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The slightest tug of Archer’s lips leaves no doubt as to how much he loves winding my boyfriend up. And I’m sure that’s what he passes it off as too—banter between teammates over the rookie’s hot sister.

Whatever you say, Archer.

Darcy breaks off from her conversation with Jenna and wears her usual bright smile. The kind she would offer me as a friend. There’s no reaction to him calling her Darce as she flicks her honey hair over her shoulder. “I need to be back by Thursday since it’s Dad’s birthday this weekend.”

I feel Jack stiffen beside me. I know he didn’t tell Darcy what happened that night at the restaurant. Reading between the lines, I can tell Darcy has always been closer to Elliott, and I think it’s something Jack wishes he could change, but he doesn’t want to be the brother who turns his sister against her dad.

“You okay?” I whisper into Jack’s ear.

He runs his hand through my long hair, pushing it away from my face, and I can’t help my eyelids from fluttering at the contact.

“I’m good, Kitten. Actually just thinking about the first time we were in this bar together.” His eyes drop to his jersey I’m wearing. “Trying to figure out if I prefer the little black dress or what you’re wearing now.”

I press my forehead into his. “For me, it’s neither.”

He pulls away just slightly. “Neither?”

“Neither,” I repeat on a headshake. “The black dress makes me feel sexy, and I gotta admit, when I saw you here that night, I was happy Jenna had talked me into wearing it.”

He plucks at my jersey, the conversation going on around us reducing to a mere murmur. “And what about this?” he kisses mypulse point. “Is it because I fucked you in yours while your family was sleeping?”

I giggle like a teenager. “Oh, don’t get me wrong; I enjoy wearing your name.”

His eyes flash with heat and possession. “Maybe that’s the perfect combination then—my name, your jersey.”

“I could see that happening one day,” I say, pushing my hand through the short strands of his hair.

“So, tell me, Kitten”—Jack tips my chin to look directly at him—“what’s your favorite thing to wear?”

I pause and think about NYPAG, a night I initially planned to survive but turned out to be the start of everything between us. “The dress you bought me.”

“The green one?”

I nod slowly. “I’ll never forget your face when you saw me in it, and I’ll never forget when I spun around to find you standing right in front of me. I think that was the moment I felt it—the pull between us. I think that was when I started to believe that maybe nothing was fake. At least, that’s when I hoped it wasn’t.”

Jack brushes his lips across my mouth, his tongue teasing mine. “If it’s okay with you, Miss Kendra Independent Hart, I’d really like to buy you some more.”

“With your big starting center salary?” I tease. “I don’t know if I can allow that to happen. I might need a little more convincing.”

He smiles against me, his dimple popping and blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “When I bought you that dress, I was fantasizing over the way it would look while pooled around your feet. And what I promised back then still stands, Kendra. Now that you’re my girl, there will be nothing left to the imagination.”

EPILOGUE

July

JACK

“Jack! Can you help me with this zipper?”

I step into the hotel bathroom to find a flustered and red-faced Kendra.

I could pretend and say she’s worked up because of the zipper on the stunning black dress I’d talked her into letting me buy a couple of months ago, but that would be a lie. She’s been nervous since the organizers asked her to give a speech a few weeks ago. Kendra wanted to come back to Seattle to catch up with her friends since she didn’t get a chance to attend the college reunion last year, and I convinced her we should go. Shortly after we booked the tickets, she was contacted and asked to share her career and the journey it’s taken so far.

Bringing my hand to the zip, I slowly glide it up her back and then fasten the clasp at the top.

She stands, watching me in the mirror, and when my eyes meet hers in the reflection, she spins around to face me. “Should I have worn my hair down, do you think?”

I shake my head and kiss her neck. “Gives me better access to do this.”