“I’m still mad.”
“I know.” He kissed along my jawline. “I will happily make it up to you.”
“I will not be that woman who bends and forgives a guy just because he makes her insides mushy.”
Dante paused. “I make your insides mushy?”
“I hate you right now.”
He kissed me. “I know, Sav.” He lifted me and carried me to the workbench.
“What are you doing?”
“Remember I said I wanted to eat your pussy out on this workbench?” He was already unsnapping my jeans. “I feel like you deserve this.”
“Dante! The door isn’t locked!”
He grinned up at me as he pulled my jeans down my legs. “I’m willing to risk it, are you?”
* * *
The silence after we told Noah and Dustin was heavy, thick enough to press on my ribs.
“He’s not protecting the boosters?” Dustin asked again, calmer this time, as if repeating it might force him to believe it. “He’s been digging. Like you?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “Only quietly. For a lot longer.”
“Dean Cole isn’t the enemy here,” Dante added, his eyes sharp and clear on me, on all of us. “It runs deeper and for longer than the last few years. It’s more than one sports program. Butif the football team goes down alone, the rest of them get away scot-free. I guess it’s all or nothing.”
I glanced at Dustin, who’d gone still in the corner, jaw tight. Noah scrubbed a hand down his face, muttering something low under his breath.
“So, we go back to just ignoring it?” Noah asked slowly.
“Which is what we thought we would do anyway,” Dustin confirmed. “Right?”
I wanted to remind them that my dad needed proof, but Dante shook his head only slightly, and I kept quiet.
“Anyone else hungry?” Dante asked instead. “I could really eat some tagliatelle, with a nice, thick, creamy sauce, crispy pancetta, and a buttery slice of garlic bread.”
Dustin groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “No!I can’t listen to you and your obsession with noodles again.” He looked up at me. “Please, Savvy, make it stop.”
Noah was looking between them, a grin on his face. “We could order Italian?” he suggested. Dante looked delighted, Dustin looked resigned, and I wondered what had happened to have the conversation bethis.
“I need to go to dinner with my dad,” I spoke over them as they huddled around Noah’s phone. “I kind of said I would be there.”
Dante pointed at Noah. “You’re in charge, I trust you! Don’t get anything healthy, don’t listen to Slater!” He grabbed my hand. “I’ll walk you.”
We left the apartment, hand in hand. I could still hear Noah yelling over Dustin thatnoodleswere Asian,spaghettiwas Italian.
“What just happened?” I asked cautiously.
“They’re reeling,” he said simply. “Like we were. They needed a distraction, like we did.”
“You’re saying sex with me in the shed was a distraction?”
“You’re no longer hating me, are you?” He looked far too smug.
“I’m telling your nutritionist you ate unhealthy carbs.”
