“I have to,” I whispered.
“No, you don’t.” He ran his fingers through my tangled hair and searched my eyes. “How can you shut me out after this?”
I closed my eyes for a moment. “That’s why this shouldn’t have happened to begin with.”
“Explain.” He sat up suddenly. His legs were too long. They took up most of my queen-sized bed.
“I can’t.” I sat up, crossing my legs between his. “I’ll tell you after your last game. I swear I would tell you if I didn’t think it was dangerous and could cause some serious shit, but I can’t risk it. You can’t risk it.”
“Okay. After my last game, then. “He stared at me for a long moment. “When are you leaving?”
“Two days after your game.”
“What will you do now with your fancy biology degree?”
“I applied to three medical programs to start working in sports medicine. They’ve all accepted me, but I haven’t picked one yet.” I bit the tip of my thumb. His eyes darkened, so I dropped my hand.
“Where will you be in the meantime?”
“I’m going to California with Marissa for a week.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Where in California?”
“All over. We’ll start in San Diego and make our way up,” I said. He looked at me for a long time, and I could tell he wanted to say something but was holding back. I scooted forward, getting closer to him. “What?”
“Nothing.” He sighed heavily. “The timing of the universe sucks sometimes.”
“Why? You want to go to Cali with me?” I asked.
“Keep smiling at me like that, and I just might say fuck the draft and follow you around instead.”
I laughed. “You would never.”
“Don’t tempt me.” He raised an eyebrow.
“I would never let you do that.”
“I know.” He smiled, but it was gone in an instant. “I want to ask you something.”
“Okay.” I braced myself.
“Why don’t you go pro?”
“I can’t,” I said instantly and looked at the wall I had dedicated to soccer.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Is there a difference?”
“You were good,” he said, pride in his voice.
I raised an eyebrow. “I was better than good.”
“I love it when you get cocky.” He growled as he kissed me.
“You would love that.” I laughed against his mouth and pulled away. He looked at me for the longest moment, so I frowned. “What?”
“When you laugh, when you smile. . .It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “With the exception of you coming on my cock, of course.”
