Simple. Direct. No promise of a reward he couldn’t safely give. No threat. No pretending either.
My fingers tightened around my wrist behind my back.
Declan noticed.
His voice dropped. “You want me to touch you.”
Heat climbed my neck. “Yes.”
“I’m not doing it in this hallway.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to wait.”
The words went straight through me.
My breath shook once. “Okay.”
“Not because I’m denying you to be cruel. Because waiting is part of the instruction.”
I swallowed. “Okay.”
“And because when I do put my hands on you again, I want you clear enough to know exactly what you’re agreeing to.”
That almost broke the last of my composure.
He lifted one hand, not to touch me, but to point toward the elevators.
“Go back to your room. Answer Vanessa before pregame meal. Honest enough not to be cowardly. Brief enough not to start a conversation you can’t finish today.”
The guilt returned, but it didn’t swamp me. It had a container now.
“Yes, Coach.”
A muscle moved in his cheek.
“Jace.”
I stopped.
For once, I waited instead of filling the silence.
“You did well asking for what you needed.”
The praise was quiet. Specific. Devastating.
I nodded because words were not available in any useful order.
Then I walked away with my hands empty, my phone still in my pocket, and the shape of his instruction wrapped around the rest of my day.
I wanted more.
Not because he took anything from me.
Because, for one minute, he hadn’t let me carry it alone.
Chapter 18
