AllFreeNovel
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But as much as I could chase the high score on our banter leaderboard all night, I legit need to talk to her. I let go of the games we play, asking seriously, “Do you have a sec? It’s important.”
Her expression shifts instantly, her sass vanishing. She straightens. “Sure.”
She’s been trying so hard for so long. I need to make some effort too, so I meet her gaze with a serious one of my own. I drag a hand through my hair, taking a breath. “Listen, I know I kind of surprised you back in the media room.”
“It wasn’t a bad surprise,” she says, then winces. “But I’m really sorry that everyone started going after you so quickly. I tried to stop them the second they did.”
I hold up a hand, exonerating her from the barrage of questions I tuned out. “They barely even registered. I had a one-track mind in there.”
She smiles. “I noticed. That was incredibly impressive, how you shut them all down.”
“All that time not talking makes me kind of immune to their questions. I said what I wanted to say tonight. And I noticed you recording it. You’re going to put it on myThe Real Max Lambert, right?”
“I’d like to. We do have to keep feeding that beast.”
“Then toss it into the maw.”
“Thank you.” With genuine excitement in her eyes, she adds, “I love the clip of you saying you’ve got a great group of teammates. You have their back and they have yours.I know it might seem too practiced and too much of a PR answer, but that’s okay. That’s exactly what I’ve been wanting. Just something from you to put you out there, for fans to start seeing you. And I definitely need content for that.”
“I’m glad it’ll work,” I say, pleased I could make her life easier for once.
Her gaze is etched with curiosity as she asks, “What made you do that tonight? Talk to them?”
I do want to tell her the real reason. She deserves to know. But I’m still a little hung up on something. A lot hung up. And the cocky jerk in me has the wheel right now. “So, are you going to tell me? Did you say yes to the underwear?”
She rolls her pretty eyes. “You’re still asking me that?”
I fucking love that she never lets me off easily. “I’m not going to stop asking. Tell me, Everly.”
“I thought last night was a one-and-done thing,” she says, but she inches closer to me.
“I’m notdoinganything. Just asking,” I insist.
“Right. Sure.” She arches a playful brow.
“I just want to know,” I say, leaning in so we’re inches apart, letting her catch a hint of my cologne.
The moment it hits her is clear. It’s in the quiet gasp she tries to hide but fails to. A tiny murmur seems to escape those lush lips. Still, she tries to up the ante in our game, saying, “Guess.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. But because we are, I need to be careful. I dart away from her and close the distance to the door a few feet away, locking it then returning to her. My eyes roam up and down her body. “You have them on, don’t you?”
She tilts her head, her blonde ponytail swishing against her shoulder. “Since you did something big for me, I’ll answer you—yes. I do.”
A rumble works its way up my chest and past my lips. “And I just wanted to thank you for wearing them then,” I say.
She laughs. “That’s why you talked to the press? Me wearing the lingerie you sent me inspired you to talk to the media? I guess if I’d known all along it was that easy…”
“You wouldn’t have promised me a limo once upon a time?”
She shakes her head playfully. “Not now that I know your weakness.”
But I correct her. “Your eyes,” I say, looking into those deep brown pools. “Like I told you earlier. Your eyes are my weakness. Your eyes are my undoing.”
Her breath hitches, but she lifts a doubtful brow since she’s not won over easily. “Are my eyes your weakness or is it the royal blue panties?”
Jesus.Sheis my weakness. I can’t hide the truthanymore. “It’s not just the panties. Did I love it? Fuck yes. But that’s not why I talked tonight.”
“Why then?”
