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

I stirred the ice in my drink again, then brought the salted rim to my lips, hiding a private smile.

We’d only emerged for food and water that first day, and even that had taken effort.

Every time I’d tried to put distance between us—get dressed, check the resort’s amenities list, rinse the sweat off—she’d found some way to pull me back in.

Her mouth behind my ear. Her fingers slipping beneath the hem of whatever I was wearing. Her quiet command: Come back to bed.

So I did.

It wasn’t just sex. It was joy. It was playful and greedy and worshipful. I’d never been touched like that before, or wanted to give so much in return. She made me feel powerful and undone at the same time.

“Another, Miss?”

I blinked again, pulled back into the present by the bartender.

“Oh. Sorry.” I set my glass down. “No, gracias.”

The bartender smiled and said something polite, but I hardly registered it, still thinking about the way Eva had looked straddling my lap on the edge of the hotel bed, her braids slipping loose from their bun, her mouth curved in a lazy, satisfied smile that said we’re not done yet.

I turned away from the bar and watched the entrance for Eva’s arrival. Couples and families with young children streamed through the entryway. Each one looked indistinguishable from the next, a long assembly line of resort wear and bad sunburns.

My attention had nearly glazed over when a tall, striking woman stepped up to the hostess stand.

She looked effortlessly elegant in a long, flowing linen dress.

A knitted shawl, more fashionable than practical, hung loosely from her arms. The dress’s halter top fastened behind her neck, drawing the eye to her strong shoulders and the graceful curve of her collarbone.

The fabric skimmed past her knees almost to her ankles, but a high slit revealed toned calves that led into delicate, strappy sandals.

Despite frequent sunscreen reapplications, she looked sunkissed. Glowing. Or maybe I was only in love.

Eva’s features remained neutral as she scanned the interior of the restaurant in search of me. She looked unbothered and unworried. Her beautiful face lit up, however, when her gaze fell on me.

She’d already seen what I was wearing back in the room, but the look she gave me suggested she was seeing it for the first time.

Or seeing it differently. I felt good. Relaxed.

And, honestly, I thought I looked good, too.

My fitted button-up hugged my biceps just right.

The linen pants I’d chosen were sharply pressed, elongating my already long legs.

I stood a little taller as she approached, her long strides making easy work of the distance between us. She stopped in front of me, her gaze cataloging the view. Then, with a quiet sort of familiarity, she reached out and smoothed an invisible wrinkle on my shirt.

“Is this new?” she asked.

I glanced down from her light honey eyes to where her fingers had moved to the pendant on my necklace.

It wasn’t new. It wasn’t even particularly stylish. I was pretty sure she just wanted a reason to touch me.

“No.”

She hummed softly, considering. “I like it. It suits you.”

The fingers that had investigated my necklace slipped down to meet my hands.

Her fingers intertwined with mine. It was an intimate and familiar gesture, one that had been forbidden until only a short while ago.

Since our viral kiss on the basketball court, Eva had noticeably softened and become more demonstrative, both physically and verbally.

She hadn’t settled on a pet name for me yet, but I trusted we’d get there.

The hostess appeared and gestured for us to follow. We weaved through crowded tables and wide archways that let in the ocean breeze. When we reached our table, I stepped ahead to pull out Eva’s chair.

“ This is new,” she murmured as she sat, the faintest smile tugging at her mouth.

I shrugged as I pushed in her chair. “It felt right.”

Eva’s eyes flicked to mine. “It’s sweet, Lex.”

I’d never done that for anyone before. Not because I hadn’t cared, but because I hadn’t thought to do it. But with Eva, it came without thinking—a reflexive urge to make her feel safe. Cared for. Cherished . The word felt too delicate, too tender, but it was the one that stuck.

The moment broke as another uniformed staff member—our waiter, I assumed—stopped by our table.

“Buenas noches, senoras! I’m Carlos, your maestro de mesas tonight!” His voice boomed just enough to draw a few heads but not enough to be obnoxious.

He plucked one of the folded cloth napkins from the table and flicked his wrist, like a matador tempting a bull, before laying it across Eva’s lap. The movement was automatic, muscle memory taking over like he’d done the motion thousands of times.

When he pulled his hand back, I witnessed how his body seemed to jerk to attention. Recognition colored his features when his eyes locked on Eva.

He made an involuntary noise. “Oh! It’s you!”

Carlos looked quickly in my direction as if to decide if I was famous or not, too. I smiled weakly, anticipating his disappointment.

“Carlos, can we get two glasses of the house red?” Eva asked.

He snapped his gaze back to Eva. “Si, yes, of course!”

Carlos vanished toward the bar, and I let myself exhale.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that our waiter recognized her, even in a different country, but small interactions like that only reminded me of the level of Eva’s celebrity.

My girlfriend wasn’t just a professional basketball player; she was an international brand.

I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to that.

I took a sip of my water and glanced around the restaurant, trying not to look like I was checking for witnesses. But it was impossible to ignore the undercurrent of attention that had begun to ripple in our direction.

Our table wasn’t in the center of the restaurant, but I couldn’t help feeling like a fish in a glass bowl. Every cellphone seemed to be tilted in our direction. They weren’t taking photos of their respective dinner plates—they all seemed to be watching us.

I held my hand over my mouth like a football coach trying to avoid a playcall from being intercepted by the opposing team.

“Is it just me, or is everyone looking at us?”

Eva only smiled encouragingly. She had far more experience being under the spotlight.

“Let them look,” she said gently. “No one else matters right now.”

I looked across the table at Eva, who sat back comfortably in her chair, seemingly unfazed by the attention. She draped her arm casually along the back of her seat. She didn’t flinch under scrutiny. She didn’t shrink or mask herself or try to make herself smaller.

Across from her, I felt the opposite. Overexposed. A little unsteady. But then her foot brushed mine beneath the table—barely a touch, featherlight—and the noise around us dulled.

“Hey,” she said softly, just for me.

My gaze lifted to hers.

“You okay?” she asked, her voice low, careful.

I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure. I felt split in two—half of me floating somewhere above the table, trying to calculate how many people had their cameras pointed our way. The other half was under the surface, tethered to Eva, drawn to her calm like gravity.

Her fingers found mine again, reassuring and warm.

“Don’t disappear on me,” she said gently.

That pulled a small smile from me. “I won’t.”

“Good.” She gave my hand a squeeze. “Because I was really looking forward to dinner with my girlfriend.”

That word— girlfriend —settled something inside me.

I took a breath. “Well, your girlfriend is about to make a bold menu choice.”

“Oh?”

“The habanero shrimp.”

She gave me a look of pure disbelief. “Lex. You’re a white girl from Wisconsin. You think mayo is spicy.”

“I have a very sophisticated palate,” I defended myself.

Eva picked up her menu with casual elegance. “Do I need to prep a glass of milk for you, or are you planning to power through on sheer Midwestern stubbornness?”

“Oh, I’m finishing it,” I said, reaching for my water glass. “I always finish.”

Her smile turned slow and wicked. “Not at the table, Lex.”

I nearly choked on my sip, laughing.

And just like that, I was me again. No longer the center of attention—just the center of hers.