Hooped #5 (The Hooped Interracial Romance Series #5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

else.
    The music got louder as more and more people started
coming into the party, all of them greeted with a drink of some kind from a
toga-clad Phi Kappa guy. Devon led me out onto the makeshift dance floor in the
living room and we moved together, laughing and kissing, just as though we’d
been dancing together for ages, as if we’d been a couple for years instead of a couple of weeks. I could
see the looks of envy from the other girls at the party; whatever hopes they
had of attracting his gaze away from me were utterly and completely destroyed,
as Devon kept his arms around me, his hands wandering over my body but not
quite groping me. We kept dancing until we were both drenched in sweat, moving
through one song after another, and I couldn’t remember being happier in my
entire life.
    When we were both too hot and sweaty to want to keep
going, Devon led me into the kitchen and put another drink in my hand, leaning
in and kissing me lightly on the lips. “To think,” he murmured in my ear,
smiling against my skin. “I thought that it was so cool to party it up as a single guy. Much better this way.” I
laughed, giving him a playful shove and barely managing to keep my drink in my
cup.
    “You met me at the last party,” I told him tartly.
“And you had a great time then.” Devon laughed, wrapping his arms around me and
holding me close.
    “Yeah, well—it’s even better this time, so I don’t see
how you can possibly be all offended.” He nipped along the column of my throat, and I nearly dropped my drink, my
breath hitching in my throat. Devon pulled back and grabbed my hand, leading me
out of the kitchen and into the backyard .
    We sat around outside together, sipping our drinks,
talking to everyone who came by. Devon made sure that everyone who asked him
about the test knew that it was me who was tutoring him, and that—in his opinion
at least—I was the best tutor on the planet, the smartest girl he had ever met.
The guys on his team, at the party in part to hang out with him and in part
because it was a Phi Kappa party, and therefore not to be missed, joked that I
would weaken his legs before the championship. No one doubted that Devon would
somehow find a way to play for the big game; no one doubted that he would be up
to peak still. But in spite of the jokes about me weakening Devon’s legs,
everyone on his team seemed glad that I was in Devon’s life. “You know, I think
you’ve steadied him a lot, already,” Miles told me, sitting sprawled out on a
lounge chair next to the one Devon and I shared.
    “She did,” Devon agreed, giving my waist a squeeze. I
rolled my eyes.
    “I still say that if Devon hadn’t wanted to steady
down and focus, I wouldn’t have had such a good influence on him.” Miles shook
his head.
    “Nah, man. Devon never even thought about settling
down and getting serious about life until he met you. It’s all you, girl.” I
shook my head at the compliment, but it pleased me nonetheless. I loved that
not only had I been accepted as Devon’s girlfriend, but his friends and
teammates seemed to all like me. Nobody thought I was doing anything with Devon
or to him that he didn’t need, that
didn’t benefit him. For the whole night, as the party raged around us, Devon
and I were never apart for more than a few minutes; I only ever really left his
side to use the bathroom. Even as I talked to people around me, I was aware of
him close to me, the fact that he obviously enjoyed me having a good time.
    After a while, I had exhausted my interest in talking
to anyone else, and Devon and I made our way back inside. For a few minutes, we
danced together again, slow and sweet, and I could remember only too well what
Devon looked like under his tee shirt and jeans, how it would look when he
stripped down. “I think you’re wearing exactly the same thing you were wearing
when I met you,” I commented to Devon. Devon chuckled.
    “Did you only just notice that?” he asked me,