Page 128 of Touchdown, Tennessee

Trusting me, too.

“And thank you, by the way. For saying you’re proud of me earlier.”

He nodded. “Of course I am.”

I moved in to kiss him because if I looked at him for another moment, I was liable to say something that went too far.

Or maybe it wouldn’t be too far, to tell him I was starting to love him.

Everything I did with Andrew was new territory.

Each step, a little bit scary.

But every time I walked forward into that fear, he was there to catch me. Rewarding me with his kindness, shining right through that big ego, every time.

“Come dance with me,” he said, squeezing my hand. “And don’t say no.”

“Can’t say no to you, Peach,” I murmured. “And I’m pretty sure I’d do anything with you, at this point.”

I’d always thought that trust issues were a strange thing.

But honestly?

Trust was even stranger.

It was a leap of faith. Pure hope that someone else would be able to meet you anywhere.

Andrew Peachel fucking deserved it.

And as long as he was right there with me, it seemed impossible for me to feel anything else about him. Trust. Pride. Hope.

And real fuckinglove.

EPILOGUE

ANDREW, FIVE MONTHS LATER

“I love you.”

“I love you more than that.”

“Fuck off, I love you more than it’s possible for one man to love another, and you’re not going to say shit about it.”

“I love you so much I want to punch you in the face for ever thinking you’re unlovable.”

Gray looked at me after I said that last one, glaring at me. “I didn’t just think I was unlovable. I also didn’t think I was capable of love.”

Right now we were in my room at the frat house. All of the other guys had gone out to see some movie, but I’d stayed here to hang with Gray.

He was supposed to be helping me in one of my spring classes, English Literature.

Instead, he was leaning against one wall with his arms crossed, pinning me with his gaze, ready to fight. He was wearing a black hoodie that he started zipping down now, shrugging off the sweatshirt to reveal the tight baby-blue T-shirt he was wearing underneath.

“Think you’re capable of love now?” I asked, reaching down to grip my bulge in my shorts, nodding down at it.

He grinned. “You think it was that dick that made me love you?”

“I know it was.”