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“Thank you for coming,” I tell her, keeping my hands on her waist. “Those girls aren’t bunnies. They’re sharks.”

“You looked like you had a handle on it,” she says, looking up at me. Her lips are wet from my kiss and all I want to do is taste her again. It dawns on me. All I want is her.

“Look, T, I’m trying to tread carefully here, which is fucking hard for someone who likes to come in hot.” Her forehead creases and I keep going. “Wearing a man’s jersey isn’t something that is taken lightly.”

She groans. “God, I told Twyler it was too much. That this is something reserved for girlfriends. I’ll take it off–”

“Like hell you will.”

I slam my mouth against hers, and she gasps from the force. I don’t give a fuck. I kiss her hard and demanding, the way I’d wanted to out in the kitchen. Not just for Chantelle. For the whole goddamn room. But most of all, for Nadia.

But first I have to make her mine.

Her fingers twist in the front of my tank, my lips skate up her jaw. “Seeing you up in the stands was one thing,” I press into her, letting her feel how much she turns me on. “But the jersey… fuck, T. The only way I want you out of that is if you’re getting all the way naked with me. Not here. Up in my room.”

Her hand presses against my chest, pushing me back. She swallows, those brown eyes holding mine. “Is that what you want?”

I take a breath, trying to come to my senses. It’s nearly impossible with my heart pounding like a drum and my dick attempting to drill its way out of my sweats. “Look,” I finally say, trying to formulate the right words. Trying not to completely fuck this up. “I know this isn’t what you signed up for when we made our pact. I’m not feeling very safe for you right now and if you want to go, you can go. We’ll head out the backdoor and I’ll walk you home.”

We’re on the edge of a sharp blade, one where we decide how this is going to move forward. Do we keep being one another’s safe spaces or do we become more?

“I don’t want to go home,” she admits.

“Thank god,” I mutter and drop another kiss on her mouth, licking my way past her lips to the warm heat inside.

“But,” she pulls back, “I also don’t know how far I’m ready to go.”

All I want is for this girl to trust me, to know that I’m not here to hurt her.

“Tell me what you want, T,” I say, kissing my way down her neck. I tug the collar to expose more skin and kiss along the ridge of her collarbone. She shivers and I run my hands up her shirt, feeling her pebbled nipples underneath. “What makes you feel good? Tell me and I’ll make it happen.”

She doesn’t respond, her fingers clinging to my sides. She’s anxious and I don’t understand.

I lift her chin, but her eyes dart to the side. “Okay, what’s going on?”

She shifts, then admits, “No one’s ever asked me what I want before.”

My eyebrows raise. “No one?”

She shakes her head, cheeks blooming red. “They pretty much called me over to, you know, meet their needs.”

Fuckers.

“And those girls were hitting on you and it’s obvious you’re turned on,” her eyes drop to where my boner is trying it’s hardest to join the conversation. “I just… I don’t want to be that girl you call just for sex.”

Shit, nowI’mthe fucker.

“I didn’t text you for sex. I texted you because you’re the one I turn to when I need things to slow down. When I need to get my head on straight. Chantelle isn’t the one that made me feel like this.” I take her hand and place it over my erection. “That was all you, understood?”

Her response is quiet, but I hear her say, “Understood.”

“And for the record, those other guys are worthless pieces of shit who probably don’t know their way around a woman’s body.” I run my thumb over her bottom lip, puffy and swollen from our kisses. “Any man who doesn’t want to hear the sound of you falling apart when you come is a damn fool. I can’t get it out of my mind.”

“Oh god.” She drops her face into her hands. “That night never happened, remember?”

I wrap my arms around her and lift her, setting her on the washer, so I can see her face. “Sorry, but it’s imprinted. I think about it before I go to bed, and first thing when I wake up.” And a dozen more times a day, but I’m trying to win her over, not scare the hell out of her. I rest my hands on her knees. “You trust me?”

She bites down on her bottom lip and nods. “I do.”