Free Blitzed (The Alpha Ballers #3) by Lucy Snow Page A

started, Coach Armstrong would flay me alive.

    The trip back to my place took only 15 minutes; Mack clung to me tighter around the curves, and whenever she looked up at me, even though I couldn’t see her face through the dark visor, I smiled, hoping to reassure her. She had been through something traumatic tonight, and I needed her to know I would keep her safe.

    When we pulled into my apartment complex, I rolled right into my spot and we got off. When I took the helmet off Mack’s head, and her mass of dark brown hair fell out, I had to laugh.

    “What?” She said. “My hair?” She started playing with it. “This is all your fault.”

    I took the helmet and put it away. “Totally my fault, you’re right. Come on.”

    We went inside and up the elevator to my place. I wasn’t big on living out of my means, even though I had made a ton of money. Money was great and all, but once you had the things you needed the rest of it wasn’t good for much besides knowing you would never go hungry, I always thought.

    As my father and many others had said, ‘you can’t take it with you.’

    But I did like to have a nice, comfortable, and roomy place, even if I spent most of my time at the facility. I was one step away from Lance Parker’s living at the facility thing, though after Charlotte came into his life, that had quickly ended.

    In the elevator, Mack slumped against me, and I wrapped my arms around her. She must have been exhausted - a full day’s work, a big charity event, then the horror of an almost-assault like that.

    We got inside and I sat her down on the couch near the kitchen. Mack immediately kicked off her shoes, massaging her feet while I puttered around in the kitchen making tea.

    We didn’t speak; Mack just watched me as I went around doing my thing. It almost got awkward for a second there, but then just as quickly, the tension faded, and I felt comfortable again. That was different than with every other woman.

    Unlike the others who had come over, Mack didn’t seem intimidated by me. That was more than a little intriguing.

    I came back into the living room and handed Mack a cup of tea. She took it and despite how hot it was, she downed it in under a minute, then stretched out on the couch. I sat in a chair opposite her and watched as she lounged about, getting comfortable.

    “You’re not sleeping here,” I said, sipping my tea.

    “Huh?” Mack asked, groggily. “But my car’s back at the party.”

    I looked over the top of my cup. “That’s not what I meant.”

    “I’m confused.”

    “Here, I’ll help.” I stood up, setting my cup down on the table, and after taking a step, I easily picked Mack up off the couch, cradling her in my arms.

    Almost automatically Mack wrapped her arms around my neck for stability, but she also pressed her face into my chest. “Oh, Hud…” she whispered sleepily.

    I slowly walked to the bedroom, and in the dark, I pulled the covers aside and lay her down. She was already half asleep by the time I rolled the covers back up over her, and as soon as I was done, she gently rolled to her side. “Oh, Hud, kiss…” she said, trailing off as sleep overtook her.

    I took off my shirt and pants, got a blanket from the closet, and headed out to the couch.

    What a night.

CHAPTER 05 - MACKENZIE

    The light pouring in from the windows gently told me it was time to wake up, despite my best attempts at protest. Before I opened my eyes, though, I rolled around in bed a little longer, dragging the blankets along with me, creating a cocoon of safety and warmth that I wanted to carry around me forever.

    As my other senses woke up, the last thought I had before I opened my eyes was that wearing blankets in public needed to become the next big thing in fashion. Maybe I should start a trend.

    When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the unfamiliar ceiling. This was not my bed, which I should have realized, because these were definitely not my