Jordan stands there, shocked. Speechless.
“I sound like a stupid teenager, don’t I? Well, I guess that’s what I am. A sixteen-year-old trapped in a grown man’s body.”
She smiles, her shoulder visibly relaxing.
“I’m not going to stand here and bullshit you, or pretend I’m not interested. I’m not going to make you any promises.”
“Interested?” she asks, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
“In you.”
“Oh…”
“The only thing I’m going to say is that I like you, Jordan. And not only when you’re on top of me.”
She bites her lip, trying to mask another smile.
“I’ll also say that I hated seeing you on a date with Tyler Hayes.”
“How the hell did you know about that?”
“I followed you and spied on you.”
She crosses her arms, one eyebrow raised.
“It felt like a grenade had gone off in my stomach, seeing you there. And I never want to feel like that again.”
“Are you jealous?” she asks in a daze.
And, fuck it: I really think I am. There’s no other explanation for my reaction.
“I don’t want to see you with anyone else.”
“Are you trying to mark your territory?”
“I guess I’m calling dibs.”
“So just because I’ve slept with you, I can’t sleep with Tyler?”
“You can’t sleep with anyone,” I say, without thinking. “I don’t want you to sleep with anyone.”
She scrutinises my expression.
“Just give me until the end of the tournament to prove to you that I’m not as bad as you think I am.”
“Then what?”
“Then I’ll win, and we can go on our date, like we planned.”
“You’re too confident.”
“You know as well as I do that we’ll win.”
“I’m not talking about the tournament. You’re too confident that I like you.”
“Oh, really?”
“I never told you anything of the sort.”
