Sammie had never felt more proud of her brother. Of the team she’d come to love like they were her own.
She began to sink back into her seat, wrung out from too many big emotions, but Kai was tugging her arm. “Come on!” he shouted over the din of the crowd. Sammie let herself be tugged out of their row and onto the stairs, through the throngs of people still cheering. Kai pushed through people already trying to make hasty exits, leading Sammie toward the court.
“We can’t go down there!” she shouted. Security was already fighting off fans who’d tried to storm the court.
“We’re family,” Kai shouted back at her.
Surprisingly, Ivy was waiting at the bottom of the steps. “They’re with me,” she told the security guard, flashing her badge. The man just nodded, swinging open the gate to let Sammie and Kai through.
Then they were on the court, and players were there. Atticus was there, ripping Kai away from her, lifting him into the air in a brutal hug. Kai had his face buried in Atticus’ neck, and both of them were laughing, tears spilling onto their cheeks.
Hands closed around Sammie’s wrists. Bowen on one side, Aaron on the other. Eric was behind her, pushing as the other two tugged her toward where the rest of their team was gathering to accept the trophy.
Sammie dug her heels into the court. There were cameras everywhere, lights flashing all around her.
“What thefuck, guys?”
The trophy was big and gold, shiny and bright, but it couldn’t compare to the woman being… well, dragged toward him.
Sammie was swatting at the three players hauling her toward the cameras, spewing profanity like it was her sworn duty.
Kieran’s plan wasn’t going to work if his teammates pissed her off first.
So he did what any good captain would do. He met them as they approached, put a hand to Bowen’s face, then Aaron’s, and shoved them away.
Then he pulled Sammie into a hug, wrapping his arms tight around her shoulders and promising himself he’d never let go of her again.
“Kieran,” she said. She sounded as winded as he felt, his name muffled as he held her close. “What is going on?”
This had all seemed a lot less scary when he’d let it play out in his head from the safety of his hotel room.
“I just need a second,” he said. His face was still buried in her neck, his arms clinging on to her like his life depended on the next few moments. “I’ve never done this before. I… I’ve never felt like this before.”
Sammie shoved against his chest, trying to push him away, to look at him, but Kieran only held on tighter. “Please,” he begged. His heart was slamming against his ribs, and he couldn’t really feel his fingertips anymore. Kieran had never been so nervous, soscared. “Please, just give me a second.”
So Sammie did. Kieran felt her relax in his grip, felt her arms weave around him, felt her squeeze him back. Finally.
“I’ve never felt like this before,” he repeated into the crook of her neck. He closed his eyes, shutting out the crowd, shuttingout his teammates, his coach, and the gathering reporters. “You were my friend, Sammie. You always have been. And maybe that’s what I always needed, maybe that was the key all along. Because somewhere along the way, that friendship turned into something I didn’t see coming. Something I didn’t recognize, because you’re the only person I’ve ever been this scared to lose.”
He needed to pull away, needed to say it to her face, but terror continued to grip him, and speaking the words into her neck felt far safer.
“I love you, Sammie.” She froze in his arms, and Kieran couldn’t see her face to read what it meant. Somehow, that was far more terrifying than saying the words out loud.
Kieran pulled back, gripping her shoulders, and looked Sammie in the eye. She wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t frowning, either. Shock had parted her lips, her heavy-lidded gaze blown wide. Pink tinted her cheeks, and Kieran didn’t know if it was from the game, from the crowd, or from the words he’d just said, but it didn’t matter.
“I love you, Sammie.” This time he watched the words land, watched them settle into place. It was time, finally. “Can I kiss you?”
Time to break her rule.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“CAN I KISS you?”
Sammie couldn’t focus on anything else around her. Not after Kieran asked his question. All the lights, all the people, it all faded to the background.
He was asking to break her one rule.
No kissing on camera.
