Page 123 of Falling Offsides

“Perfect.” I cut her off. “You’re beautiful, Courtney, all the fucking time.”

Warm palms trace down to my jaw. “You don’t have to lie.”

My hands wrap around her dainty wrists. Tighter than I intended as I tell her, “I have never lied to you. To your face…”

“Because it’s so pretty,” she chuffs back.

“Fucking beautiful,” I correct, my hands drop to her hips when she shuffles forward.

Before I can do or say anymore, Courtney’s hands trail to my nape. Her fingers lock on the back of my neck, pulling me to her at the same time as I wrap my arms around her waist and press my face to her stomach.

All I do is hold her. I keep holding her for as long as she allows me to before she takes a step back, raking her long nails against the grain of my fade.

My God, it feels incredible.

Every inch of my skin is covered in goosebumps with the shiver that rolls from the burning path of her touch to my toes.

Then she pulls back and with one last stroke of her fingers along my jaw, pulls away from me.

It’s the worst sensation. Like a literal part of me is being ripped out of my chest. There’s nothing I can do about it. I haven’t earned the right to hold on. So even though it goes against the fabric of my DNA to watch her disappear inside her apartment again, I hold myself in check.

Maybe Étty is right—I do have a death wish.

Maneuvering to a crouch, I turn and focus on gathering the flower debris. It’s something to do. Something to focus on aside from the emptiness surrounding me.

“What are you doing?” I look over my shoulder to find Courtney standing in her open doorway with a broom in one hand and dustpan and brush in the other. “You’ll be here forever doing that by hand.”

Beats going back into my empty apartment.I don’t tell her that though. There’s being down bad and then there’s being a little bitch.

Maybe for her I would be. Fuck, I’d do anything and everything she wants or needs just to have her around me, but still…

“Come on,” she says, coming to stand in front of me and offering me her hand. “You’ll hurt your back if you stay like that for much longer and… sweeping is my least favorite chore, so…”

Fuck me, the sight of her grin does things to me that should be forbidden. It’s as fucking sexy as the curves of her body I can’t stop thinking about. It loosens the vice around my insides.

When I take her hand and rise to my feet, she slots the broom intomy other hand. We clean up the daisy catastrophe quietly with Samson going bonkers around us.

Then we’re done and I don’t know what to say to hold on to her for a little longer. Just a while.

Courtney hesitates and I hesitate and we’re caught hesitating together, and it’s the best goddamn moment I’ve had in days.

“So…” she starts and my pulse bites at the hopeful lilt to her voice. “I’ve got to run some errands for my dad… for the cookout tomorrow?—”

“Want me to drive you?” I offer before she’s finished.

“Umm… I can Uber.”

I nod, but the desperation is too real. “CanI drive you?”

After a beat she answers, “Sure.”

A sigh whooshes from my chest. In spite of the awkward tension between us, Courtney smiles.

“Maybe you can help me figure out the oven. I tried to use it the other day but there are so many functions and I swear there’s like so many buttons… too many…”

Shit.“Nobody knows how to use that thing except for Matheo’s mom. So… umm… I don’t… I mean you can use mine.”

“Are you sure?”