Page 13 of Half-Court Heat (Hoops & Heartstrings #2)

She moaned the moment my tongue parted her, her hips jerking like her body had been waiting for this since before dinner, since before the fight, since always.

I took my time with long, deliberate strokes of my tongue, savoring her, pressing flat and slow before curling the tip of my tongue just right. She ground down on me with a choked sound, her hands gripping the headboard for balance.

“Oh fuck, Lex.”

I hummed against her clit, and her whole body shuddered.

“Shit—” she gasped, trying to hold still, but I didn’t let her. I wrapped my arms around her thighs and kept her there, right where I wanted her, right where she could use me.

“Don’t stop,” she breathed. “Please, don’t stop.”

I gave her everything, my tongue working her open, lips sealed around her clit while she rocked against my face, messy and desperate. She started riding me in earnest, without shame, grinding down in slow, hard circles.

“That’s it,” she groaned. “ God . Right there. Fuck, Lex … you’re perfect . Let me use that mouth.”

I could feel how close she was—her thighs trembling around my ears, her breath turning ragged, her rhythm stuttering.

“Right there,” she gasped. “Right fucking there, don’t you dare stop.”

I sucked harder, flattened my tongue again, and she shouted.

Eva cried out, loud and raw. Her whole body locked up before she shuddered above me, thighs squeezing tight around my head. I held her there through every wave, kept my mouth on her until she twitched and whimpered and finally begged for me to stop.

She collapsed beside me, sucking in air like she’d just survived something.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and turned toward her. Her braids were a mess, lips parted, chest still rising and falling in slow, heavy pulls.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

I grinned, still catching my own breath. “That good?”

She rolled onto her side, eyes glassy and wild. “Lex. I saw stars .”

She threw a lazy arm over my waist and tucked herself in close, skin still warm and slick against mine.

For a few long seconds, all we did was breathe together.

Then her hand started to move. Her palm smoothed over my hip, her fingers drifting back up across my ribs—lazy, thorough, knowing exactly where I was ticklish, where I was sensitive, where I started to come undone.

Her mouth followed the trail of her hand, pressing a kiss to the center of my chest, the slope of one breast, and then the tip—hot and soft and wet. She sucked just hard enough to make my hips jump.

I moaned her name, and she whimpered back, like hearing it did something to her.

She dragged her tongue across my skin, teasing circles around my aching nipples, switching sides, her lips never leaving me for long. Her hand slipped between my legs and settled low on my thigh—not touching yet, just there —a reminder that she could, that she would, but only when I was ready.

When I rolled my hips against her thigh, it was an invitation.

“I want your mouth,” I told her, my voice rough. “Please.”

Eva moved like water—slow and inevitable. She kissed her way down my torso, past my stomach, pausing at the waistband of my sleep shorts to glance up at me with that look—the one that asked permission without words, the one that always undid me.

I lifted my hips in answer. She peeled my shorts down and off, and for a long moment, nothing touched me but air.

She settled between my thighs like she belonged there. Like she’d been planning to stay. Our hands met briefly on my naked stomach, her fingers warm and steady. My ass nearly left the bed when her tongue touched my clit.

She pulled back just enough to speak, her breath ghosting across me.

“It’s never been like this with anyone else.”

Her voice was low and reverent.

“I’ve had good sex—I mean, I’m Eva Montgomery,” she added with a crooked smile.

I smirked despite myself. Confident as ever.

“But that was just sex,” she continued, more serious now.

“What you do to me, Lex … I’ve never experienced anything like it before.

You’re good at what you do, obviously, but it’s more than that.

I can feel how much you love me, like it’s built into your fingertips.

And when you touch me—when your hands are on me—when your mouth is busy—I can feel that love. You’re one-of-a-kind, Lex Bennet.”

I felt my breath catch. But she wasn’t done.

“It’s never just been about sex, even when we first started hooking up. There was always something more, like another layer or an extra gear.”

Her fingers flexed on my thighs.

“I love the attention—I won’t lie. I love the cameras and the magazine covers and the lights. But if all of it went away tomorrow, I’d still be okay. Because you love me in a way I’ve never been loved before. I feel it in your bones, Lex. Like you were made for me.”

I blinked hard, my throat tight.

“I’m so in love with you.” My words felt inadequate after her extended soliloquy.

Then her mouth was on me again, devoted and unrelenting. I cried out, hips flexing off the mattress. Eva held me down with both hands, moaning into me like I was the dessert we never had.

Her tongue moved in slow, practiced circles. She didn’t tease; she gave. Over and over. Building me up and keeping me there, right on the edge, until I was panting her name like it was the only word I could remember.

Her hand slid up to grip mine, fingers interlaced, grounding me while she kept her mouth exactly where I needed it. She knew how to read me—when my breath caught, when my thighs trembled, when my back arched.

A low, ragged moan slipped from my throat. Then a breathy gasp. Then a name— Eva —broke free before I could stop it.

Her lips curved into a smile against my skin, and she hummed, the vibration setting my nerves on fire. “That’s it, baby. Let me hear you.”

I arched into her mouth, letting the sound rise—loud, messy, and urgent. “Fuck, Eva, don’t stop. Please, I need you.”

Her tongue flicked faster, teasing, swirling, coaxing, and I shuddered, fingers digging into the tops of her shoulders.

“God, yes. Right there, right there. You’re killing me.”

She groaned around me, her voice thick. “You sound incredible.”

I couldn’t help it. I cried out, louder now. “I’m so close, Eva. Please, don’t stop.”

Her mouth moved with a deliberate, confident rhythm, matching every desperate plea, every broken word. Her hands gripped my thighs, steadying me as I lost myself in the wave of sensations.

“Come for me,” she whispered fiercely, her voice nearly breathless.

“Eva—” My voice cracked. “I’m?—”

She pressed her tongue harder against my clit. Just enough.

I broke. Hard. I shuddered under her, my pulse thudding in my ears. She didn’t stop right away, didn’t let go of my hand. She only slowed everything down until I could breathe again.

Eva crawled back up my body and kissed me, lazy and deep. My hands were shaking when I touched her. I could taste myself on her lips.

She pulled away slightly, eyes dark with a mix of mischief and affection. “I’m ready for my dessert now,” she said.

I laughed, still catching my breath, my heart still racing. “You are so damn greedy,” I teased.

Eva slid off the bed and stood, her body still as tempting as the moments before. “I’m talking about the actual dessert from dinner, babe,” she said, her voice filled with playful innocence. “Gotta refuel before Round Two.”

We’d fallen asleep, tangled and sticky, the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that follows hard conversations and multiple orgasms. When I woke up, the bed beside me was empty, but the sound of the shower in the en suite told me she hadn’t gone far.

The bathroom door was cracked open. Steam drifted into the bedroom like a beckoning finger.

I nudged the door wider and lingered in the threshold.

The shower in Eva’s condo was massive—clearly built for luxury, with a rainfall showerhead mounted high enough to accommodate her above-average height. Deep jade-green tiles lined the back wall and sides. A glass door framed the front, left slightly ajar, letting heat and steam spill into the room.

She stood with her back to me, arms braced against the tile under the water’s steady stream.

Her braids, soaked and heavy, clung to her back in long, dark lines.

Droplets traced the contours of her shoulders, down the smooth plane of her spine, collecting at the small of her back before sliding over the curve of her hips and backside.

Every muscle was outlined in water, a living sculpture of strength and softness.

“You planning on joining me?” Her voice echoed through the tile-lined space.

“Maybe,” I said, but my feet were already moving.

I stepped inside and closed the glass door behind me. Warm water poured over my shoulders, but it was the heat in front of me that made my skin truly come alive.

I circled my arms around her waist, pulling her back against me until our slick skin met in every place it could.

She tilted her head to the side, just enough to let me find that sensitive spot beneath her ear.

I kissed it slowly, deliberately, my mouth moving in rhythm with the steady splash of water above us.

My hands glided up her sides, palms flattening over the warmth of her torso. I traced the smooth lines of muscle beneath her skin, savoring the slight tremble I felt when my fingers caught lightly at the ridges of her ribs.

I pressed closer, fitting myself to the curve of her back, and let my wet hands settle at her hips.

“Morning,” I murmured into her skin.

I heard her sigh. “Best one I’ve had in a while.”

She turned in my arms, her eyes finding mine through the mist. Wet lashes blinked slowly, her expression tender and quiet in a way that made my chest ache.

She reached for the soap and lathered it slowly between her hands before touching me—starting at my neck, down to my collarbone, then over the curve of my breasts like she was sculpting something only she could see.

Her hands moved lower, following the line of my waist before sliding around to my back. She pulled me in until there was no space left between us.

I let my head fall forward as she washed me, her hands slow and reverent, moving over my shoulders and down my spine.

“I owe you an apology,” she said, her voice low but firm over the sound of the water. “For last night. For the way I’ve been acting.”

“Eva—”

“No,” she interrupted gently. “I need to say this.”

Her eyes were serious, searching mine. “Lately, every opportunity beyond basketball has felt like the one I couldn’t say no to. But I can say no. And I will. No to the podcast. No to more photoshoots. Nothing extra that pulls me away from us.”

“You don’t have to give it up,” I said. “I know how much you’ve worked for all this.”

She stepped closer, both of us soaked and bare, and framed my face in her soapy hands.

“I worked my ass off,” she agreed. “But what’s the point of having it all if I lose you in the process?” Her voice cracked just slightly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like a footnote.”

Her lips found mine—slow, searching, like she was trying to memorize every inch of me all over again. I responded instinctively, fingers threading into her damp braids, pulling her closer until our bodies aligned completely.

She sighed against my mouth, her hands tangling in the hair at my nape, tugging me deeper into her.

We moved together beneath the spray, each touch an unspoken apology, a promise to try harder. Her skin was soft beneath my palms, the scent of her soap mingling with the steam—a heady reminder that she was real, and here, right now.

“You’re not a footnote, Lex,” she ghosted against my lips. “You’re the whole goddamn story.”

Eventually, we had to leave the shower—skin flushed, fingers pruny from too much heat and water. Eva wrapped herself in a towel and disappeared into the kitchen with the promise of making us breakfast.

I lingered in the bedroom, pulling on a clean T-shirt and sleep shorts, before checking my phone out of habit. I had a missed call from my Shamrocks teammate, Briana. The voicemail caught my attention. Bri was only a few years older than me, but definitely more of a texter.

From the kitchen, I heard the unmistakable sound of something hitting the floor, followed by a muttered curse.

“How do you want your eggs?” Eva called, cheerful and totally unbothered.

“Surprise me,” I called back, a little distracted.

I tapped on the voicemail and held the phone to my ear. Briana’s voice came through, low and familiar:

“Yo, Lex, what are you and your girl doing in January? We’re starting a new 3x3 league down in Miami. It’s gonna be big, and honestly, I think it’d be perfect for you two. Time away, some competition, stay in playing shape. Hit me back if you’re interested. Later!”

I walked into the kitchen to find Eva barefoot, still in her towel, eggshells on the counter and a skillet heating crooked on the stove. The place was a mess, and somehow it made her even more beautiful.

She looked up, eyes bright. “Everything okay?”

I nodded slowly, my smile growing.

“How does Miami in January sound?”