Page 55 of Lovesick (The Minnesota Mustangs #1)

Accepting compliments has never been my strong suit—mainly because I’m always convinced that I could do so much better—but I’m beginning to yearn for Crew’s words of affirmation like parched tillage yearns for rainfall.

This time, I choose to rush his lips in a kiss of gratitude, dopamine running hot through my veins as if someone has stuck a sixteen-gauge needle into my arm and tapped it directly into my bloodstream.

Crew welcomes me earnestly, making his mark on collagen, and it’s a contact sport driven by reverence.

No tangling of tongues or fast hands—just a melding of souls through life’s oldest language.

When we eventually disengage, he pouts. “You know, I hate that I have to go on a date.”

“I didn’t ruin that for you, did I?”

“Unfortunately not.”

I ruffle his hair, relishing the silky feel of it between my fingers. “I’m not in love with the idea either, but the date is going to be at a nice restaurant. No silly business on the menu. And it’s for a good cause, remember?”

An unhappy grumble stirs at the base of his throat, and he buries his face into my shoulder. “What if I write your name on my bare chest? That’ll dissuade her, right?”

“You will do no such thing,” I chide.

Even acting like a giant baby, he still knows exactly what to say to resurrect the pulse between my legs.

“I thought you liked me half-naked.”

Stay strong, Merit.

“Crew…”

My voice is less of a warning and more of a beg for mercy, especially with the sizable bulge in his pants impeding part of my torso. I vocalize the quietest whimper, sinking my fingernails into his back to anchor myself.

I can feel him smirk against me. “Yeah, you like it.”

All I do is laugh and shove him lightly on the shoulder, stooping down to pick up my binder. We begin to walk toward the quad—our fingers interwoven with one another’s—passing students making the same tiresome trek. Crew has learned to shorten his strides so he doesn’t speed off without me.

“Did you know that Knox saved the auction?” I question.

“I honestly couldn’t believe it at first,” he replies, petting the angular bend between my thumb and forefinger, the MU keychains on his backpack jangling with each step.

“And nobody is talking about my fall at the auction.”

“Of course they’re not. They know better.”

Neurons firing and confusion prickling over the gray matter of my brain, I hoist my head to look at him. “What are you talking about?”

A growl sticks to the sides of his throat like a burr. “If anyone messes with you, Merit, they’re picking a fight with the hockey team. And we’re known to be pretty good with our sticks.”

My belly hardens into lead. “That sounds…potentially violent.”

“I promise to use my big boy words first. No violence necessary—unless they ask for it.”

I don’t want to imagine what Crew’s bad side looks like. He’s royalty around here—going against him would be treason. And to make enemies with the entire hockey team? I pity the fool who discovers what a hockey puck to the back feels like.

“You’d do all of that for me?” I croak, my voice reedy, tears poised on my waterlines.

He gives my palm a squeeze. “Of course I would. Protecting you is a full-time job. ”

Nobody’s ever gone through so much trouble for me. I actually feel a sense of pride being the Mustangs’ sweetheart. I don’t have to fight all my fights anymore when I have an entire protection detail behind me.

“Thank you. I don’t…I don’t know what to say.”

Crew stops in the middle of the pathway, and I halt alongside him, eyebrows bunched as to why we aren’t sprinting for cover from the torrential shower.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just kiss me in front of everyone. Please ,” he implores, desperation staining his tone, his hand clinging to mine with a strength that even the heavens couldn’t pull apart.

The rain begins to fall at an inconceivable speed, tag-teamed by pellets of sleet that tinkle to the dampened ground. Pedestrians have already started to use their backpacks as makeshift shelters.

The top of my head goes cold. “Right now?”

“Don’t make me beg, Princess. Because I will. I’ll get on my knees right here, where the whole school can see. Let them know who’s got me completely and utterly whipped.”

Rib-breaking laughter shakes free from my chest as I balance on my tiptoes, our mouths nudging into a gentle, unrushed kiss, and a sea of bioluminescence erupts behind my eyelids. There’s no flashpoint of urgency, no touring hands, no thoughts other than being in the moment with the man I love.

I stop fussing over the water that now soaks through my hoodie; I stop cowering from the storm. Bad things are bound to happen, but it’s how we deal with them that makes them, well, less bad.

I have to blink droplets from my lashes. “I never thought that this day would ever come—that we could be out in public like this.”

“I was never going to give up on that dream, Merit. It didn’t matter how long it took. I would’ve fought every day until you were finally happy. You’re my one and only.”

My one and only.

If you had told pre-junior-year Merit that she’d be fraternizing with the captain of the hockey team, she’d never believe you.

But it’s not just fraternization— it’s so much more .

A love that’s unbreakable, a love that few get to experience in their lifetime, a love that will continue to grow for years and years to come.

Crew cups my cheek, and I can’t stop smiling.

“You’re really taking this whole bodyguard thing to the next level, huh?” I joke.

He hesitates for a moment. “I don’t want to overstep your boundaries, but I was hoping that I could…help monitor things for you,” he says, nodding to the ring on my finger. “Just so your parents could ease off a bit.”

Usually, I’d hiss at anything that involves my health, but the prospect of Crew helping me on a daily basis actually mellows my nerves.

I kitten into his palm, coaxed by his touch as a light trembles inside me like the bare bones of a fire amidst a whirling snowstorm. Inextinguishable. An appreciation for life that wouldn’t be possible without Crew Calloway.

“I don’t think you’re overstepping anything. And maybe it’s for the best, you know? I haven’t been great about looking after my health. I definitely don’t want to depend on my parents forever, but I can acknowledge that when things get tough, it’s harder for me to take care of myself.”

“And that’s why I want to be here for you.

Not to dictate what you can and can’t do but to support you so that you can make those decisions even when you think you have no control over your body,” he explains, moisture dousing the slope of his nose, his freckles magnified through crystalline globules .

I cover his free hand with mine. “Thank you for always loving me. I know it hasn’t been the easiest thing in the world.”

“Baby, I’ve gone through a lot of hardships in my life, but loving you has never been one of them.”