Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
His death hadn’t been real to me. I couldn’t fathom it—my best friend being gone, the light of my life out of the picture. Denial, oddly enough, was the worst part of grieving. Holding on to all that hope, for nothing to happen.
No, he wasn’t coming back, but he hadn’t left me either. He was still there in that beating heart of mine. I was still his, and he was right. I needed to be happy. For once in my life, I needed to choose myself and to put me first.
After swiping the moisture from my eyes, I placed the rings inside the jewelry box and closed it.
FORTY-FOUR
DEKE
It’d been three weeks since I last saw Davina, and it was killing me. During my personal training and practices, she was all I could think about.
The good thing is we stayed in touch. I loved getting to hear her voice and see her on FaceTime. I loved hearing her bubbly laugh and watching her blush.
We probably could’ve seen each other sooner, had our schedules not been so hectic. Whenever I wasn’t booked up for business-related stuff or attending an event, Davina was busy.
Her products had hit the shelves of some pretty popular retail stores. She sent me a picture of herself standing in front of the display shelves with an open-mouthed grin and a thumbs-up, like it was the best day of her life. And maybe it was. It was a proud moment for her. All that hard work and time she’d invested into GOC was paying off. Attached to the shelf was a life-size cutout of me modeling the products.
“I’m jealous of that paper model,” I told her when she’d FaceTimed me that night. I was lying on my couch, holding the phone with one hand and stroking Zeke’s head with the other.
“Why?” She smiled behind a mouthful of pasta.
“Because that should’ve been me there. Paper Deke could’ve taken my place here at home, waiting for a flight.”
She giggled at that.
“When am I going to see you again?” I asked, tucking a throw pillow behind my head.
“Not sure. I’ll be meeting with Kyla soon to discuss some stuff. Next couple of days will be busy.”
“I miss you,” I told her.
She stuffed her mouth with more pasta, then after chewing and swallowing, asked, “Have you ever tried Madonna’s? Their carbonara is so good.”
“I haven’t.”
“Maybe I can take you there one day.”
I smiled, trying to ignore the stupid nagging in my brain. She’s not going to tell you she misses you. This is your second time saying it since you last saw her. Stop being so fucking desperate.
I shook the thought away just as Davina said, “I’m getting another call. I’ll text you after.”
When the call ended, I lowered the phone with a defeated sigh. As annoying as that inner voice was, it was right. I had to chill. Davina had made it clear we were only sleeping together, and the conversations we were having in between were to stay in touch. I could respect that.
Besides, if I wanted to keep talking to her and keep this thing between us going, I couldn’t push the boundaries.
To my luck, our schedules finally aligned toward the end of September. With training camp and the season starting soon, that meant less movement and traveling for me. I had to get my mind right and prepare mentally and physically for a successful season.
Normally, women were the last thing on my mind this close to the games, but there was no way in hell I was passing up a night with her.
It was cute the way she’d set everything up. She’d sent me a text, asking if I was free for brunch on a Saturday. I shot a text right back and told her I’d been dying to have brunch with her since the last time. Then she followed it up with an address and room number for a hotel in her city.
I packed a bag and drove to Charlotte, and when I knocked on the door of her hotel room and she swung it open, my jaw dropped.
Davina stood in front of me in a satin pink robe and black lingerie that hardly concealed her brown nipples. Her hair was piled up into a sleek bun, and there was a glint in her eyes as she hung on to the edge of the door.
There were no words I could form—nothing I could say at that particular moment. All I could do was act. It’d been weeks since I last saw her in person, and now I had her, this sexy gift before me, ready to be unwrapped.
I cupped the back of her head while dropping my lips to hers, guiding her body back until I had enough room to shut the door. She laughed behind the kiss and laced her arms around the back of my neck.