Bex

Three months later

This moment is surreal. I sit across the conference table from Preston—right next to his mom, who is also my new boss. Coach offered me an internship at her firm, DMG, right after I graduated from Strickland University. I have six months of shadowing Preston’s mom before I can speak to clients alone. But at least it’s a start.

Preston clutches the pen in his hand, peeking up from the contract his mom negotiated with the Penguins. He smiles at me, a smile so wide it reaches up to his eyes. We have an unspoken bond, one that doesn’t require us to exchange words. His eyes tell me he loves me. That he’s glad I’m here with him on the biggest day of his life.

I smile back, motioning with my head for him to sign the damn contract. He’s been staring at it for so long, as if he can’t believe it’s real.

As part of the deal, Preston has to be on his best behavior, obviously. After the fight with Kellan, the Penguins’ General Manager was concerned he had behavioral issues. But the GM wasn’t going to allow one incident to get in the way. Like my dad, he knew a star when he saw one. Preston plays like his dad—maybe even better. They would have been fools not to want him.

Preston’s contract was my first foray into the sports world. And if all goes well, it won’t be my last.

“Go on, honey,” Coach says to Preston. “Sign it.”

His dad sits next to him, a ridiculous grin on his face. He’s so proud of Preston it oozes from him, filling the air with his love.

“This is the first of many.” His dad slaps him on the back. “Wait until the big money starts rolling in.”

Preston has never cared about the money. It was always about the notoriety and living up to the Parker name. That’s all he’s ever wanted. To make his parents proud of him. And he has.

As Preston signs the contract, I can’t stop smiling. Everything’s worked out for him in the end. The guilt I felt for so long over his suspension gutted me. I hated seeing him in pain, unable to play with his team.

Preston drops the pen on the table and slides the papers in front of his mom. She glances at them, making sure he didn’t miss a spot.

JP walks into the room. He stands in the doorway, looking like a million bucks in a three-thousand-dollar suit. He’s delicious, an older version of Preston. The men in the Parker family are seriously hot as puck.

“Is it official?” JP asks Preston. “Is my little brother now sleeping with the enemy?”

Preston laughs. “Yeah. I signed my life away for less than a million bucks.”

I laugh, because Preston has a hell of a lot more money than that in his trust fund. Rookie contracts are small, nothing like what the more established players make.

“You’ll get there,” JP says. “It just takes time and numbers. Keep your nose clean and your head in the game, and you’ll be pulling in seven figures in no time.”

“You just want the commission,” Preston jokes.

JP shrugs. “I’m a selfish bastard. What can I say?”

Preston smirks. “That you are, brother.”

JP angles his body to stop a woman passing by in the hallway. She’s a tall blonde with a toned, athletic body. Her short skirt reveals her muscular legs.

“Hey, baby girl, think you can get me a coffee?” JP removes a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket. “Run down to Starbucks—”

“John Michael Parker,” Coach yells. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He gives his mom the cutest little boy smile that Preston has also perfected when he’s in trouble.

Coach points at the woman. “You don’t recognize her?”

JP studies the woman’s body, his eyes eventually landing on her face. He likes what he sees, that much is evident in the way he appraises her. “Did we, you know, have sex?”

I laugh so hard I snort. Because the more I look at her, I realize she’s not some woman from the secretarial pool, and her skirt is way too sporty for work. She’s Andrea Banks, one of the best tennis players in the world.

“She won the US Open, you idiot.” Coach shakes her head. “Andrea, I’ll be with you shortly. I’m so sorry about my son.”

“I’m fine,” Andrea says. “No worries.”

“John, take care of our newest client, and please don’t hit on her.”

JP flashes a wicked grin at his mom, and then looks at Andrea again, this time noting his major mistake. He holds out his hand to her. “I’m John Parker, but you can call me JP.”

She smiles, as if he didn’t just treat her like a secretary, and shakes his hand. “How about that coffee, JP?”

He wiggles his eyebrows, a simple gesture that reminds me of Preston when he gets his way, even though he shouldn’t. They disappear down the hallway together, and Coach sighs loudly.

“How did I end up with two boys who are exactly like their father?”

Alex leans his elbows on the table, holding her in his clutches. “Because they learned it from me, sweetheart.”

Even my skin tingles from the intensity between them. Like father, like son. This man still has it. That something. Even at his age.

She shakes her head at him, somewhat amused. “At least Preston turned out okay. He found himself a good girl. I can’t say the same about John. That boy is hopeless.”

“He needs a woman like Bex,” Preston says. “She changed my life.”

“Your mother changed mine,” Alex chimes.

I reach across the table to touch Preston’s hand, and he slips his fingers between mine. His heat warms my skin. “And you mine.”

Coach shuffles the papers in her hands, the sound of them tapping on the table drawing my attention to her. “Bex, I was thinking you could work remotely after your internship is over.”

I withdraw my hand from Preston’s to sit back in my chair. “You want me to work from home?”

I’m so confused. Is this a nice way of firing me? My stomach knots at the thought of leaving a place I love so much. When I’m at DMG, I feel at home. I was meant to become a sports agent.

“Yes.” Coach continues, “But I was thinking you could do it in Pittsburgh.”

My mouth falls open in shock. “Are you serious? But don’t I need to be here with you and JP?”

She shakes her head. “You’ll still have to travel to meet clients with either JP or me. I’ll also expect you to come into the office once a month, but you can live with Preston in his new apartment for the remainder of the time.”

“Thank you.” I practically jump out of my chair to hug her, and she laughs, patting me on the back.

“You’re welcome.” I sit back in my chair and she adds, “Exceptions can be made for family.”

My heart beats a little faster from her words. After idolizing this woman for most of my life, she’s taken me into her home, into her office, and now calling me family.

“Family,” I whisper.

Preston locks eyes with me and nods.

“Did you know about this?”

His cocky smirk is a dead giveaway. “I wanted it to be a surprise. Now we both get what we want.”

“I already have what I want,” I confess, feeling like a total sap, even though it’s true. “I have you.”

Love you, baby, he mouths, and I say it back.

Our love was never perfect, but it’s ours, something no one will ever understand but us. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.