the crowd cheers louder than they have for anyone else so far. At first I think that might just be in my head since I’m her biggest fan, but then I notice even the people in the stands around the park are on their feet. “What’s going on?” I lean over to ask Griff.
“She’s getting a standing ovation.”
“I didn’t know that happened with skateboarding.”
“Me neither.”
Brie leans over to tell us through the cheering, “It’s probably because of those posts. Everyone’s heard about her crash and how she couldn’t skate for months afterward.”
With all eyes on Jordan, she keeps skating around the edge of the park, getting closer to us.
“I thought you were going to wait until after your last run tonight?” Griff asks.
“We are.”
“No, she’s coming for you, Beck,” Brie informs me a few seconds before Jordan stops on the other side of the barrier separating us.
She looks at me with hopeful eyes. “I’m sorry, I can’t wait any longer.”
Jordan doesn’t make a move to jump over the barrier and I’m too dumbstruck by the happiness radiating off her to budge. Griff shoves me with his elbow and that knocks some sense into me.
She’s waiting for me to make the next move. An instant later, I’m hopping the barrier and standing in front of her. She jumps up, wrapping her legs around my waist, and the cheers that were loud before become deafening.
“You don’t have to wait to kiss me ever again, okay Hotshot?”
“Okay.”
“You have fun out there?”
“Yeah, Beck. Stop talking and kiss me.”
We’re both smiling when our lips connect, and when my hands grab her ass, she deepens the kiss. Her legs squeeze my waist and I nearly forget about the hoots and hollers chanting around us. At some point we hear our names over the loudspeaker and come to our senses.
“Well gentlemen, it looks like Jordan Slattery is taken. Thank you for making that clear, Beckett Steele. Now, on to the next competitor in the lineup today…”
Jordan slides down me but I can’t quite pry my hands off her hips yet. “I thought the message was supposed to be that you’re off the market, not me,” Jordan says with a little pout.
“I like it better with you the center of attention,” I say into her ear over the noise that has yet to die off.
“We’ll just have to make a scene again later after one of your runs so it’s super clear,” Jordan says with a decisive nod.
“That’s cool with me.”
“You gonna let me go now so I can do the rest of my runs?”
“That’s just about the only thing I’ll let go of you for.” I finally release her, and she hops on her board, heading down the side ramp leading to a warm-up and cool-down zone. To anyone else, she looks completely cool and unfrazzled, but I can see the flush in her cheeks and the heat in her eyes when she glances back over her shoulder.
I don’t know how long I stand there, my heart so full it’s impossible to move. Finally, Griff tugs my arm and I climb back to the other side of the barrier.
He pats me on the back. “Well, if the kiss didn’t do it, the lovestruck expression on your face as you gazed longingly after her definitely did the trick.”
Everyone now knows Jordan Slattery’s my girl. Or that I’m her guy. Either way, I know we’ve got what it takes to deal with whatever comes next. Jordan can handle stalkers, bullies, head injuries, and the appearance of me cheating on reality television. No matter where or from whom the next strike comes, she’s totally got this. And I’m the one who gets to be there with her every step of the way.
Brazen Tricks, the fourth and final book in the Brazen series, releases September 12, 2020.
About the Author
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Brazen Tricks, the fourth and final book in the Brazen series, releases September 12. You can preorder it now HERE.
Ali is a USA Today Bestselling author of sports romance books. She has always loved to read, especially when there's a happily ever after, but found that there weren't enough books out there featuring girl athletes. So, she decided to work on that. Like the heroines in her books, Ali is an athlete, with running and skiing her favorite sports these days. Ali hails from Vermont and now lives in her own happily-ever-after in Colorado with her husband, boy-girl twins, and golden retriever Pancake.