Page 6

She snorts loudly.

"Damn, Starlight," I smirk over at her. "Why don't you tell me how you really feel?"

"Fine." She crosses her arms, turning slightly to face me in her seat. "I think you're an arrogant, infuriating ass incapable of being serious for two whole minutes, Huxley. You think you can just snap your fingers and the whole world should fall at your feet."

"Not the whole world," I murmur, unable to resist teasing her. "There are a few corners of it I haven't conquered yet."

She rolls her eyes at me.

"I've been serious about you since we met."

"That right there!" she cries. "That's what I mean. You're never serious about anything. You think everything is a big joke."

"You think I'm joking?" I cock a brow at her. "I never joke about you, Nova."

The sound she makes is as cute as it is dangerous. "You are so full of it. God. Why couldn't they recruit any other pitcher? Why did it have to be you?"

"Because I'm the best." That's not arrogance. It's just facts.

"You aren't helping your case," she retorts, her voice saccharine.

"That's because the case against me is bullshit," I say, pulling into her brother's long driveway. "I've never been anything less than serious about you, but that scares the shit out of you, so you treat it like a joke."

"Because it is."

"Why?" I ask, killing the engine. "Why is it so hard to believe that I'm into you?"

She opens her mouth to respond and then snaps it closed. "We aren't having this conversation, Hux."

"Why not?"

"Because…because I'm not interested in being your fuck buddy!" she cries. "Go get your rocks off with someone else."

Nope. Hell no.

I grab her around the waist before she can escape the truck, hauling her across the seat until she's plastered across my body, her soft curves pressed to my harder frame. My hand sinks into her thick hair, craning her head back.

She tries to fight me, but the thing about Nova? She talks a big game, but she's as soft as melted butter under all that talk. She wants the world to think she's a tiger, but I know better. She's a kitten, itching to be tamed.

I have her contained in two seconds flat, completely at my mercy. Her breath shudders out, her wide eyes locked on my face. She tries like hell to maintain her scowl, but I see the need leaking out through the cracks in her armor.

"There is no one else for me," I growl, my lips inches from hers, my eyes locked with hers. "Other women don't exist to me, Nova. You do. You're the one I think about when I fuck my hand at night. You're the one I look for in the stands every time we play. You're the one I want on my arm. It's not a fucking joke, and I'm not looking for a fuck buddy."

"Let me go," she breathes, her voice shaking.

I should. God knows, I should, but I'm tired of getting close enough to catch her, only for her to get scared and bolt again. And I'm tired of her looking at me without seeing me. I'm not this man she's convinced herself I am, and I'm not letting her get away with that shit anymore. Not after tonight.

Not after I drove thirty miles over the speed limit just to get to her, because, even though she'll never admit it, I heard the fear and anxiety in her voice when she called. She was scared, goddammit. And nothing, nothing scares Nova, not on my watch.

I'll burn this fucking city to ash before I let her live in fear of anyone or anything.

I crash my mouth down on hers, pouring everything into the kiss—the way I want her, the way I crave her, and the way I breathe for her. She tries to resist at first, tries to pretend she doesn't want me. But the mask slips in record time. Her body softens, melting against mine. A soft whimper escapes her lips.

She opens to me, inviting me to take what we both know already belongs to me. I taste the wine on her breath, feel the way she moans for me, and I'm so fucking close to losing it.

"Christ, Nova," I breathe against her lips before biting the pouty bottom one. "This perfect mouth is going to ruin me." I kiss her again and then again, unable to help myself. "You've kept me waiting too goddamn long, baby girl."

She whimpers my name and then pulls away with a soft gasp, her wide eyes startled when they meet mine. "T-That w-wasn't…"