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I reached for his shirt in response, needing to feel his skin against mine. He helped me pull it off, and I ran my hands over the sculpted muscles of his chest and shoulders, marveling at the strength there.

Flynn lowered himself to kiss me again, more urgently this time. His hand slid up my side, brushing the underside of my breast, and I gasped into his mouth.

“We’ll take this slow,” he murmured against my lips. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I want this,” I assured him, though my nerves were a tangle of anticipation and anxiety. “I want you.”

His smile was panty-melting as he reached for the button of my jeans. “We have all night, and I’m going to make good on that promise to make you tremble for me.”

He remembered that? I wasn’t about to tell him I was already practically vibrating from his touch and we only had our shirts off.

Just then, a sharp knock made us both freeze.

“Room check.” Mrs. Henderson’s voice called through the door. “All ladies present and accounted for?”

“Shit,” I whispered, panic shooting through me. “Quick, under the bed.”

Flynn dove for the floor, sliding under my bed as I frantically pulled my sweater back on. I flopped onto the bed and grabbed a book, flipping it open to the middle like I was reading it when the door opened without warning.

Mrs. Henderson stood in the doorway, clipboard in hand, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Miss Navarro.”

“Good evening, Mrs. Henderson,” I said, hoping my voice sounded normal. “Is everything okay?”

“Just a routine check after that commotion downstairs.” Her gaze swept the room. “Where is Miss Chen? ”

“Studying with Hannah,” I lied, praying she wouldn’t notice the man-sized lump under my bed. “Big test on Monday.”

Mrs. Henderson hummed skeptically. “I thought I heard voices.”

“Just me on the phone with my sister,” I said quickly and grabbed my phone, waving it at her. “Discussing spring break plans.”

Her eyes lingered on the rumpled bedspread, and I silently cursed noticing the book in my hand was upside down. “Well, everything seems to be in order. Remember, lights out by midnight, please.”

“Of course.”

She gave the room one last suspicious glance before closing the door. I waited, counting to ten, mostly to calm my beating heart, before whispering, “She’s gone.”

Flynn emerged from under the bed, a dust bunny clinging to his hair. “That was close.”

“Too close,” I agreed, plucking the dust from his hair. We looked at each other and had to stifle the giggles, the tension of the moment breaking.

Flynn sat on the edge of my bed, pulling me down beside him. “Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.”

“That we have the worst timing ever?”

“Or that some things are worth waiting for.” He brushed a kiss against my temple. “No rush, Tempest. We have time.”

The passion of moments before had cooled, but in its place was something equally powerful, a tenderness that made my chest ache .

“But I’ll be gone for... spring break next week. I’m off to LA tomorrow.” I wanted to tell him why I was going to California, and I would, just not right now.

He grinned. “We’ll have to meet up. I’m headed there on Monday. The Bandits want to show us around the facilities, trying to schmooze us before the draft. I’ll have some free time after workouts and meetings.”

What? He’d be in LA the same time as me?

Now, I really should just tell him why I was going there.

He probably thought it was to party like normal college seniors did.

But what if the meetings with FlixNChill didn’t pan out?

I hated myself for still not being ready to tell him about my books.

He’d done everything to try to gain my trust.

But a lifetime of hiding everything about myself from the world around me was a tough habit to break. Maybe if the meetings went well I’d finally be brave and tell him.

“It’s a date,” I said, surprised by how much I was now looking forward to seeing him outside of our regular lives.

Parker burst into the room, her hand firmly placed over her eyes. “Extraction team incoming. Put your clothes back on. Mrs. H found hot baseballer in his tighty whities in Jessica’s room and she’s on a mission to ruin everyone’s love lives.”

As much as I wanted him to stay, no one was safe when Mrs. Henderson was in one of those moods. “How do you feel about heights, Kingman?”

“I’m going out the window, aren’t I?” he asked with a grin.

Parker peeked through her fingers, saw that we were both mostly clothed, and then gave us a salute. “The donkey delivery system is still in place. Hope you’ve got rope skill, dude.”

Flynn waggled his eyebrows at me and smiled wickedly. “I’ve got skills with ropes you haven’t even seen.”

Oh. My. Gawd.

Parker leaned over and whispered, “It’s like he’s right out of a certain romance novel, isn’t it?”

Before I could respond, Parker shoved Flynn toward the balcony, and I followed, still a little dazed by the thought of Flynn doing naughty things with rope. Outside, he pulled me close for one last kiss.

“I’ll text you tomorrow,” he promised, then stepped over the railing, rope wrapped around one hand, ready to descend, “and we’ll figure out LA when we get there.”

“Be careful,” I warned. “Mrs. Henderson is likely to patrol the grounds next.”

“I’ll channel my inner ninja.” With a final quick kiss, he slipped down the rope and out into the night.

I had barely closed the balcony door when Parker jumped on me, eyes wide with excitement.

“Well?” she demanded. “How was it? Did you? Didn’t you? Tell me everything.”

“Nothing happened,” I admitted, collapsing onto my bed. “Mrs. Henderson interrupted us before we could... you know.”

“That cockblocking battle-ax,” Parker groaned, flopping down beside me. “All that planning for nothing.”

“Not nothing,” I said softly. I hesitated, unused to sharing my feelings. “I really like him, Parker. ”

She propped herself up on one elbow, studying my face. “Oh my god. This is more than getting you laid by the hottest jock on campus. This is actually serious, isn’t it? You’re actually falling for him.”

I nodded, unable to deny it. “Yeah, I am.”

“The question is, are you brave enough to live your own romance novel?”

The next evening, I settled into my first-class seat, courtesy of FlixNChill. They had arranged everything, the flight, the five-star hotel, the meetings with my agent, and the executives who wanted to turn my books into a streaming series.

I should have been focused on the biggest opportunity of my career...life. This could change everything. Instead, my thoughts kept drifting to Flynn, who would be arriving in LA tomorrow for his meetings with the Bandits.

My phone buzzed with a text just before takeoff.

Flynn: Don’t have too much fun in LA without me. But do have dirty dreams of me tonight. You know I’ll be dreaming of you.

If only he knew just how dirty my imagination was.

Miranda Milan, the best-selling author whose identity was still a carefully guarded secret because she wrote smutty smut, had oh, so many dirty dreams, and they all currently starred a charming, flirty football player.

The things I wanted to do with that man.

None of which I had any practical knowledge of.

Because Flynn didn’t know the real me .

Almost no one did.

And that made me sad.

As the plane climbed higher, I wondered which version of myself would return to Denver when this was all over. Tempest the student, Miranda the author, or someone new entirely. Someone brave enough to let Flynn see all of me.

The captain announced we’d reached cruising altitude, and I reclined my seat, closing my eyes.

LA was waiting. Flynn was waiting. And for once in my life, I was stepping into the unknown without a carefully plotted outline to guide me.