“Why?It’s like your whole point of being,” I say and I’m sort of teasing.
He shrugs casually.
“It’s a shame because it means I won’t have an excuse to see you every day.And just so we’re clear, rugby is my job.I love it.But it’s not my reason, Chiara.”
I roll my eyes, though my lips betray me by almost smiling.
“Look, um, you don’t need an excuse to see me.”
“I don’t.”
“Yeah.No injury required to come in for treatment like everyone else.”
He grins.
“What if I don’t want to come in for treatment?What if I want something else?”
“Noah, we agreed to one night.”
“You agreed, Love.But where’s the fun in that?”
I step back immediately, crossing my arms before I do something foolish like laugh.
“Noah.”
“Chiara.”
“We can’t.”
He glances down at the noticeable bulge in his shorts.
“I beg to differ.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
He leans forward slightly, meeting my gaze.
“Are you sure about that, Love?Because I’d say this means a lot.”
For a moment, the room goes very still.
“I-I’m sure.”
I swallow.
Maybe I believe what I just said.
Maybe I need to believe it.
But the truth?
The truth is written all over the way my pulse jumps when he looks at me like that.
And the worst part is, I can see the cracks forming in my resolve.
The way my eyes linger on him longer than they should.
The way I forget to be annoyed when he calls meLove.
