Page 77 of The Wrong Game

Zach’s eyes flicked between mine, his thumb brushing the side of my cheek. “I have to know…” He swallowed, like the words were hard for him to say, and I felt my chest tighten more. “Did you orgasm because of me, or because of the touchdown?”

A smile split his face and I blinked, laughing and shoving him off me. He laughed, too, swinging back in to wrap me in his arms as I grabbed the knife for the peanut butter.

“Come on,” he begged. “You gotta tell me.”

I just shook my head, running a finger through the peanut butter and sucking it off with his eyes on my mouth. Then, I smiled, and tapped his nose with that still-wet finger.

“That’s for me to know, and you to forever wonder.”

“Oh,” he growled, catching my wrist in his hand and pulling me into him. “I think I know a way to find out for sure.”

Zach

We managed to make it through two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the rest of the game before I pulled Gemma back into her bedroom for round two. After all, the Bears had pulled out another win. We couldn’tnotcelebrate.

And though I would have sworn it wasn’t possible, she was somehow even better the second time, like my body hadn’t been able to fully process how amazing she felt the first time around. In her bed, I’d taken my time, working slowly between her thighs and savoring every touch, every kiss, every moan.

I couldn’t believe I was there.

I couldn’t believe she was in my arms.

I couldn’t fucking believe Belle’s plan had worked.

It’d seemed so absurd, and I hated playing the games — but Belle was right. Gemma had feelings for me, but she was so damn stubborn she didn’t want to admit it. Not until she saw me there with Belle, until she saw she had possibly lost me, did she wake up and admit it to herself.

In a way, it was juvenile. But in a way, I didn’t carehowit happened, how she came to her realization, how she changed her mind and stomped down those stairs and over to my seat with determination etched on her adorable face.

All that mattered was instead of kicking me out tonight, she let me stay. She took me to her bed, and she crawled into my arms, and though I knew it scared the shit out of her, she let go of her plan and held onto me, instead.

I could work with that.

She was quiet as we listened to the city still buzzing outside her window, the lights twinkling in through the windows. I played with her hair where it spilled over my chest, feeling the unsteady beats of her heart where it pressed against my waist.

“Family,” I finally said, my voice a little gruff.

“Huh?”

I cleared my throat, adjusting my hold on her. “One of the other things I’m a total softie about,” I clarified. “Family.”

I felt her lips curl into a smile against my chest, and she shifted, rolling until her hands were on my chest, chin resting on top of them as she watched me. “Likeyourfamily? Or just families in general?”

I thought about it. “You know, before I would have said mine. But I think it’s just in general.”

“Explain.”

I sighed, still playing with her hair as I stared up at her ceiling, searching for the right words. “When I was growing up, my family was everything. It was just me and my parents for the first fourteen years, and they were like…” I laughed, shaking my head. “I don’t know, they weren’t like parents as much as they were like my best friends. Dad helped me with football, when he wasn’t deployed or working at the different bases we’d been stationed at when I was younger, and he really challenged me. But, he also listened when I was going through something. Mom was always on me about school, but she was also the first person I wanted to run to when I had girl problems.”

“Girl problems, huh?” Gemma teased. “Bet you were such a little heartbreaker in high school.”

“More like I was the one getting my heartbroken,” I argued. “I wanted a girlfriend so bad, but apparently I was too much for girls that age.”

“Ah, you were the nice guy. No one wants to date the nice guy.”

“So I learned,” I grumbled. “Trust me, I learned how to not be so… forward about my feelings. And once I did, I couldn’t keep the girls off me. That’s how I landed my first real girlfriend, my longest relationship. It was like as soon as I started ignoring her instead of pursuing her, she wanted me.”

“Girls are really the most furious creatures.”

“Tell me about it,” I said, tickling her side. Gemma swatted my hand away, smiling as I continued. “But yeah, she was my first real relationship. We dated all senior year and into my freshman year of college.”