It was the question I'd been avoiding all day.
“I don't know,” I admitted. “But we'll figure it out.”
“How?”
“Carefully. One day at a time. Same as now.” I turned the desk chair to face him fully. “I'm not going to pretend this is simple. It's not. There are risks. Real ones. But I'm not going to run from it anymore.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
He studied my face for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. I believe you.” He shifted on the bed, and I saw some of the tension ease from his shoulders. “Doesn't mean I'm not going to worry about it anyway, but I believe you.”
“That's all I can ask for.”
We sat there for a moment, and then Jace's mouth quirked. “So. That was our first real date, right? The bookstore, the waterfront, the whole thing?”
“I suppose it was.”
“Pretty good first date.” He tilted his head. “Though you did make me walk like three miles.”
“You're a professional athlete. Three miles shouldn't be a challenge.”
“I'm saying my feet hurt, Coach. I need sympathy.”
“You're not getting sympathy.”
“See, this is why you're bad at dating. No sympathy for your partner's suffering.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Your feet don't hurt.”
“They might. You don't know.” But he was grinning now, some of that earlier lightness coming back. “I'm delicate.”
“You're the least delicate person I've ever met.”
“Rude. I'm very sensitive.” He paused. “Also, I'm pretty sure buying someone a book counts as a romantic gesture. So you're locked in now. Can't take it back.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Good.” He shifted closer, just slightly. “Because I'm keeping the book. And you.”
My chest went warm. “That so?”
“Yeah.” His voice dropped a little, went softer. “If that's okay with you.”
“It's okay with me.”
He looked at me for a long moment, and I saw the exact second something shifted in his expression. Went darker. Hungrier.
“I need you,” he said quietly.
My cock twitched immediately. “Jace?—”
“We have twenty minutes until team dinner.” He stepped between my knees, hands coming to rest on my shoulders. “I need to feel you. Need to remember this is real before we have to go back to pretending.”
