishop said, pulling me close to his chest by my wrists. “I can smell it on you when you come back after having some oaf huffing on top of you.”

Jesus Christ, that was indecent to say to me. Especially considering the wetness springing up in my panties. Why did every mean, dirty thing he said to me affect me this way?

“What can I say?” I grinned, letting my arms go loose in his grip instead of uselessly yanking to get free. “I’m sex positive. As in, I’d positively like to get laid tonight. You wanna do the job?”

Bishop’s grip at my wrist only tightened, and then he flipped us around so that my back was pressed up against the wall right beside the kitchen. “What if I said yes? I wanna be the one to fuck you.”

All my breath expelled in one quick go.

Wait, what?

Was he serious?

“Stop fucking around,” Mason said from behind us. “Let her go.”

“Who says I’m fucking around?” Bishop said, staring hard into my eyes.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, I was still trying to catch up here.

But then Bishop was jerked backwards. Mason spun Bishop to face him. “What the hell are you doing? We had a deal.”

“A deal?” I asked. “What deal?” The hairs on my arm stood. Just like they did any time I heard that word since the weird hallucination that night when I was eighteen.

I propose a deal. It’s simple. You can have everything you ever wanted. Love. A home. A family. Say yes and everything you ever wanted is yours.

In exchange for?

Nothing you won’t miss. Just your soul.

I shook my head. “What the fuck are you two talking about? What deal?”

“Nothing,” they both said at the same time, then glared at each other.

“No, seriously,” I said. “What did you mean?”

“Hey, what’s the racket out here?” Tank pushed open the door from the bedroom at the back of the bus. We rotated between it and the bunks and he’d had it for the last couple weeks.