Page 56 of Players Keep Score


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“How about I give you a tour of my bedroom?” I lean across the center console to give her a quick kiss. “I have an enormous bed you should check out.”

“Your bedroom must be more like an apartment than an actual room,” she quips.

“Nah, there’s only a bathroom, kitchen, and a butler who tucks me into bed.”

Her eyebrows rise, and then she shakes her head.

“I’m joking, you know. A few other rooms that are mine…”

She smiles so wide it reaches up to her clear blue eyes. “But you don’t have a butler?”

“No, we have one. His name is Francis. If you’re lucky, he’ll let you call him Frank. He’s kinda old- fashioned.”

She leans back against the leather chair and chuckles. “You’re serious?”

I nod, stripping off my seatbelt. “Yep. My mom grew up with live-in staff. She doesn’t know how to do normal mom stuff.”

“Okay,” she says, dragging out her words. “Now, be a gentleman and come open my door for me. Or do you expect Francis to do that for you?”

Laughing, I shake my head and slide out of my Escalade. “No, that’s all me. You beat me to it.”

After my mom and Chloe give Taylor a tour of the house, they enter the living room where I wait with my dad. My mom and sister love Taylor.

Before Taylor stumbled into my life, that was the plan. I never thought I would find anyone I could confide in like I did with her. Most women would have laughed when I confessed my secret.

Taylor plops down on the couch next to me, and I slide my arm across the back of her neck. She cuddles up next to me, the heat from her body spreading warmth down my thigh. Because it’s Easter, Taylor insisted she dress up for the occasion. Wearing a long yellow sundress that scoops low enough for me to see down her top, and I can’t stop staring at her.

“Drake,” Chloe says, snapping me out of my Taylor induced haze. “Do you mind if we use your love life for inspiration for our next book?”

“Huh?” Confused, I snap my head in her direction. “What? No… What are you talking about?”

Chloe gathers her dark hair in her hands and rakes her fingers through it. “Taylor told us about how you guys met. Mom wants to use your story in one of our books.”

What the fuck? I can’t believe Taylor told her about how we met.

“Enemies to lovers romances are super hot,” she adds.

“We were never enemies,” I counter.

“You weren’t exactly friends either,” Chloe points out.

“She just didn’t like me all that much at first,” I admit.

“Can you blame her?” Chloe snorts. “You were such a bonehead.”

“What did you tell them?” I whisper the words against Taylor’s earlobe, and she squirms in my arms.

“Nothing major,” she says in a hushed tone. “Don’t worry.”

“But at least you redeemed yourself,” Chloe says with a smile. “You’re not a total lost cause.”

“My baby knows how to treat a woman,” my mom interjects. “He learned it from me.”

“You mean from me,” my dad says.

She turns to look at my dad, facing off with him. They share an intense moment before she turns to look at me. “Your father is a good cookie. I suppose some of his qualities rubbed off on you.”

My dad hugs her hard against his chest. She’s tiny compared to him, his large body covering most of hers until he releases her from one of his death grips.