Casey: We may be about to find out…
Parker: Trust him.
I blow out a breath as I sink lower on my bed.
My Vipers jersey rises higher, exposing more of my stomach. I’ve tied the excess fabric at my side to give me a sexier look, but I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t have bothered.
Anxiety wars within me, and I’m on the verge of calling it a night when my cell lights up. Only, it’s not with a message like I was expecting; it’s a video call.
My stomach flips as I reach for it and answer in a rush.
“Kodie?” I whisper when I get nothing but wall on the screen.
“Shit,” he curses darkly.
Just that one word has butterflies erupting within me.
Seconds later, the camera switches and I get my first look at him.
“Oh god,” I groan, taking in his glistening body fresh from the shower. Water droplets cover his taut, inked-up skin and he’s wearing nothing but a towel wrapped low on his waist.
Best sight ever.
The teenage girl with a fierce crush on this man does little backflips inside me.
He’s silent as I roll my eyes up his body. I’m breathless, but the second he lowers himself to the bed and looks into the screen, I gasp.
“Kodie,” I breathe, my fingers twitching with my need to reach for him.“Your face.”
His lip is split and swollen, and his cheek is glowing.The bruising is already darkening.
“I’m okay,” he says weakly.
He rubs the back of his neck as pain and regret flicker through his eyes.
“What happened tonight?” I urge, desperate to take some of his suffering away.
He shakes his head. “It was…it was just a bad game.”
“I know you two used to be friends,” I confess.
He snorts. “Yeah, used to be. Nash is an asshole who’s trying to prove something. I fucking hate playing against him.”
Silence lingers between us. I hate not knowing how to help him, how to reach him.
“I don’t want to talk about him, Trouble,” he says, focusing back on the screen.
This time, there’s something different in his eyes. There’s heat but there’s also a vulnerability there.
“Oh yeah. Did you have something else in mind?”
“You know I do. But we lost…”
“Ah, so you did. You owe me something, Rivers.”
Concern still lingers, but I can’t deny the excitement at his willingness to continue with our game.
“Mmm,” he rumbles, rubbing at the scruff on his jaw.
