He arches a brow. “A guy like me?”
“You’re a star athlete and all-round good guy. Why would you want to get mixed up with me?”
“Maybe because you’re smart, kind, beautiful, and you intrigue me like no woman has ever before?”
My heart soars. “That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.”
“Please tell me that’s not true? Please tell me someone in your life has told you how incredible you are before now?”
An urge to fling myself across the console and wrap myself around him rides me hard. “Keep talking like that and I’ll turn into a level-five clinger,” I joke.
“Cling on tight, babe. I’ll never let you go.” He flashes me a huge grin.
This time, I give into my urges, stretching across the console and pressing a kiss to his cheek. His spicy, citrusy cologne wafts around me like a comfort blanket. “Thank you.” I reluctantly pull back, because it’s getting dark and he needs to concentrate on the road. “I don’t think I’ve said that enough. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me so far. It’s embarrassing to admit you’ve done more for me, and treated me with more kindness, than my own family.” My eyes burn with rejection. “All I ever hear from my mother is how much of a disappointment I am. No matter how much I devote myself to my studies, and how good my grades are, it’s never quite good enough. And I never wear the right clothes or say the right things. To her, I find creative ways of humiliating her. In fact”—I bite down hard on the inside of my mouth—“I can’t actually remember a time when she has ever told me she loves me.”
Red-hot pain slices across my chest.
“And your father lets her get away with that?” Fire blazes in his eyes, and he grips the steering wheel tighter.
“She bullies him too.”
His eyes widen in shock. “I cannot imagine anyone bullying Coach Parker. He’s fierce. It’s one of the reasons we all respect him so much.”
“I guess you never know what someone is dealing with behind closed doors.” I shrug. “And he tries to defend me, but he’s not always consistent.” I stare out the front window, watching cars fly by on the other side of the highway. “He’s distracted a lot lately, and I don’t really know what’s going on with him.”
Silence engulfs us for a few beats. “I presume he doesn’t know you’re taking this trip with me?”
I jerk my head back around to him. “Hell no! I value breathing. As I’m sure you do.”
He chuckles. “Has he specifically warned you off me?”
“No, but he has told me his football players are off-limits. He knows what you guys get up to in your spare time and, that’s not who he wants for me.”
“Hey. Don’t paint us all with the same brush.” He pins me with serious eyes. “I don’t play the field, and my last serious girlfriend was in high school.”
“I know that’s not who you are.” He doesn’t have a manwhore rep like a lot of the guys on his team do. All the gossip I’ve ever heard about him is how he likes to keep to himself and he’s a gentleman. Nothing I have seen since our paths crossed has proven otherwise. “But even if you were, your sexual history doesn’t define who you are as a person.”
I hope he shares that sentiment, because my own background is hardly saint-like.
His features soften as he glances at me again. His green eyes radiate sincerity. “Agreed. And there is far too much emphasis on that shit these days. People should be free to screw who they want if they are respectful and make their intentions clear.”
I pull my jean-clad knees up to my chest, smiling at him. “You’re definitely one of the good guys, Adam Miller.”
“Shush.” He places one long finger against his delectable lips. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“Speaking of secrets.” He shifts in his seat. “Why were you in the hospital that first time I met you?”
I decide to come clean. “I bought some bad shit in a bar and had a seizure.”
“Fucking hell, Em.” My nickname rolls easily off his lips, and I like it a lot.
“I know.” I sigh. “It was a poor judgment call, but I’d had a bad day. Wes had pulled some shit, and I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
A dark cloud passes over his face at the mention of Wes. “I fucking hate that prick, and I hope this Kim ponies up, because she’s all that’s standing between Wes and an early grave.”
* * *
