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Eva’s brow quirked a tiny bit, questioning whether or not I could control myself, and I released her to lean back. I couldn’t even deny it was foreplay after the stupid shit I’d said. “I’ll behave if she will.”
Cole waited for Eva to nod before saying, “Excellent, because now’s a good time.”
My brows drew together as I tried to wrench my mind out of the gutter. “What?”
“The exhibition game? Friends and family? Any of this ringing a bell?” He rolled his eyes. “Nevermind, I’ll handle it.”
Eva’s gaze bounced between us before she echoed me. “What?”
Cole grinned. “Before the season starts, we do an exhibition game against a local team. We usually kick their asses, but it’s a nice introduction to the sport. They give us tickets to hand out, and they do this whole hot cocoa thing before the game. Weird if you ask me, since it’s not exactly cold here, but it can get chilly in the arena.”
Eva blinked slowly. “You want me to come to a hockey game?”
“Yeah. It’s on a Friday so you won’t be cheering, and it’ll be fun. You can have my ticket, and I have an extra jersey you could wear.”
Her eyes flicked toward me for the briefest second, then she smiled at him. “Sure. I’d love to support you guys, but I draw the line at wearing a hockey jersey. I have a reputation to protect after all.”
Cole laughed, and some of the tension in my shoulders released. I kept denying any claim on Eva, but every time someone else tried to step in—anyone else, even my best friends—I clenched up. Whatever this thing was between me and her, I needed to get a grip before I took a swing at someone.
And now she was coming to our first game. Fantastic. So much for my plan to avoid her and hope my bullshit rule about not fucking them was enough to keep her away from the guys. I should have known she’d insert herself into our lives.
Cole took his seat next to Eva, and she unpaused the stunt thing she was watching. When she turned to explain something to him, her hair trailed over my wrist, and I had to adjust myself again. She’d seemingly forgotten our heated moment, but it was all I could do not to fist my hand in those pink streaks and remind her.
Eva hadn’t responded to my comment about her mouth, and my dick was having a field day with the possibilities. I clearly couldn’t keep ignoring her if being in a room together—not even alone—sparked this kind of reaction.
She’d surprised me by sticking to our deal and being nice to the guys despite my shitty attitude. I was willing to admit maybe she wasn’t as spoiled as I’d thought, but I wasn’t willing to fully trust her.
Eva had never given any indication she cared about anything other than herself until I’d found her in that courtyard. But shecared about Henry. She’d taken my deal, as humiliating as I could make it for her, to give her duck a place to live.
I may have been avoiding her, but I’d also been paying attention. She teased Reece without flirting with him, she patiently explained the stunt thing to Cole when he asked questions, and she let Mase stay in his head when he needed the time. Fuck, I was the asshole in all this, wasn’t I?
I flipped my wrist to sift her silky strands through my fingers. After meeting Danny tonight, it wouldn’t take her long to figure out the situation at Wildcat. The easy solution there was for me to stop covering his shifts. Up until tonight, I’d thought he didn’t give a shit where his life was going, but if he’d gotten a second job, he might finally be growing up. About fucking time.
And it was about time I stopped hiding from my roommate. She glanced my way, pulling her hair from my hand, and I didn’t bother pretending I wasn’t watching her. Our gazes clashed, a battle for dominance underscored with fiery hunger. Something shifted between us, and she looked away first.
Yeah, Eva had a reputation for control, but I could handle her.
10
For the first time since Eva moved in, I didn’t get up early and leave before her. The morning workout was optional, and I had plenty of time before I had to be at the rink for practice. The others had already left, with Cole sending me a suspicious look on his way out.
I ignored him and sat at the table with my breakfast smoothie and my old econ textbook to study for Danny’s test.
Eva’s steps hesitated as she came down the stairs and saw me, but nothing stood between her and her coffee in the mornings. She breezed past me to take one of her glass bottles out of the fridge and chug half of it standing there with the door open.
With a satisfied sigh that traveled straight to my dick, she bumped the door closed with her hip. I didn’t lift my eyes from the same sentence I’d been staring at since she walked into the room, but I tracked her with my peripheral vision.
Tiny, skin-tight, red shorts cupped her ass under a cropped tank top with Wildcats scrawled across her chest. I caught a hint of cut abs before she grabbed her designer backpack off the floor and waltzed to the door. Her hips swayed as if she knew I waswatching, and she caught me staring at her ass a second later when she glanced over her shoulder.
I took my time meeting her gaze, not at all sorry. “I told you turnabout was fair play.”
“Good morning to you too,” she muttered, then shut the door behind her.
She came back in less than a minute later with her phone pressed to her ear. “Don’t patronize me, David. I pay you so I don’t have to know anything about cars. It won’t start. I need you to fix it.”
I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest, earning a quick glare from her.
Her eyes closed and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. It’s parked on the street in front of the house. Call me when you know something, please.”
