Page 39 of Score to Settle (Oakwood Ranch #1)

TWENTY-EIGHT

HARPER

Jake pushes a hand through his hair and looks like this is the last thing he wants to do.

“I’m a nice guy, Harper,” he says, dark eyes boring into mine. “A good one. Those closest to me know this. I think deep down, you know it, too.”

I force myself to keep quiet. Inside a voice is screaming, Yes!

I do know that. But if I speak now, if I give in to my need to step into Jake’s arms, we’ll lose this moment.

And I have to know the truth. Not just for the feature, but for me.

Because Jake is right. I saw the redhead on his arm earlier and thought the worst.

“A few years ago, Billy dated a woman called Kylie Hutton. They were together for six months, but it ended amicably when she joined the Stormhawks cheer team. They weren’t serious and as soon as Kylie was on the squad they both knew it had to end.

There aren’t many rules for what football players can and can’t do off the field, but dating cheerleaders is one of them.

Management takes it seriously. If a player and a cheerleader are caught fraternizing, they’ll both lose their spots on the teams. But during those six months Kylie was dating Billy, she and I became friends.

So when she found herself in a tough position last year, she asked for my help and I gave it. Or tried.”

“What kind of help?” I ask.

Jake sighs like the weight of the world is sitting on his shoulders.

“Kylie found out two of her squad mates were breaking the rules and were secretly seeing someone on the team. Worse still, it was the same man. She wanted to tell them and she wanted it to stop before anyone lost their job, but because the guy was a teammate of mine, she wanted me there for moral support, I guess.”

It hits me like that cold wind howling around the ranch outside. “Gordon,” I say, realizing why Jake reacted like that in the bar and hating myself. I fight back a groan and the apology dancing on my lips as Jake continues.

“We were supposed to meet at The Hay Barn, but practice ran late and by the time I finished, Kylie and the other two cheerleaders were waiting by my truck. It was clear the second I arrived that they’d already been arguing.

Cheer rules are a lot stricter. Being seen fighting would be an instant dismissal, too.

So I told them all to get in my truck, planning to drive somewhere quiet, but then it all came out, right there in my truck in the parking lot of the stadium.

“Kylie tried to keep things calm but one of the girls went ballistic at the other. Accusing her of stealing Gordon from her. She tried to smack her and I moved between them. I should’ve just got out the truck, but it all happened so fast.”

A haunted expression fills Jake’s eyes like it’s not the first time he’s tormented himself with regret over the things he didn’t do that night.

“I guess a fan was near enough to hear the shouting, because they snapped the photo that hit the tabloids. Three cheerleaders and me in a truck, one of them screaming about how the other was stealing her man. The story broke that I’d been sleeping with all three of them.

” He shrugs like that’s the end of it. “I was trying to help and it blew up in my face.”

There’s more to this. I can tell by the rippling tension still in the air around Jake.

“Why didn’t you speak out and explain what was really going on?” I ask.

He rubs a hand over the stubble of his jaw.

“Behind the scenes, I did. I told Coach Allen and Mama. Kylie backed me up and at least management believed me so I could keep my spot on the team. But it was a huge mess. The publicity guy got involved and decided it was the kind of fire that would be better to let burn out than add fuel, so I was told to say nothing.”

“Except it didn’t die out.”

“No.” Jake shakes his head. “With my reputation the story exploded.”

“But wouldn’t the press have known that nothing could’ve happened or you would’ve been fired? Like you say, you were still on the team, so…”

“That’s what they’d hoped, but it wasn’t the gossip sites anymore, it was the fans taking to their socials.

People were saying the Stormhawks let me break the rules with the cheerleaders and it wasn’t fair.

The story completely blew up. People were saying stuff that wasn’t even remotely true and their followers were believing it.

There was huge blowback on me and on the team.

But by then it was too late to deny it without looking like I was lying or causing a ton of journalists to start digging around for the truth. ”

“And Gordon?”

Muscles tighten in Jake’s jaw. “He acted like I was protecting him because of some bro code. It wasn’t that at all, but like it or not, he was my teammate and I wasn’t about to throw him in the shit.”

I see it so clearly. Of course Jake was trying to help. Of course he didn’t ruin the careers of four other people. This man standing before me is good. He thinks of others before himself. He puts them first. Everything he’s done in the last month has shown me that.

“Not that it mattered,” Jake continues. “The two cheerleaders still got fired. Cheerleaders have to sign NDAs so even after they were fired, they couldn’t say publicly who the football player was they were sleeping with. Kylie barely held on to her job and quit two months later anyway.

“Coach Allen asked me if I was prepared to tell him who the player was, and stupidly I said no. Gordon had come to me the night before and begged me to stay quiet. He swore it was a mistake and he wouldn’t do it again.

He was a mess, crying, saying he’d be nothing if he got fired.

I didn’t like Gordon then any more than I like him now, but I couldn’t see what good it would do to throw him under the bus.

So I told Coach I wouldn’t. He understood my loyalty but felt he had to bench me for a game. ”

“Even though you did nothing wrong?”

Jake shrugs. “I was pissed, but mostly with myself and how stupid the situation was. I thought it was only one game. What difference could it make?”

Another cold shot of realization pushes through me. “Dylan,” I whisper.

It’s not a question, but Jake gives a small nod.

“That was the game you weren’t playing in,” I say. “The one where he tore his ACL. But his injury wasn’t your fault.”

“Dylan doesn’t see it that way. The way we read each other on the field was nothing short of magic. Dylan thinks if I’d played that game, I’d have protected him from the tackle that ruined his knee, and the worst thing is, he’s probably right.”

“Does he know what really happened with the cheerleaders? That it wasn’t your fault?”

“I told Mama not to say anything. Dylan was in a bad way after the injury. I thought at some point we’d talk and I’d explain, but we never have. He’s still furious with me.”

Jake steps toward me. I think he’s going to reach for my hand, but instead he moves into the hall.

“I’m going to bed,” he says when he reaches the stairs.

“Jake?” I say his name with no idea what will come next.

He pauses, turning to look at me.

“I’m sorry for flirting with Gordon,” I blurt, unable to voice my feelings.

His eyes fill with regret. “Harper, since we met, have you seen any evidence that I think only with my dick?”

I shake my head.

“Because I don’t.” He pushes a hand through his hair.

“There aren’t many things I regret, but I regret that day in the parking lot last September and Dylan getting injured.

I regret not standing up for myself and letting my reputation take the hit.

And I regret letting you walk away the morning after the awards dinner without telling you how I was feeling. ”

My heart feels like it skips a beat. “How were you feeling?” I ask, the words barely a whisper.

“I didn’t want what happened to be a one-night stand with you because…

” He pauses and I watch the column of his throat move before he continues.

“Because I’m falling for you. Your humor, your smart-ass mouth,” he says with a small smirk.

“You see through all the bullshit. You’re smart and unbelievably sexy and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you walked into my life in those stupid sky-high stilettos. ”

My mouth drops open. His words hit me with a force that takes my breath away. I search for a reply, but Jake continues.

“But you don’t trust me, and even though it kills me, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

He turns away and walks up the stairs. A moment later his bedroom door shuts and I’m alone.

I stand in the hallway, my heart racing as Jake’s words echo in my mind.

I think of the times we’ve spent together.

The teasing banter, the charged looks, and the way he searches for me on the field between plays.

That smile on his lips when our eyes locked across the stadium earlier.

I sigh and lean back against the wall. Part of me aches to be back in Jake’s arms. But another part of me is terrified to let him in.

I’ve hardly had the best track record. Pining for Jake when I was sixteen.

Then a handful of unsatisfactory boys who all treated me like I didn’t matter.

Then Scott and his cheating. I thought Jake was to blame for my low confidence after high school and the crappy love life that followed, but the truth is, I never allowed men in previous relationships to see the real me.

Never let myself be vulnerable. To risk getting hurt.

I don’t know how. Or if I’m even capable.

With a groan, I push away from the wall and head up to my room.

I slip on my ivory camisole and shorts set and pad to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

In the mirror I stare at my reflection and the truth staring back at me.

My heart is on the line, but if I’m honest, I’m already in too deep.

If I walk away from Jake now, I know it’ll hurt.

An urgency starts to pound in my chest. Seven days. That’s all the time we have left on the assignment. Suddenly, I have to tell him the words he needs to hear. I throw open the door and step into the hall, only to find Jake already in the doorway to his bedroom, looking as tormented as I feel.

“I trust you,” I blurt.

“Really?” A frown is pinching his brow, but he’s smiling too. “You’re not just saying that to get me into bed again?”

I laugh and shake my head. “Really,” I say, taking a step closer. “I don’t see you as a player, Jake. I see the man who comes to a black-tie dinner because he knows I’m going to have a hard time. The man who puts others before himself, always.” My words come in a breathy rush.

“Harper,” he whispers.

I take a final step forward as Jake’s eyes lock with mine.

He looks utterly gorgeous. His dark hair is ruffled from where he’s raked his hand through it.

The stubble on his face just as dark. He’s wearing a white tee that clings to every muscle and those low-slung basketball shorts I lusted over on our first weekend together.

Jake’s eyes burn with desire as he draws me into him.

He lifts his thumb to brush across my cheek, tracing a line down my face, my neck, and all the way to the edge of my camisole.

My nipples are pushing against the silk and I know he sees by the hardness of his dick pressing against my stomach as I lean slowly into his body.

Giving him time to turn me down, I reach up to slip my arms around his neck, and just as I think he’s going to push me away, he reaches down and grips the back of my thighs, picking me up like I weigh nothing.

I press my lips to his and wrap my legs around his waist, and he turns, carrying me into his bedroom with determined strides, kicking the door shut with his foot without moving his lips from mine.