Oh man, oh man, oh man! THIS BOOK, you guys. THE SWOON. I cannot even tell you. It’s a delicious, heartfelt, sexy slow-burn that gets you in the feels. I couldn’t put it down. The enemies-to-lovers storyline was filled with angsty tension, tons of heart and of course, heat. A perfect one sitting read. And it’s a standalone.
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If you’ve ever seen your teenage crush ten years later, and he turns out to be a complete jerk, then you know how Molly Ward feels.
The last time she saw Noah Griffin was the regrettable day that she decided to climb into his bedroom window and turn her unrequited crush into something more.
That day was bad enough, but things are about to get worse.
Noah has become one of the best football players in the country, and he’s just landed on Molly’s front step.
As a new addition to the Washington Wolves roster, Noah’s presence is the key to Molly’s promotion in the front office.
The problem is, Noah wants nothing to do with Molly, and his surly attitude is making her job very difficult.
But he’s got another thing coming if he thinks Molly will be intimidated by one grumpy football player, no matter how much he hates being around her.
Once these two go head to head, their mutual dislike explodes into undeniable chemistry. But with what they have at stake, they just might detonate everything else along with it.
Excerpt
Tilting my chin up, I breathed slowly through my nose.
“This cannot be happening,” I muttered.
“Nice to see you too,” she said, voice no longer weak and surprised.
Grudgingly, I dropped my gaze, and for the first time in nine years, I looked Molly Ward straight in the face. The last time I’d seen her, my father had marched us over to her house to deliver her back to Logan and his wife.
The last time I’d seen her, I’d pulled her shirt off and sucked on her enthusiastic tongue while she wiggled on my lap. I didn’t even have a good reason for doing it, other than being a dumb college football player who didn’t question things like hot girls wanting to be with me.
The last time I’d seen her, I was an idiotic nineteen-year-old, completely unaware that the girl with the fantastic rack, the one who eyed me like I was made of chocolate, the girl who climbed into my bedroom window and tasted like Rainier cherries, was only sixteen.
Thank God my dad walked in.
There was a lot about her that hadn’t changed. She was still short—or short compared to me even though she was probably around five feet eight—and her eyes were the same bright blue. Her face had slimmed down because the cheekbones were new, while some of the other curves she’d had as a teenager were either effectively hidden behind her simple white shirt or had melted away as she grew into an adult. Her hair was the lighter than it used to be, but the stubborn lift of her chin gave me vivid flashbacks to the last time I’d seen her.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Your brother warned me you worked here.”
“I didn’t realize I was intimidating enough to require a warning.” She smiled, and I had to give her credit for holding it in place as my own mouth flattened into a line. “Welcome to Washington, Noah. I heard about the trade yesterday.”
Her polite attempt at conversation almost had me relaxing my stance and softening my tone just a little bit. But as I studied her face again, beautiful and fresh-faced and sweetly smiling, I decided that was the worst damn thing I could possibly do.
The last time I’d been kind to a teammate’s wife, giving her a ride home because she drank too much, I was rewarded by her shoving her hand down my pants, a slap on the face when I told her to get the hell out of my car, and the loss of my position on the team when she told her husband that I hit on her.
Just another example that no woman was worth putting my career on the line for.
“It wasn’t my choice to be here, trust me.”
She watched me carefully, eyes darting over to the elevator panel before she leaned over and slapped the emergency stop button.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. She knocked my hand away when I tried to hit it again.
“Calm down. We have a solid five minutes before anyone in security is notified.”
My answering stare was nothing short of incredulous. “How do you know that?”
“The twins tried it once because they were curious,” she said calmly. “Paige was pregnant, and they wondered what would happen if she got trapped in the elevator. We turned it into a labor and delivery drill.” Molly tilted her head, smile spreading as she told me. “Logan was so pissed because they disappeared from the practice field with his stopwatch to time it from beginning to end.”
Rubbing my temples, I felt the beginnings of a headache blooming behind my eyes. Questions, so many questions, sprang to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them down.
“Hit the button, Molly. I need to go to the weight room.”
She glanced at a slim gold watch on her wrist. “We have just over four minutes.” Then she pinned me with those blue eyes. “What’s your problem? You’re acting weird.”
I pushed off the wall. “You don’t know me. You wouldn’t know how I act under any circumstances, let alone this one.”
Her face pinched briefly. “Fair enough, but I used to know you. You were a nice guy, Noah.”
“I was a college athlete who let his dick make stupid decisions. I screwed around and wasted my time on video games and parties and women who I don’t remember anymore. Typical player, in more ways than one, and you’d do good to remember that.”
The words were intended to hurt. And I saw the moment they hit their mark, as clearly as if they’d drawn blood from her smooth, pale skin.
Molly rolled her lips in, the edges of her cheekbones turning pink, but she didn’t reply right away. I expected capitulation. Another kindly spoken request. And for the second time that day, she surprised me.
“I was in diapers when my brother started playing professional football. I’ve worked here for four years and interned for two before that. I’m the last person who needs a lecture about asshole football players. I daresay I’ve known more of them than you have.”
“Whatever you say, Miss Ward.” I shouldered past her and hit the button.
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