“Eh, no, maybe I can get blue.”

“Oh, yes, try! And glass slippers!”

When his face broke into a grin, he snorted with laughter as she smiled back. “I love you, Mekena Preston.”

Holding on to his biceps, she held his gaze, knowing life would be boring without him. She would never find a man who would love her as much as he did, or one who would also be so kind as to accept her parents even with the baggage they carried. He didn’t have to do that, but he did because he loved her. God, what a beautiful thing to know. What a beautiful man to love.

Her man.

“And I love you. More than you’ll ever know.”

“Bullshit.”

Mekena snorted a bit at Markus’s annoyance. “Markus, they don’t want any ‘hanky-panky’ on the plane,” she said, quoting Coach Baxter. Though, she couldn’t keep a straight face if she tried. The fact that they couldn’t sit together on the plane was plausible, and she understood the team’s reasoning, but thinking they would get it on while on the plane was just ludicrous. She wouldn’t do that with the whole team on the plane! And her boss! What kind of girl did they think she was? She was a professional, one who may be dating a doofus, but a professional.

“But I want to do the hanky-panky. I wanted to join the Mile High Club, damn it. This was my chance!”

Mekena stopped in the middle of the airfield, where everyone was saying good-bye to their players, while Markus kept walking toward the plane. She repeated what he’d just said, and then her eyes went wide as she realized what the “Mile High Club” was. When he looked back at her in confusion, she reached out and smacked him. “You wanted to do it on the plane. With your boss on there. You freak!”

Laughing loudly, he pulled her into his arms. “Hey, you’re the naughty one. You influenced me.”

“I did not!” she gasped, shaking her head. “Markus—” She paused. “How do I not know your middle name?”

“I don’t have one.”

“You don’t have one?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“My parents couldn’t afford one back then. We were poor.”

Her eyes squinted as her lips pressed together. “What?”

He laughed. “What? I was poor, they couldn’t afford one!”

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and I seriously can’t even with you.”

“What?” he asked innocently. “The fact that I don’t have a middle name or getting it on in the plane? I need to know what you ‘can’t even’ with me about. And will you be over that before we land so we can get it on in the hotel room? Your room—since they are making me share with Vaughn.”

Stomping by him, she shook her head. “Everything. And you can forget about tonight, buddy.”

He puckered his lips. “Prude.”

“Freak,” she called as she climbed the stairs to the plane, but she was only answered by his laughter and then a hard slap of his hand on her ass.

Looking back at him, she glared. “I’m pretty sure I can get you for sexual harassment.”

He scoffed. “Ha, and I’ll hit your claim with the claim of what you did to me this morning. With your mouth.”

“Markus! Hush,” she yelled, turning bright red as she stomped onto the plane, hiding her grin. He was infuriatingly cute and annoying too. Sitting down in the second row by the window, she put her things at her feet, and when she sat back up, he was sitting beside her, a grin on his face. “Um, you’re supposed to be back there. Don’t get me in trouble.”

He rolled his eyes and then leaned over, kissing her hard on the lips. Getting lost in the kiss, she couldn’t help but smile. He made her so fucking happy. Leaning into the kiss, she kissed the side of his mouth before pulling away. “Go away.”

With a wink, he said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Getting up, he started for the back as Brie Soledad entered the plane and looked around, hopefulness in her eyes. They hadn’t met but in passing, so Mekena didn’t know much about her except that she was gorgeous and she hated Vaughn Johansson. With everything in her soul. The interviews they did together were watched by everyone just for the sheer hilarity of them. He was such an ass, and she was so cool and calm. But everyone swore she was two seconds away from knocking him upside the head with her mic.

There was actually a bet going on that she would do it before the season was over.

Mekena had twenty dollars in the pot.

When Brie looked at her, Mekena smiled and figured since they were the only girls on the team’s non-athletic staff, they should be friendly.

“Hey, wanna sit with me?”

“God, yes, thank you. I hate sitting with JD,” she said, speaking of the camera guy. She sat down and put her stuff below her feet. “He eats these peanuts and, ugh, they stink.”

Mekena smiled. “This is my first trip, so I haven’t had the pleasure.”

“Oh, that’s right! You’re Mekena, right? The team photographer.”

“Yup, and Brie, did I say that right?”

“Perfect,” she said with a bright smile. She had blond hair with an edgy cut, her eyes were big and blue and set in a very angular face. She was extremely pretty, almost supermodel-pretty, but she was very short and thick. Almost like she worked out but liked food a lot. “So we should be friends. Like, just decide now to get along and not ever talk shit about each other or sleep with the guy the other girl likes.”

Mekena grinned. She was going to like Brie Soledad a lot. “Exactly, though, as long as you don’t sleep with Markus, we are good.”

“Reeves? Rookie Reeves? Got your eye on him? He is a tall drink of chocolate milk. Yum.”

Mekena laughed. “Yeah, he’s my boyfriend.”

Brie’s face deepened with color. “And I meant that with total respect, of course.”

“Of course.” Mekena grinned as she leaned back in her seat.

When everyone was on the plane, they took off, though neither Brie nor Mekena talked much. Which was mostly because Brie looked like she was going to have a panic attack and puke everywhere.

Once in the air, she looked over at Mekena. “You would think I would be good at flying. News flash, I’m not.”