“Sorry,” he apologizes, head tilted down, but he can’t hide his face from me.
“Don’t be,” I say breathlessly as he plops beside me. “I never see you in your glasses.”
“I try not to wear them much.”
“Why?”
“Just reminds me of when I was younger. Skinny with glasses. Bad skin. Bad hair. Probably smelled.”
I can’t help but giggle and immediately feel awful. “Sorry, ‘probably smelled’ got me.”
He shrugs. “I wasn’t exactly everyone’s first choice. Didn’t help that I was painfully quiet.”
“Not much has changed.” I flap my hands, squeezing his arm in an apology. “No, I mean in the quiet part. Everything else...” I let out a long whistle, and I swear he blushes at my overcompensation. “Don’t even get me started on the glasses.”
He smirks, his eyes dropping to where my hand still attempts to cinch around his thick, tattooed arm. For a fraction of a moment, I debate whether or not I should drop it but quickly decide against it. Seeing Ty tonight—especially in contrast to Ryan—sparked something in me.
So instead, I lean in, lowering my voice. “Glasses are my weakness.”
I expect him to laugh—regardless of how rare I know that is—or at least to scoot away at my gall. But he doesn’t. He sits there, chewing his cheek like he’s choosing his words.
The movie drones on in the background, and I have absolutely no idea what’s going on on the screen. All I can focus on is Ty and the intensity that’s overcome him.
Then his eyes flash to mine again. “And I’m beginning to think that you’re mine.”
My mouth goes dry. Is this real life right now? Am I really here?
There is no way Ty Brewster just said that to me.
But when he lifts a hand and brushes a piece of hair behind my ear, I realize that this is very much a reality.Myreality.
And I am very much here for it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
TY
Brushingher hair behind her ear came automatically, just like I’ve done a hundred times before with a hundred other girls. When she sucks in a breath, it pulls me back to the here and now. This isn’t a hundred other girls. This is Avery. The biggest surprise I’ve ever had in my life. Even bigger than when the Rollers sat me down to tell me they were trading me.
Avery’s not other girls. She’s a weird mix of chaotic beauty that I’d be an idiot to ever let go of. Just like all the other idiots—the guy from tonight included—that have mistreated her. The ones she laughs about now, but I know what they’ve done. Over the years, each disappointing relationship created a microtear in her heart, her confidence. Brought her to a place where she simply accepts people like Ryan and lets them treat her that way.
But tonight that changed. She let Ryan go. Seeing them together for that brief moment was excruciating. The conceited part of my heart hopes she cut him loose becauseof me. The thought scares me. What if Iwasthe reason? Can I be what Avery needs? What she deserves?
But there’s no real way to know if I was even a factor in her decision. My pulse picks up. I suppose there is one sure way. My hand lingers beside her cheek. I’m frozen, and if the fingers gripping my bicep are any indicator, so is she. I know what I want to do, what I’ve beendyingto do for almost the entire duration she’s lived here. And it might confirm everything I need to know.
I want to kiss Avery.
Despite her admission that she likes my glasses—correction, likesmein my glasses—it still feels like it isn’t the right move. I’m not sure I want to be the weirdo who lured an unsuspecting woman into living with him just so he could invite her on some sad little makeshift date and make a pass at her. At least that’s the way it would look. Even if that isn’t the case, Avery hiding out at my place is an NFL cardinal sin.
I can’t give her what she deserves. She’s a secret. Taking her out, showing her off… Those are off the table for us. Just like at trivia tonight, outside of this house, we’re nothing more than strangers in the public eye. Real relationships need more than accidental run-ins and hush-hush hangouts.
I should leave. I should go to bed.
But then Avery’s fingers coast down my arm, and I crumble under her featherlight touch. Her breath warms my skin as I search her face, and I’m not sure who leans in first. I tilt my head, hesitating as I study her features. Then her eyes close, and before I can reconsider, her lips are on mine.
Avery moved in. She wants this too.
My hand shifts from her cheek to the nape of her neck, my fingers weaving into her hair as our mouths seal together. My heart pounds in my chest, an electric sensation working its way over the top of my skin. Goosebumps crop up as she repositions herself, leaning in so her hands grip my shoulderblades. It takes nothing to lift her onto my lap. She deepens the kiss as she perches there, her arms looping around my neck.
