Page 211 of The Havenport Collection

Luke

I sat on the bench, chugging water, drenched with sweat. But I was in my element. I had grown up loving basketball, watching the Celtics on TV and worshipping the players.

There was never any money or time for organized sports growing up, but I played on playgrounds my entire life and spent a lot of my adult years playing pickup games on weekends. I wasn’t good, but I wasn’t bad either, and I loved the game.

When I moved to Havenport I was lucky enough to find an awesome group of guys who liked to play pickup on Sunday mornings.

Unfortunately, we were always competing with the local kids for courts.

I knew how much that playground time meant to me as a kid, so I built a court on my estate.

That way we could work up a sweat and have some fun while still letting the kids have their time at the playgrounds.

After a while, I built a second one, and a bunch of local teens usually came over with their parents for Sunday morning shootarounds. Boys, girls, parents, grandparents—everyone was welcome to play.

It was one of the highlights of my week, seeing kids of all ages having fun and getting exercise and sharing my love for the game.

It was moments like these that I enjoyed being rich.

That I could create something awesome for my community felt like a real accomplishment.

More so than any deal I’d closed or code I’d written.

This is what I loved about money. It gave me the means to connect people and bring them together.

To enjoy the things I loved with my community.

What good was having a mansion if I just walked around it by myself all the time?

Usually I played for hours every Sunday—my pickup game with the guys and then I would play endless games of horse with some of the local kids. It usually ended with me ordering pizzas and everyone running around while the adults chatted and Jude served coffee.

It was the highlight of every week.

“Dude. Where is your head at?” Josh asked, throwing a towel in my face. Most everyone had left at this point, and Josh’s kids, Ava and Jack, were playing with a few of their friends on the court.

My head was not in the game. I had missed a layup and Josh shot me a look. Then I had accidentally passed to Declan, who was not on my team, and Trent raised an eyebrow. Clearly everyone could tell something was up with me.

I tried to focus, I tried to concentrate, but my mind continued to wander to the woman who prevented me from getting any sleep last night.

The woman currently in the house next to mine.

I imagined her asleep, her dark hair strewn wildly across the pillow while the sheet slipped down, revealing one of her spectacular breasts.

I smiled just thinking about how calm and peaceful she probably looked asleep.

Awake, Nora was fiery and loud and constantly moving.

But in my mind, she was a peaceful angel curled up in my bed.

I was struck by the overwhelming urge to go see her.

I wanted to cuddle and spoon and talk about whatever happened between us last night.

Josh eyed me suspiciously as we sipped coffee and tried to warm up while we watched the kids play.

I elbowed him. “I like this new and improved Josh by the way. You seem happy and healthy and not a depressed wreck questioning all your life choices.”

He rolled his eyes at me, ignoring my attempts to deflect his questions.

“Thank Maggie for me for taking you back. I am glad to be rid of your morose ass hanging around my house playing video games and eating snacks.”

He smirked. “Oh, please. You miss me coming over here with beer while we zone out and hunt aliens together.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I miss you too, bro. I’m still around to hang out. But now you need to tell me why you’re completely out in space today.”

I shrug. “Just tired.”

“Why are you tired?”

“No reason.”

Josh coughed dramatically, uttering “bullshit.” I laughed. “You can lie to me and yourself, or you can just be a man and tell me what’s going on. You have been an incredible friend to me; if there is something on your mind, I can listen.”

Fuck, Josh was a good guy. A good friend, a good father, and now a vastly improved husband. It was incredible really. He took stock of his life and made some pretty big changes. I respected the shit out of him, but doubted I had that kind of strength. “Something happened last night,” I explained.

“You need to give me more than that.”

“I slept with Nora.”

He pumped his fist dramatically. “Finally!” He fished around in his pocket for his phone. “I have to check the betting pool. The pot has really grown since you made her wear that sexy elf costume, so someone is winning big today.”

“Put the phone down and please don’t tell anyone. Also, a betting pool? This town is out of control.”

“Get over yourself. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that you two are into each other. You circle one another like sharks when you are in public.”

He wasn’t wrong. I was always drawn to Nora.

She was a curvy magnet who attracted my attention wherever I went.

I got up and started pacing around the court.

I needed to sweat out this Nora fever, get her out of my system.

I couldn’t let my mind wander. She wasn’t like that.

She didn’t want me. And I didn’t want her.

Or did I?

I wanted her body, that was a given. And more and more, I found myself wanting her mind, her humor, and those rare flashes of kindness.

Despite the heavy armor she wore, Nora was a softie deep down. I saw her with her friends. I knew how fiercely loyal and protective she was. And her devotion to the town. She loved big and I admired that about her.

But even if—and it was a big if—I liked her, she didn’t want me or like me.

If anything, she was happy to use me for my dick, but that was about it.

And as much as I enjoyed her using me for my dick, I knew if I kept it up much longer I would get hurt.

The only choice was to put some distance between us, no matter how hard it was.

“Are you dating?” Josh asked.

“Of course not.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s Nora.”

“Dude. You are my best friend. But I need you to explain further or else I’m going to get really mad at you.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not like that. It’s not because she’s not good enough.”

“Correct. She’s awesome.”

“It’s because we hate each other. She’s annoying and loud and always right about everything.”

“And you clearly are into it.”

“Correction. My dick is into it.”

“Unsurprising.”

“But the rest of me isn’t.”

He laughed. Openly laughed at me. The kids stopped playing and looked over at us while Josh clutched at his side and guffawed.

“You are so full of shit. If you weren’t into her you wouldn’t be thinking about her today. You’d be playing basketball and having fun. Instead you’ve been moping around all distracted. You are so into her and such an idiot.” He continued to chuckle while I glared at him.

“Shut up. I don’t know what I think right now. I’m confused and frustrated, okay?”

“Nora is not the kind of woman where you hit it and quit it. Unless she quits you. And she may, and I wouldn’t blame her.”

“Things were super hot and intense. And then she left.”

“So go back and have a conversation with her.”

“We don’t really do that. We basically yell at each other. And then other stuff too.”

Josh raised his eyebrows. “I understand. And hey, that’s fun and all, but talking is good too.”

I knew he was right, and I hated it. I wanted to chalk last night up to a hot hookup and never think about it again.

But I knew that wasn’t possible. I already spent most of my time thinking about Nora, and now that I knew the kind of connection we shared?

Now that I had been inside her? There was no going back.

Because as hot as it was—and it was scorching—now I craved something else entirely. I wanted to drink coffee and snuggle and make love. The fierce, intense fucking was amazing too, but I found myself wondering what other experiences would be like with Nora.

It was dangerous. So dangerous. We weren’t like that. We were two lightning bolts, two alphas, who clashed with delicious and intense results. We were not a couple; there was no tenderness between us, no future possibilities together.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel my stomach flip when I thought about her lying in bed, naked and peaceful. Maybe there could be more between us.

Was I ready for that? Ready to open myself up to someone again?

It hadn’t exactly worked out for me in the past. There was a reason I didn’t trust easily. Several of them actually.

And Nora had been clear she was not interested. It was probably for the best, really. What I was feeling was just a hangover from really amazing sex. Nothing more. I wasn’t the relationship type. And Nora certainly wasn’t interested in one with me.

I would do what I did best—focus on my work and hope that these feelings faded away.