“You’ll succeed,” he says, then finishes making some delicious-looking BLTs.
He plates one for himself and one for me, then slides onto a stool beside me.
In my pajamas and tank top, I indulge in the most delicious late-night snack—made just for me.
Later, we go back upstairs, with my dog under the covers, his in one of Simon’s many beds, and Ford in mine.
“Ford,” I whisper quietly as moonlight streaks through the window, illuminating his handsome face. “Is the third priority really just your dog?”
“Ah, you noticed that,” he says, with a soft laugh—one that says he knows he was caught.
“Yeah. I did.”
He sighs. Hesitates. Then finally, he says, “I was going to say…spend time with people I care about. And my dog.”
My heart thumps harder. “Why didn’t you?”
He’s quiet again, his brow furrowed. “It seemed…”
But I think I know the end of that sentence. Or at least IhopeI do.You’re one of those people.I don’t want him to feel pressured to say that though. So I jump in with a save. “It seemed like too much?”
He takes a beat, and when he answers, his tone is just shy of somber. “Maybe, Skylar. Maybe it seemed like too much.”
But too muchwhat?Too much to want? Too much too soon?
I don’t press.
Not tonight.
It’s safer that way.
30
VERY SERIOUS LOOK
FORD
“Ten. I did exactly ten,” Corbin gloats to Leah, then tips his chin to me as I do another lateral hop. “He just did thirteen.”
Shit. He’s right. I did more reps with the medicine ball than Leah wanted.
“I noticed,” the conditioning coach says.
Why didn’t you stop me?I want to say to Leah. But that’s a weak excuse. I can fucking count.
Fact is, I stopped counting.
“Just seeing if you were paying attention,” I say to my buddy, deflecting with an even weaker excuse.
Corbin scoffs, eye roll included. “You were off in la-la land.”
Leah gives me a stern look—but it’s chased with concern as she adds, “I think you were too.”
I swallow, then square my shoulders, trying to shrug it off. “Just thinking about the next game,” I say, owning it as best I can. “Won’t happen again.”
But the game was the furthest thing from my mind.
The truth is…I was daydreaming. Goddammit. I was thinking of the gala. Of Skylar. Picturing undressing her after the event. Letting slim straps fall down her shoulders. Kissing those freckles that drive me mad. Hiking the soft fabric of her gown up to her hips. Fucking her against the wall as neither of us could be bothered to take off all our clothes.
