But Wrenley was one of those people who still had faith in the human race and wanted to help everyone. The way she’d freaked about me staying in a hotel had been evidence of that. Not that it was a bad quality, but I had a feeling it blinded her from seeing people’s flaws and that she tried to find the good in everyone. Otherwise, why would she have settled for my bastard of a best friend?
I made my way over to Prentice and his wife, Naomi, who was cuddling their infant son in her arms. “Thanks for having me,” I said as I shook the quarterback’s hand. I leaned in to give Naomi a hug, and Prentice growled, pulling her into his side.
Naomi rolled her eyes, but I just snickered and nodded at her before turning around.
I lifted my chin in farewell at several other teammates as I headed to the front door. Then I got into my Mercedes G-class and drove back to Manhattan. Spring was coming to an end, and it was a beautiful Saturday, so the traffic in the city was a pain in the ass. Thankfully, Jordan’s building had an attached underground parking garage.
By the time I had a couple of duffel bags and two small boxes packed, Jordan and Wrenley had arrived home.
“Can we help you with anything?” she asked.
“I’m good,” I told her with a genuine smile. I didn’t want to make her feel bad when she’d been trying to help. And I didn’t need Jordan trying to kick my ass for upsetting her. “I just need to borrow Jordan to help me transport everything.”
“Okay, well, again, I’m really sorry to be displacing you like this. But Marleigh is awesome, and I’m sure you’ll get along great.” She smiled brightly, but mine was strained as all the possible disasters began piling up in my mind again.
“Let’s get this the fuck over with,” Jordan growled as he stalked into the entryway. His disgruntled expression softened when Wrenley went over and raised her face for a kiss.
I had no desire to witness what would most likely become R-rated real fast, so I lugged one-third of my stuff out the door and called for the elevator.
Jordan stomped out of his house with the rest of my things just as the lift arrived. He grumbled all the way on and all the way down. Finally, as we exited at the bottom, I scowled at him. “What do you have to grumble about, jackass? You weren’t kicked out onto the street at a moment’s notice and then forced to live with a stranger for two weeks. An unnecessary situation since I could have just stayed in a fucking hotel.”
His expression began to turn sheepish.
But I kept going. “You have to help me for an hour, then you get to go home to your bed, where the woman of your dreams is waiting for you.”
Jordan looked somewhat contrite, so I dropped the argument and walked to my car. After I opened the rear door, we threw everything we could fit in there, then filled the back seats with the rest.
Once we were both seated and buckled, I drove out of the garage and down to Hell’s Kitchen. I looked up at the building he indicated, then whistled. “Nice digs for an up-and-coming model and a student.”
“Marleigh’s parents pay the rent while she goes to school. They were happy about Wrenley being there so neither of them was living alone in the city.”
Her parents paid for everything?Fucking hell.I wondered what they would think about a strange guy sleeping in the room next to their young daughter. Nothing good, I imagined.
This building also had a garage, so I pulled in and took the space Wrenley had told me to. Apparently, it was assigned to their apartment, but Marleigh didn’t have a car. After parking, we grabbed all of my shit from the car and carried it to the elevator, which we rode up to the thirty-first floor.
When we walked out of the elevator, dread filled me with every step that took us closer to the mystery roommate. “You know I’m only doing this because I’m your best friend, right?” I grunted.
“Yeah, I know. I owe you.”
“You don’t just owe me, dude. I fucking own you.”
Jordan mumbled something, but we were at apartment 3110, so I didn’t ask for clarification. I told myself to stop being such a pussy before rapping my knuckles on the door.
Less than a minute later, the door opened and—holy shit.
I was looking at the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen in my life. She had to be less than five and half feet, small, but with curves that made my mouth water. Considering I was six-foot-two and two-hundred and five pounds, I dwarfed her in size, but I found that it was just another thing that made attraction sizzle across my skin. She had long, straight black hair with bright streaks of pink and blue, a rose bud mouth, a pert nose, and ice-blue eyes. My cock had gone hard the instant I saw her, but as I looked over every delicious inch of her, it strained against my jeans, testing the limits of my zipper.
Her mouth had fallen slightly open, and her pink tongue darted out to wet her lips. I held back a ragged groan and shifted uncomfortably.
Suddenly, I was eager as fuck to get inside and be alone with this—mywoman. It took me all of five seconds to recognize and accept that she was mine. So I’d crash at her place for the next two weeks, but when my house was ready and I moved out, she’d be coming with me.
Right now, I was wrestling with the insistent desire to drop my shit and kiss the hell out of her. But the rational part of my brain that was still slightly functioning—barely—reminded me that it would probably scare the fuck out of her, and she’d never let me near her again.
That would make things a little awkward since her best friend and mine were together…and that was when I remembered that Jordan was still standing beside me.
I dragged my gaze to his face and gave him a meaningful look. “Consider the debt paid in full. Now leave.”
4