Fuck, she’s beautiful.
I slide my hands through my hair as my gaze travels over the exposed skin of her chest and neck, pink from the scrape of my jaw and my kisses. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but we need to slow down.”
Insecurity flickers through her eyes, and I immediately step forward, taking one of her hands in mine as I add, “You just broke up with Ethan last night. You’re vulnerable, and I—”
“I’m not vulnerable,” she insists, with a lift of her chin. “I know exactly what I want.”
Holy hell, doesn’t she know I’m hanging on by a thread here? Why is she making this so damn hard?
“You need time to think this through,” I say. “To process everything that’s happened.”
“Don’t tell me what I need,” she snaps.
I groan and release her hand, averting my gaze as I take another step back, needing the distance, knowing it’s the only thing keeping me from picking back up where we left off.
“Unless . . .” Tate sucks in a breath, and my gaze snaps to hers. “You’re not attracted to me enough to . . .” She swallows. “That’s why you can’t—”
I laugh, then. Really fucking laugh, because it couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth. “Trust me, that’s not it. I want you so much, it’s fucking painful,” I say, glancing pointedly at the bulge in my pants.
She scoffs. “That means nothing. What was it you said the day you gave me the massage? That it’s just a ‘biological response’?” she says, throwing my words back at me.
Fuck me and my lies.
I snort. “Yeah, that’s bullshit. I made that up because you freaked out.”
“So, are you saying—”
“What I’m saying is”—I cross the room and take her hands—“we should both take a breath and a step back and think this through.”
She arches a brow, her gaze dropping to my mouth.
Not fucking helping.
“And if I don’t change my mind?” she asks, staring into my eyes. “Because I realize the idea seems weird since we’ve only ever been friends. But that’s what would make this so perfect, because it’s platonic. It’ll just be one time without the worry of what comes after because we’ll go back to the way things were. One night together is all I ask,” she says, taking a deep breath. “Erase the shitty first time Ethan gave me and show me how good it can be. No strings. No hurt feelings afterward. Just two friends helping each other out.”
Chapter 28
BRANDON
“Sixty more seconds!” Coach Wilson, the strength and conditioning coach, barks, pacing the perimeter of the weight room like a drill sergeant. “Push through it!”
My muscles scream in protest as I hold the plank position, sweat dripping onto the mat beneath me. It’s my first day back to conditioning with the team since my suspension, and it’s been particularly brutal—a special form of torture designed to make us pay for our weekend off. Around me, the rest of the team grunts and curses under their breath, all of us counting down the seconds in our heads.
“And . . . time!” Coach finally calls.
I collapse onto the mat with a groan, rolling onto my back as my abs throb in protest. West drops down beside me, his face flushed and glistening with sweat.
“I think I just saw Jesus,” he pants, throwing an arm over his eyes.
“My soul definitely left my body.” Jace laughs.
“Five-minute water break,” Wilson barks. “Then we’re hitting the squat racks!”
A collective groan rises from the team as we drag ourselves to our feet and shuffle toward the water station. I grab my water bottle and take a long pull, the cold liquid soothing my parched throat.
“You’ve been quiet this morning,” Damon says, appearing at my side. “Everything okay? You never texted us back after you left Bradd’s the other night, and we haven’t heard from you all weekend.”
I hesitate, unsure how to even begin explaining the events of the weekend, when my mind is a fucking mess of conflicting thoughts. “Tatum and I almost hooked up,” I blurt out.
