I don’t respond to that because I think she’s well aware by now that, after the game is done and over with, I’d rather see the damn thing on the floor.
We flirt for what seems like hours. She finishes her drink slowly, fully self-aware of how she can be, before getting up with a yawn.
“I’m going to bed,” she tells the camera crew.
Honestly, I forgot they were even there.
“You guys get ready for bed, and they’ll just film you getting into it,” Edward says.
Amara’s eyes grow panicked. “We sleep in separate beds,” she squeaks.
Edward places his fingers in his eyes, looking as if there’s nothing more that he wants to do than bang his head into a wall. “Can you guys please just give us a little more tonight, and then you can have a few days without dealing with us? Please?”
I watch the wheels turning in Amara’s head before she agrees, eyeing me.
We head silently to our rooms to grab our clothes and quickly change.
There’s a knock on my door, and a second later her head peeks around. “Are you ready for me?” she whispers.
I signal for her to come in, and the crew follows. How weird is it to have cameras following you as you get ready for bed?
“Do you need water or anything?” I ask her gently, grabbing my own water glass and heading into the bathroom to fill it.
“Nah. All good,” she says as she climbs under the blanket.
And I stop. Just for a second. Because she looks like she belongs there.
Her curly hair is up in a pink bonnet, the oversized t-shirt riding up her leg as she gets situated. I’m desperate to know what’s underneath.
Gulping, I set my drink on the bedside table and crawl in after her.
“Today was nice,” I whisper.
“I can’t wait to see you play again,” she smiles, her eyes twinkling in what light we have.
I hear the door close, and we both sit up, listening carefully for everyone to leave our place. “Why wouldn’t they just tell us they’re leaving?” she wonders aloud.
“I don’t actually have an answer for you.” This whole thing is bizarre.
The second we hear my front door close, Amara is climbing out of bed, her cherry scent stirring as she goes.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m going to my own room, I figured that was the plan.”
A part of me wants to feel sad. Another part says that I expected this. Obviously, she would go back to her own room.
“Oh. Okay.”
“You thought I was going to stay here?”
“I just thought we had such a good day, and you were saying all those things out there?—”
Amara instantly straightens, her eyes steely. “Cooper, we were supposed to be acting.”
Without another word, she turns on her heel and walks out the door, leaving me to pick up the pieces of my heart as she goes.
CHAPTER 27
