Aiden’s face falls, looking guilt-stricken now. He quickly takes a step back, giving me space. I physically ache when I see the pain and longing etched in his eyes.
“Scarlett, I’m so sorry,” he says, his voice full of regret. “I shouldn’t have asked you that. I know what you said. I should have respected that.”
My heart throbs inside my chest, and it hurts to breathe. I’m being crushed by my feelings for him, and that pain is about to swallow me whole.
All because I have to reject the one man who makes me feel alive.
Not for me.But for him.
“It’s not your fault,” I say quietly. “If my dad were any other person, this wouldn’t matter. But it does, Aiden.”
He looks away from me, and I hate that I’m hurting him. I hate that I’m hurting myself. I hate that if he played for another team or my dad coached a different one, we would be dating and seeing where this could go.
And the very worst part of it?
My heart tells me this would go somewhere I haven’t been before. And it’s someplace I can only go with him.
It’s too much for me to bear. I know this is crazy, as I’m just getting to know him, but my heart is speaking so loudly on this, my head is in agreement, and the chemistry between us tells me I’m right.
And it’s too hard to stand here and know I can never have him.
“I … I think it’s best that I go, Aiden. For both our sakes.”
“No. Please don’t,” he says. He reaches out to touch me, but then drops his arm, letting it hang by his side. “I can’t say ‘I’m sorry’ enough. I screwed up.”
“It’s okay,” I say, my voice wobbly. “You didn’t say anything that I didn’t feel. Or want. But Ican’t.”
I grab my purse off the sofa and walk past him to the door. I open it and step out into the hallway, and I can feel Aiden behind me. It takes everything in me to turn around and face him. He’s put his hand up against the door frame, and he’s gazing down at me with so much longing in his eyes, I can’t find the words to speak.
“I feel like this is goodbye,” Aiden says, his voice thick with regret.
I swallow down a sob. I can’t bring myself to tell him it is.
A silence falls between us, and something shifts in his expression. The guilt gives way to something else, but I don’t know what it is.
“Scarlett. My gut is screaming at me so loudly that it can’t be wrong,” Aiden says, his voice low and determined. “It’s telling me you could be The One, Scarlett. It’s telling me that I should risk everything for a chance with you.Everything. But I can’t risk everything alone. You have to want to risk it, too.”
I suck in a breath, his words sending me reeling. He thinks I could be The One.
Just like I thought about him.
Aiden stares down at me. My heart practically explodes inside my chest. He hasn’t shut the door. Aiden hasn’t turned away from me.
If I walk away now, the door is shut forever. I know that.
Yet here he is, willing to throw everything to the wind for a chance to be with me. All because he’s listening to his heart.
Suddenly I know what I need to do. I’ve always been the good girl, the rule-abiding girl, the cautious girl. I know this is a risk I shouldn’t take. I know it.
But sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing to do. Maybe it’s time I take a chance on something I feel is right.
And listen to my own heart, too.
I stare up at him. His eyes still haven’t left mine. “Screw it,” I say, my voice wobbly. “Screw it.”
Then I move my hands to his face, draw his mouth toward mine, and kiss him. The second our lips touch, I feel a spark so strong, my knees nearly buckle.
Aiden’s arms tighten around me, and his mouth demands access to mine. I open for him as I sink my hands into his hair, and Aiden’s tongue sweeps inside my mouth, hot and seeking. He pulls my body tighter to his, and I shiver when I feel how hard and muscular he is. His mouth is searing against mine, andI kiss him back with the same intensity. God, this man knows how to kiss! I feel his facial stubble burn against my skin. His hands move up to my hair, tangling in it as his tongue continues to war with mine.
