“Enough that you’re blushing as you say that,wow.”
My cheeks were warmer than I ever wanted to admit to myself, and I pushed at his shoulder, saying, “Shut the fuckup!”
“It’s okay that you like me a lot. I like you too,Dax.”
“I shouldn’t enjoy you saying that as much as I do.” I tucked my head against the sheets. “That’s the issue. I’m trying to decide aboutus.”
“What do you meandecide?”
“I like messing around with you, but I don’t want to complicate either of our lives by keeping something going that maybe we both need to walk away from.” I hadn’t wanted to say those words, but it was the thought that kept playing in mymind.
“What if I told you I don’t like that option?” Jace asked, his jawtensing.
“Then I’d admit I don’t like iteither.”
He breathed what seemed like a sigh of relief, which made me feel more at ease than it shouldhave.
“Come on, Dax. The worst that happens is we have some fun with each other, paps catch you in some pics with me sometimes, until people get bored and move on back to Tom Brady or whoever the fuck is more interesting, and then we have some big clusterfuck of a fight because you are just so obsessed with me and I can’t get you off myback…”
“Oh really? I’d be the one obsessed with you? What if you’re the one obsessed withme?”
“Well, come on, that’s notbelievable.”
“You ass,” I said through another laugh. “No, the real worst is we keep this going and wind up hating each other so much, but we’re stuck because we have a deal and have to do it anyway…and then we have this hateful, bitter, public feud that everyone and their mother’s getting off to because it’sentertaining.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “You really think either of us are the type to be running to the press if things gosouth?”
“I know that’s not the case.” Because he wasn’t from a world where people did that kind of shit to serve their own interests. However, that’s mostly what I’d seen throughout mylife.
I had to remind myself that Jace wasn’t like the rest. He was special, and maybe that was part of what made the whole situation even more concerning. I enjoyed liking JaceKruse.
Jace added, “So the real question is…can you deal with all this baggage I got with me rightnow?”
“A part of me feels like I already am now. Even if we stopped…whatever this is, we’re still in this deal together, and the media will be the way they’re going tobe.”
The only way around the predicament we were in was if we stopped hanging with one another or fucking around. But I didn’t want to stop, not when we were having so muchfun.
“What are you saying?” Jaceasked.
“We’re clearlya thing,” I acknowledged, referencing our playful back-and-forth from earlier that day, “so maybe we need to plunge ahead into the limelight as we are and let it blow up in ourfaces.”
“I like the idea of you blowing up in my face, then maybe gravitate to in my mouth,” Jacequipped.
I growled as I set my hand on his hip and slid it around to his ass. “And then maybe backhere.”
“Hold up. I don’t even know what that thing is going to feel like inme.”
“You had a goodpreview.”
“I had agreatpreview.” We shared a laugh, and Jace added, “And I’m looking forward to the mainevent.”
“Well, you do owe me asolid.”
“A solid sounds like what you owe me.” He reeled me in for anotherkiss.
I pulled away, still grinning from the sensations he’d stirred, coupled with the absurdity of the situation we found ourselves in. “I’m in a lot of trouble with you, JaceKruse.”
“Trouble with me can befun.”
