Hendrix (Raleigh Raptors 3)

“Damn it!” I slammed my hand against the wall. “This is impossible. You have to go.”

My eyes opened slowly as I heard a shuffle, and I flipped the light switch off so I could see if there was still a shadow from her feet. Nothing. My chest nearly shook with relief…or disappointment. It was too painful to decipher.

Just when I was ready to open the door, the shadows appeared again.

“I’m not kidding,” I said. “All you’re doing is torturing us both. For the love of all that’s holy, put those incredible breasts away and go before I do something we’ll both regret.”

The handle turned and I gripped it tighter.

“Hendrix? Are you in the closet?” a deep voice came through the door. Roman.

I stepped back and yanked the door open to find my best friend staring at me in confusion. “Hi. Don’t ask.”

“Right. You know what? On a scale of one to walking-in-on-you-in-a-threesome-at-the-bar, this is about a four, which really says something, but I’m going to simply say thank you for saying my breasts are incredible and let the rest go.” He stepped aside with a slight smirk.

“Jackass,” I muttered as I walked past him.

“I’m not the one hiding in a supply closet from incredible breasts.”

“You have a point.” They were incredible breasts. Everything about Savannah Goodman was mouthwateringly delicious, and now I knew it.

I was so fucked.

4

Savannah

Hendrix’s tongue teasing mine.

The sharp bite of delicious pain as he teased my bottom lip.

His hands—electric against my skin.

His lips, warm and hungry as he kissed my thigh—

Four days.

It had been four days, and I still couldn't get the taste of Hendrix out of my mouth. It didn't matter how many times I brushed my teeth, how many types of mouthwash I used. It was like his kiss had branded his flavor on my tongue.

Or more like the sensation of his lips on mine. His hands on my body. I’d never felt so alive, so wild, so reckless, or so wanted before.

And I wanted more.

Humiliation curled up inside me like dying petals on a flower. The way he jerked away from me the second he recognized me, like I was a hot branding iron. The way he locked himself in that closet as if I were the one to fear.

But that kiss? Every second before he found out who I was?

That was worth another try. I mean, good God, the man knew his way around my body. And it was an unbridled type of need. And now I knew only one person had the power to unravel me so thoroughly.

Hendrix Malone.

Despite the mortification of his reaction, despite my fury, my absolute rage at the fact that he would touch literally every other woman on the planet but me, I was even more determined than I had been that night of the costume ball. There would be no better first than Hendrix Malone. I knew that just from one kiss. The question was how to convince him.

"Hey, beautiful," London said by way of greeting as she walked through the apartment door. She scanned the living room, eyebrows raised as she set her keys and book bag near the drop station by the front door. "The place looks immaculate," she said with an air of hesitance. "Are we still fuming?"

I blew out a breath and shrugged. Had I been anger cleaning for the last two hours? Maybe. I slumped onto our couch, and London instantly took the seat next to me.

"What are we more frustrated about right now?" London asked without any hint of annoyance. "The kiss thing or the dad thing?"

I huffed out a laugh because my best friend knew me so damn well. Knew that my mind was churning up thoughts a mile a minute. "I know I shouldn't be whining about the position I've been offered on the Raptors," I said.

And it was the truth. I should be incredibly grateful that before I'd even graduated, I had a job offer at one of the best NFL teams in the country. I just wish it didn't come from the one my father happened to coach. But it was hard as hell to get a job in this business, so I should be thanking every star in the sky that I'd been born to the family I had.

Didn't stop me from wanting to prove myself on my own.

"Hey," London said. "It's okay to be frustrated. I get it. This business, this enterprise we decided to launch ourselves into, is ridiculous. It's almost incestuous in the way people get hired. It's all who you know, who you’re related to, who you're dating. It's exhausting, but it's part of the game we have to play. And no one is saying you have to work for the Raptors forever. You get a couple of great years under your belt, and you'll have people beating down your door trying to hire you."