Page 92 of Trade It All

The adjoining door. I stop. Blink. Actually back up a step.

No way.A little laugh escapes me. Most hotel suites have them, sure, but I never pay attention because they’re always dead bolted and useless.

Still…Curiosity immediately starts clawing at me.

I grab the hotel robe from the hook and slide it on, tying it loosely around my waist as I stare at the door. My side is obviously unlocked.

I should lock it. I know I should lock it. But now my brain has latched onto a different question. Is the other side unlocked too?

I bite my lip. This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And yet my hand reaches for the knob anyway.

Just to check. Just because I’m nosy. Just because maybe—I slowly twist it. My pulse jumps. I pull the door open.

And freeze.

Dean is standing on the other side. His shoulder resting against his open door like he was just waiting for me to open mine.

He looks up. Sees me. And the expression that takes over his face makes every ounce of oxygen leave my lungs.

Pure hunger. Pure relief. Like he has been dying of thirst and I am the first drop of water he’s seen in days.

His eyes drag slowly from my wet hair to the loose tie on my robe and back to my face. “Hi, Baby.”

My mouth parts. “You’re on the floor above me?” I ask.

Dean’s lips twitch. He pushes his door wider. “No,” he says, voice low and sinful. “I said I had to head there.”

Chapter 38

Dean

ThelookonMaddie’sface when the elevator doors shut between us damn near killed me.

She tried to hide it. Tried to keep that little flash of disappointment tucked away behind a polite smile because Jake and Luka were standing right there, but I saw it.

Of course I saw it. I see every little thing she does now. The way her shoulders dip when she’s let down. The tiny crease between her brows when she’s confused. The way she presses her lips together when she’s trying not to ask for something she wants.

That look made every protective, needy part of me want to drag her back into the elevator, pin her against the wall, and kiss the sadness clean off her mouth.

But I couldn’t. Not with Jake staring at his phone beside her and Luka paying attention to far more than people give himcredit for. I couldn’t tell her that I had to go upstairs first and meet with the coaching staff for ten minutes.

Couldn’t explain that she wasn’t actually sleeping alone tonight. That I had no intention of letting that happen. So I stood there and let the doors close while every part of me itched to call after her.

The second I was clear, I headed up, got through the coaching rundown faster than humanly possible, and practically jogged to my room.

Our room. Because technically we have two. That part had taken some planning.

I called the hotel right after the Denver game and had them switch my reservation and Maddie’s to adjoining suites. The woman on the phone probably thought I was insane with how specific I was about making sure the connecting door actually opened from both sides.

Worth it. Completely worth it. Because there was no chance in hell I was sleeping a wall and an entire hallway away from her after what happened with Tyler.

No chance I was leaving myself with no direct route to her if she needed me. She wouldn’t have agreed to room together. Not yet. She is still too careful, too worried about people finding out, too concerned with lines and appearances and all the things I am rapidly losing patience for.

So this—this was the compromise she didn’t know I made for us.

I step into my room and immediately hear movement on the other side of the adjoining wall.

Cabinet doors. Her suitcase zipper. Soft footsteps. A smile pulls at my mouth before I can stop it. She’s right there. Ten feet away.