Page 94 of The Hardest Fall

The way my heart was hammering in my chest, I didn’t think I’d ever been so anxious in my life. It was the same kind of thrill as being on the field.

“Dylan,” Zoe mumbled when the back of my hand brushed the underside of her boob and her head rested against my shoulder again.

I hugged her tighter.

“Choose me, Zoe.” The words rushed out of me before I could stop myself.

Her grip reflexively tightened around my hands at my words as her eyelids closed slowly.

“Leave him,” I continued. “I’m right here and I want you, so damn much. I’m not sure how much more I can take. Every time I see you with a guy…I just want to rip his head off for touching you, for looking at you, for being close to you when I can’t. The guy from the Tucson game? I’ve never played that aggressively before. All I wanted to do was take him down. You’re driving me crazy, and I’ve never been so jealous of anyone in my life.” I paused. “I need you to let him go, Zoe. Whatever it is that’s going on between you two, I don’t want to know. Just…I need you to choose me now. I’m the one that’s supposed to be with you, not anyone else.”

Her back still flushed to my chest, she shifted in my arms enough to look up at me. “Dylan,” she whispered, and I watched her lips move, her tongue sneaking out to wet them. “You don’t understa—”

I pulled her hair away from her neck, pressed my lips against her skin, and felt the vibration of her groan against my lips.

My body overheated from being so close to her, from having trouble deciding what I wanted to do to her first when we were alone—truly alone, not in a frat house surrounded by drunken idiots. Just thinking of the possibilities made my dick press harder against the fly of my pants.

Seven minutes more. This was mine. Ours.

As N.E.R.D.’s song “She Wants To Move” started in the background, not even realizing what I was doing, I opened my mouth, grazed her skin with my teeth, and gently sucked on her neck, not hard enough to leave a mark, but hard enough to make her lose a little bit of control and let me hear her moan again.

Instead of going in for more like I was desperate to do, I stood still and tried to clear my mind.

What the fuck are you doing, man?

I let go of her and her body stiffened.

“I should apologize for that…it was more than just a friendly kiss…but I can’t.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she blurted out, head turned toward me, eyes focused on my chin, arms hugging herself as if she was about to fall apart and was barely holding herself together.

“What did you just say?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she repeated slowly, this time meeting my gaze.

“It’s over? It’s done?” I asked in disbelief as something indescribable coursed through my veins.

“I…” She looked away and nodded. “Yes.”

Reaching for her hand, I turned her to face me, everything around us turning into a messy blur. I cupped her cheeks and rested my forehead against hers, not breathing. “When?” She opened her mouth to answer, but I cut her off. “Never mind. I don’t care.”

Nudging her nose with mine, I kissed the edge of her mouth as she let out a harsh breath.

“We need to talk, Dylan. I need to tell you what was going on. I don’t want you to think—”

“We’ll figure out what to do,” I murmured and kissed her cheek.

“What do you—”

“Are you drunk?”

“What? No. You need to listen to—”

“Then kiss me, Zoe.”

She pulled back, studying my face as her eyes slowly narrowed. “And lose the bet?” Her eyes dropped to my lips then back up. “You kiss me first,” she said, all breathless as her cheeks turned a pretty pink.

She was going to lose the bet.

I slipped my arms around her waist, caging her in, and smiled down at her. I felt light, relieved, exhilarated. “Are you scared?”

“What? Scared of you?” She snorted and then blushed.

My smile grew bigger and I hid my face against her neck. “You’re so damn cute, and you’re trembling,” I whispered in her ear. “Are you scared of kissing me?” A pause so I could press another lingering kiss on her neck. “Or are you scared I’ll kiss you?” Lifting my head, I met her big eyes. “I don’t give a fuck about the bet, I just need—”

Someone bumped into us and Zoe gasped loudly as she bounced against the wall to her right. She rubbed her shoulder as I pulled her behind me.

“Dude!” shouted a slick-haired fucker, looking at us with half-shut eyes. The girl hanging on to his shoulder giggled behind him.

“Get the fuck out of here,” I growled, and his bloodshot eyes widened.