Page 69 of Scoring Eden

He’s an expert in casual sex, and I’m so inexperienced that I can’t even be considered a novice.

Sebastian is the only man I’ve ever slept with, and he was as self-centered inside the bedroom as he has always been outside of it. In the years that we were married, I don’t think he made me come once.

So, no, I can never cross that line with Alex.

Because pathetic as it is, if he were to achieve something that Sebastian never could, I fear nothing would stop me from falling in love with him.

Kindness and orgasms are apparently my only two requirements in a man.

“Enjoying the show?”

The discordant voice makes me jump. I turn toward it, recoiling when I find the matriarch of Purview sitting beside me.

“Oh.” I smile curtly, hiding my sweaty palms under my thighs. “I’m just here to support Alex.”

Jacqueline hums, the sharp slope of her nose a razor’s edge as she looks down at me. “He appears distracted.”

When we met at the party, I had the unnerving sense that she could read every lie on my face. And unfortunately for me, it doesn’t seem to have been a one-time thing. There is an icy omniscience to her stare that makes me want to run for the Olympic Mountains.

“Does he?” I force a swallow. “I think he’s been working hard.”

Not that I have any real reference point, since I’ve never been to any kind of sports practice before—I have a theater kid, for crying out loud—but up until the hair-pulling kerfuffle, he’d seemed pretty focused, with the exception of a few glances he’d been sending my way.

Her lips purse into thin lines. “While it’s good to see improvement with Alex’s media image, it would be a shame to see a downturn in his performance as a result of your…relationship.” She says the last word like it burns her mouth.

I’m sweating so profusely she can probably smell it.

“What are you implying?” I ask, watching Alex line up a ball before striking it toward the goal. It sails right over Arun’s head, hitting the back of the net.

It doesn’t seem she needs to be concerned with Alex’s performance at all. She’d know that, too, if she focused her arctic focus on him instead of me.

“Distraction can be costly,” she notes, her posture perfect and her chin tipped high. “My company has invested a lot of money in the team, and if they underperform, we would have to consider the financial viability of maintaining our association with them. You understand, I’m sure.”

No.

I don’t think I do.

They had a problem with his media exploits, so he found a solution. He reformed his image, albeit not authentically, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, he did what they wanted, but that’s an issue now too?

Make it make sense.

Of course, Alex chooses this moment to disregard practice altogether and comes charging over to me. He rests his hands on the barrier with a shit-eating grin on his face and declares, “Arun owes me fifty bucks.”

God fucking damnit, Alex. Read the room.

He frowns when I don’t respond.

Subtly as I can, I nudge my head in Jacqueline’s direction. How he hasn’t noticed her yet, I don’t know. She has the aura of a great white shark.

“Jacqueline.” He gifts her one of his most enigmatic smiles. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

He’s a fantastic actor, feigning that he was so caught up in me that he missed her completely. It’s really something to witness.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow my girlfriend. She needs to help me celebrate.”

“Ah, yes. The fifty-dollar bet.” Jacqueline fires me a pointed look, dusts off her pristine white pants, and stands. “It must be a relief to know that you don’t have to cut your hair, considering how much you enjoy having it…pulled.”

Oh, Jesus.