Page 37

CHAPTER 37

HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER

XANDER

November

“What do you mean?” Bella asks.

Milo jumps off the couch and trots to the kitchen, as if sensing the change in the atmosphere.

“When the truth was revealed, I cut him out of my life. I didn’t want anything to do with him. If he’d seduced her and she’d given in, that would have been one thing, but drugging her? I couldn’t forgive that.”

“Jake tells the story differently. He said he was the one who dated her, and you were the villain who wanted to snatch her away.” She hugs herself again, running her hands up and down her arms, trying to warm herself up.

I want to move closer and comfort her, but I keep my distance. I’m not sure she wants me to touch her.

“I didn’t believe him. Something about his story was off.” She tilts her head to the side. “Why are you still talking to him?”

“I couldn’t avoid him, even if I wanted to. It was the last semester of our senior year, and we were still roommates. He and I slowly started talking again. It wasn’t the same, and I knew it, but I tried to be civil. Miller thought I’d already moved on, that I’d forgotten everything…and I let him believe that.” I peer at Bella. She looks miserable.

“Did you agree to play for the Warriors so you could get back at him?” She furrows her brow.

“No. I love football. I’m good at it. Coming here was a step forward in my career. This is what I need to be at the top of my game. Plus, my parents live here. I made that decision with a clear mind.” I wet my lips. “If anything, Jake was the reason I hesitated when I got the offer. I wasn’t sure I could handle being his teammate again.”

“Did you stay in touch with him after graduation?”

“We talked from time to time, had drinks when one of us was in the other’s town. No more than that.”

“And…what was your plan then?”

“Honestly?” I scrub a hand over my face. “I didn’t have one at the welcome party. I convinced myself I could do it—I could be a professional and put my personal feelings aside, focus only on the team’s success. But all night, he went on and on about our college days, and it hit me like a semitruck. All these years, he’s lived guilt-free, as if nothing happened, as if he did nothing wrong. The comment I made about you eye-fucking me? It was shitty, I know, but I did it to test the waters. And, sure enough, it proved to me he hadn’t changed at all. I looked at him, and all I saw was blood on the floor, and Stacey, skin ashen, body limp. After that, I was determined to show the world who he really is…and I wanted you to help me.”

“Ben was right,” she whispers, her features etched with devastation. “He told me I should be careful around you.”

“Bella, no. It’s not like that,” I say, hands clenched though I’m desperate to touch her. “I wanted to expose him so the world would know what he did. I wanted your help, but that dinner at his place changed things. When I saw how he acted while you weren’t around, and more so when you were around, I wanted nothing more than to convince you to leave him.”

“Well, I left him. Congratulations.” The tears in her eyes wreck me. With each one that falls, my heart cracks a little more. “How do you feel now?”

“When I got to know you and saw how he was treating you, my plan evolved. Miller was destroying you, and I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let him do to you what he did to Stacey.” I turn to face her, massaging my throat in hopes it’ll make talking easier. “My motivation was no longer about revenge. I wanted you to leave him for you , for your own sanity, your own well-being. Miller doesn’t deserve you.”

“That’s why you were flirting with me…” Her voice quavers with each word.

“No. Bella, no! I’m not Jake. I was flirting with you because I liked you. I wanted to get closer to you, to make sure you were okay. I wanted to earn your trust so I could eventually reveal his secrets and show you who he really is,” I rasp, the words clogging my throat. My heart pounds against my sternum, and blood rushes to my head, making me dizzy. “The day you walked out of my house after I promised to be there for you whenever you needed me, I acknowledged a few things. It wasn’t just an attraction anymore. It was deeper. It was so wrong of me, and yet…I wanted you so badly. I’d never wanted to kiss anyone more than I wanted to kiss you.” I set my elbows on my knees and lean forward, holding her gaze. “I want you for you, for the person you are. It has nothing to do with Miller or what happened in college.”

Bottom lip caught between her teeth, she scrutinizes me. I can’t blame her for being apprehensive. After what I just revealed, she’s probably second-guessing everything that happened between us, wondering how many lies I’ve told her.

In the end, the truth is simple.

My attempts to convince her I don’t do relationships were ridiculous. From the moment we first kissed, I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

“I haven’t been with anyone since that morning at Miller’s house.” I clear my throat, my mouth dry and my voice hoarse. “Only you.”

“Why?” She looks at me with such intensity, I swear she can see down deep, all the way to my soul.

I straighten, hoping like hell she can feel my sincerity. It’s the only way I can make things right. “Because I fell for you, hook, line, and sinker.”

Eyes widening, she lets out the tiniest gasp.

“The only lie I ever told you was the one I told myself as well. I said I don’t do relationships, but I was a fool. I want to do relationships…but only with you. I’m in love with you, Bella.”

As tears stream down her face, she gapes, bewildered. I sit still, watching her. I understand her reaction. All her life, she has been treated as if she’s nothing. She has been told over and over again that she isn’t enough. Her soul is so damaged, yet it’s also beautiful. I see light in there. I see hope. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love her.

She is my perfect match.

“I love you. Only you,” I confess again.

“I…I l-lov-ve y-you-u too,” she sobs.

In one smooth motion, I move closer and haul her onto my lap. She wraps her arms around my shoulders, hiding her face in the crook of my neck.

I close my eyes and massage her back with my palm. “Shh, baby, shh. Don’t cry,” I whisper. “I’m here. I’ll never let you go. Never. You’re mine, Bella, and I don’t need anyone else. Only you.”

I have no idea how long we sit like this, tangled in each other. Bella’s crying subsides, but even after she quiets, I don’t let her move.

“Will you stay?” I ask. “Or do you want me to take you to your aunt’s?”

Pulling back, she worries her lip. “I want to stay.”

My heart sinks at the hesitation in her voice. “But?”

“What does all this mean? Who are we to each other?”

“I’m your friend,” I say confidently.

She leans away. Her eyes are puffy and her face is tearstained, her brows pulled low.

“I’m your lover,” I continue. “And your soon-to-be boyfriend.”

She blinks and then bursts into giggles.

Relief washes over me like a wave. Finally, this is my girl. My Bella . I’m the happiest when I’m with her.

There will no doubt be days when she falls back into her old habits, but I’ll be there for her. Our love will help us overcome anything, and I’ll be a better version of myself. For her.

“Aren’t you afraid of risking your place on the team? You’re okay breaking the rules? Just for me?”

I press a thumb between her brows, smoothing out the crease there. “I’ll break all the rules for you, Bella. There’s nothing I won’t do for you. You’re single; I’m single. There’s no misconduct there,” I tell her with conviction. “I don’t fucking care if anyone has a problem with it, including Miller. He, on the other hand, is in a precarious position. You hold all the cards there. You could go public with what he’s done to you.”

She shakes her head. “No. If he keeps his distance, I’ll keep it to myself. All I want is to move on and forget it.” She looks away for a moment, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip again. “It’s just…if he knows?—”

“He’s a douche,” I grit out. “Are you trying to tell me that we’re in love with each other, but we can’t be together because of Miller?”

“No. That’s not what I’m saying.” She frames my face with her hands.

Instantly, my body sags with relief. She knows all my buttons, where to press so I’m totally at her mercy.

“Just…I don’t want to go public for now. I told Jake I’d wait a month before announcing the breakup?—”

My heart lurches, and I rear back. “You gave him a month?”

“Yeah, he said he’d look like a loser getting dumped immediately after proposing, so I gave him one month. If you and I go public too soon, he’ll be painted as the victim, and you’ll be the villain who snatched your teammate’s girl away from him. No one will care to listen to what really happened.”

“But I want you to move in with me,” I blurt out.

Bella’s lips ease into a big, radiant smile. “Really?”

“Really.”

“We can make it work, but we’ll need to be extra careful. You have a Super Bowl to win. People look up to you. The last thing I want is bad press.”

“Miller will find out eventually.” Fuck, I hate the idea of hiding, and I’m not sure it’ll be as easy as she thinks.

“And he will be furious about it,” she says, tipping her head. “It’s better if he finds out later; hopefully, he’ll have already moved on.”

I scoff. “I don’t fucking care how any of this affects him. I’m not going to sacrifice my happiness or yours because his ass can’t keep his shit together.”

Bella snickers, ruffling my hair.

“All I care about is you.” I hug her tight. “And my only concern is making you happy.”

Bella smiles brightly before she lowers her gaze to my lips. That one little look is all it takes for my heartbeat to quicken and my dick to wake up.

“I know a few things you can help me with,” she murmurs.

I lower my hands to her ass and squeeze. “Anything.”

“I can’t tell you here. We have an eavesdropper.”

In unison, we look down at Milo, who’s sitting at my feet, watching us with great interest, and fall into a fit of laughter.

“Can we go to your bedroom?” Bella chokes out between giggles.

I haul myself up without letting her go and bury my face in her hair. Her fruity scent is like an aphrodisiac, making me hard in an instant. I’m drunk on love. This girl is my everything.

I glance over my shoulder at Milo and smile apologetically. “Sorry, buddy. I think we’re gonna be busy for a while.”

With a sigh, he lies down and rests his snout on his paws.

The world outside this house doesn’t exist. Our little bubble is full of love, heat, and pure passion.

With any luck, Bella’s here to stay.