“Infamous, but yeah. It goes with playing for the Ice Raptors.” It didn’t really matter to him.
Now he had to hope it wouldn’t matter to her. And hell. He had to get to the guys on his team and make sure they didn’t paint him in a bad light. Because if Ford or Mickey said anything that annoyed her, he’d break them in half.
“Gripping the steering wheel pretty hard there, killer. Are you scared?”
“Of screwing things up with you? Of course.”
She blinked in surprise. “What?”
“Marlie, I like you.” I love you, woman! “I’m bringing you home with me to impress you. What’s mine is yours.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded. “So if I said I want your truck, you’d give it to me?’
“Well, no. Not the beast. Though I like to think of you as my beast. So maybe.”
“Hold on. I’m a beast?”
That annoyed her.
They spent the next half hour arguing, and Marlie’s eyes gleamed with amusement. The woman did love being contrary. After grabbing some takeout they ate on the way, he drove her into his city. Though Damon had been raised in Hope’s Turn, Portland felt like home to him as well.
He’d found a tight little condo in the Pearl District, not far from the Moda Center, where they played a lot of their games. Portland was weird, and he loved that about the city. They had freaks and geeks, athletes and musicians, and a lot of people who just wanted to chill.
He drove them to his condo and parked in the garage, then escorted her inside.
“Wow. This place is huge.” Marlie hadn’t stopped looking around her since they’d entered the building.
The concierge, a young man a few years Damon’s junior, smiled at him. “Hey, Damon.”
“John.”
The guy smiled at Marlie as well before assisting the Hynd couple, who owned a few starred restaurants in town.
Damon guided her inside the elevator and hit the button to his floor. “You’ve been to Portland before, right?”
“Yeah. But it’s been a while. I’m used to living in a small town. I like it there.”
“But Portland’s not far.”
“No. Not far. And honestly, this is like a special vacation. I’m so glad I’m done with papers and turned in my grades. I’m officially on Christmas break.”
“About time.”
The elevator stopped one floor up, where a lot of the common amenities—a weight room, kitchen and lounge area, and a library—could be found. In stepped a guy even taller than Damon, a basketball player who’d recently joined the Trailblazers last year.
“’Sup.” The guy nodded to them as the elevator moved again. He hit a button for two floors below Damon’s.
Marlie’s eyes grew huge.
Knowing how much she loved basketball, he had no doubt she’d recognized the guy. “Yo, Mannie. How’s the team looking?”
“Better than your bum knee.” The guy, who had to be six-eight at least, played power forward and had been getting more play time, subbing in for Deni Avdija on occasion.
“Smart ass.”
