“You’re not a dumbass, Liam.”
The sincerity in her tone catches me off guard.
“The way you talk about the poems and books we’ve read proves it,” she says.
My heart beats faster. I don’t care if the whole world thinks I’m an idiot. Kendall thinks I’m smart. That’s all I care about.
“So you’re saying I’ve got brains and beauty?” I tease.
That chuckle I love so much falls from her lips. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She bites that luscious bottom lip. “I have another confession.”
“What is it, firecracker?”
“I still have a crush on you,” she says in a breathy voice. “I still like you. A lot.”
I grin. “Same.”
Her eyes sparkle. “Yeah?”
“Hell, yeah.”
She glides her palms up my chest. I notice her breathing has picked up. So has mine.
My brain snags on one last thing. “Hang on.”
Chapter 30
Liam
Kendall stills at what I’ve said.
“That night we kissed and that photographer saw us and I said you were nothing…” I shake my head, angry with myself for saying it. “I said that because I didn’t want that paparazzi scumbag to bother you. They hound me and my teammates and their partners and families too, and if he thought that we were together, then he’d go after you, and I don’t want you having to deal with that. If you were out with your aunt and that guy harassed you, I’d never forgive myself.”
She blinks. The softness and understanding is still there in her gorgeous brown eyes.
“It’s okay. I understand now. You were just trying to protect me,” she says softly.
My heartbeat thunders in my chest. “Like I said, I’d do anything to protect you.”
I pull her closer to me. I cup her face in my hand and stroke my thumb along the skin of her cheek. I hold back a groan. She’s so soft.
This is the closest I’ve ever held Kendall. This is the most I’ve ever touched her.
Heat flashes across my entire body. All I want is her.
“I want you, Liam. So bad.”
Her breathy words ignite a fire inside of me. I crash my mouth against hers.
I drive my tongue into her sweet mouth, cupping her face in my hands, desperate to taste her. My head spins as I kiss her. She claws at my shirt, pulling me closer.
Our kiss in the alley the other night was hot as hell, but I thought it would never happen again.
But we finally broke through the years-long tension between us. We hashed out our feelings. We realized that we both like each other—that we’ve wanted each other for years.
My blood pumps hot and my heart thunders in my chest.
Can’t believe I’m kissing her. Can’t believe I’m touching her.
